Lawyer Madhav Basnet on Wednesday filed a writ petition at the apex court against the government, arguing that the state was not serious enough about saving the lives of those died due to the extreme cold sweeping the Tarai. [break]
He has set out several arguments in his writ petition to claim that the deaths of over 31 people over a period of two weeks due to the cold wave were ´state-sponsored´.
"The government did not initiate appropriate pre-cautionary measures, neither did it adopted any action in the aftermath of the death toll due to cold wave to prevent further casualties. Subsequently, the poor suffering from extreme cold died" Basnet said in his petition.
Lawyer Basent has argued that the cold wave cannot be compared with other kinds of natural calamities and [its impact] could be controlled if the state authorities were serious.
"The cold wave cannot be compared with earthquakes, floods or any other calamities," reads the writ petition, adding, "a cold wave is a predictable natural occurrence and the government can save the lives of the poor if it initiates the required precautionary measures, identifying the vulnerable locations and the problems that people face in the winter season."
Basent has pointed out two serious flaws on the part of the government with regard to the death toll. Firstly, it has long failed to introduce and implement polices and programs targeting problems faced by the poor during winter.
And secondly, according to Basnet, even after the cold wave-related deaths reached 31 this year alone, the government failed to utilize money deposited in the Prime Minister´s Relief fund or collected in the bank account of the Ministry of Home Affairs for relief and rescue work.
"The government could have distributed quilts and firewood to save the poor from the extreme cold," states the writ petition, adding, "It provided neither quilts nor firewood to those who were severely affected by the extreme cold and they subsequently died."
The apex court has registered the writ petition and is all set to hold initial hearings on it on Thursday.
It is alleged that those who died had to sleep on cold floors without warm clothing or quilts.
In Mahottari district, nine persons died of extreme cold on Monday alone. According to police, four persons died of extreme cold in Saptari district in the last two days. With this, the cold wave death toll has reached eight in Siraha and Saptari by Tuesday, said the police.
A total of 22 persons, including nine in Mahottari, died of extreme cold over last week in Dhanusha and Parsa districts.
The cold wave, which has been blanketing most of the Tarai districts for the last two weeks, has mostly affected the poor and elderly and forced the closure of schools and business activity.
Basnet has petitioned the SC to prioritize his writ and issue an urgent and special order in the name of the government to address the cold wave problem, settle the petition within a week considering the seriousness of the matter, and order government authorities to form a committee entrusted with the responsibility of identifying the vulnerable locations and the problems of the poor in winter.
Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Bijaya Kumar Gachachadar, the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM) and the Ministry of Home Affairs have been named as defendants in the writ petition.
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