KATHMANDU, Aug 31: Search, rescue and relief operations have been stepped up in the crisis-hit areas of five districts affected by the devastating Bhotekoshi flood in Rasuwa. However, complaints are emerging that poor coordination between the federal and local governments is delaying relief distribution.
Rasuwa and Nuwakot have suffered the heaviest damage among the 15 local levels declared disaster crisis zones. With federal and local authorities conducting rescue and relief operations separately, duplication, delays and inefficient use of resources have been reported.
Kaisang Narpu Tamang, chairperson of Gosaikunda Rural Municipality, said the federal government was distributing relief through representatives of its own political party.
“We are doing whatever we can with our own resources,” he said. “But the government has not coordinated with us on where and how relief should be delivered.”
He called for the damaged road network to be restored immediately to reconnect Rasuwa with the main road network. He also urged authorities to begin managing the recovered bodies without delay, provide the necessary equipment and arrange an alternative electricity supply in coordination with the rural municipality.
Buchung Tamang, chairperson of Aamachhodingmo Rural Municipality, also complained that the government had not coordinated relief distribution with the local government.
“We have no information about where and how much the army has sent,” he said.
He said people believed to be trapped inside hydropower tunnels had still not been rescued and called for additional measures to locate them. He also urged the authorities to arrange generators, even on a limited basis, to restore electricity.
India, China, South Korea send technical teams to Nepal for flo...
Tamang warned that food shortages could become severe. He said the inability to quickly construct suspension bridges could make it impossible to take seriously ill patients to hospitals.
Harikrishna Devkota, chairperson of Kalika Rural Municipality, said restoring road connections was an immediate priority. With cooking gas completely unavailable, he called for at least 1,000 cylinders to be supplied immediately. He also urged the Nepal Electricity Authority to begin installing poles and restoring power lines without delay.
Devkota also questioned the effectiveness of the chief district officer and district police chief in handling the crisis.
Madhav Prasad Aryal, chairperson of Uttargaya Rural Municipality, described body management as the most serious and urgent issue. He said security personnel deployed for rescue operations were unable to perform their regular duties, raising security concerns, and called for additional security personnel to be deployed.
In Nuwakot, Belkotgadhi Rural Municipality chairperson Jagat Bahadur Gurung called for an alternative road to be opened immediately and temporary shelters to be arranged for displaced families. He said coordination with the chief district officer had also been difficult. According to Gurung, 65 houses in his municipality have been damaged, but the lack of coordination with the local government has complicated relief distribution.
Ganesh Lal Shrestha, chairperson of Gajuri Rural Municipality in Dhading, said at least 100 tents were urgently needed and called for immediate arrangements for alternative housing.
Prabha Bogati, deputy mayor of Bidur Municipality in Nuwakot, said residents had initially complained that no government agency had reached Baireni. The mayor later reached the site personally and helped coordinate relief and rescue operations.
Bogati said federal lawmakers were physically present in the affected area and that the prime minister’s office was receiving regular updates on the situation. She also said the provincial government was laying 16 culverts to reopen the road.
The government, meanwhile, says it has established coordination among the federal, provincial and local governments and has released Rs 67.5 million from the Disaster Management Fund in the first phase.
Yet complaints about poor coordination continue to grow. Questions have also been raised in some local governments over delays in distributing relief supplies.
The problem even triggered a dispute between a lawmaker and a ward chairperson in Dhading. RSP lawmaker Ashika Tamang, elected from Dhading 1, clashed with local representatives over delays in distributing relief materials.
Tamang objected after learning that relief supplies provided by various organisations for flood victims had allegedly remained at the ward office of Galchi Rural Municipality 6 for three days. A heated exchange reportedly took place at a meeting when she sought information from ward chairperson Dipak Kumar Karki and other representatives about the delay.
Ward representatives accused Tamang of behaving disrespectfully toward them. Tamang, meanwhile, expressed strong dissatisfaction over relief materials being held back instead of being delivered to victims on time.
As complaints about weak coordination between local and federal authorities mounted, RSP chair Ravi Lamichhane spoke by telephone on Sunday with local government chiefs in the affected areas.
Lamichhane sought detailed updates from the heads of several flood affected municipalities in Rasuwa and Nuwakot regarding damage, rescue operations and relief distribution.
Representatives from Gosaikunda, Aamachhodingmo, Kalika and Uttargaya in Rasuwa, Belkotgadhi in Nuwakot and affected local levels in Dhading took part in the discussions held from the RSP central office.
The local representatives highlighted problems including relief coordination, road restoration, body management, electricity shortages, lack of cooking gas and security arrangements.
After the discussions, Lamichhane pledged to immediately raise the issues with the government and relevant agencies and push for their resolution. He subsequently began coordinating with various ministers.
Following the flood, the government declared 15 local levels in Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Gorkha and Tanahun disaster crisis zones for three months.
Under a decision by the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Executive Committee, a total of Rs 67.5 million has been released from the Disaster Management Fund to strengthen search, rescue and relief operations in the affected municipalities.
Of the amount, Rs 22.5 million has been allocated to four local levels in Rasuwa, Rs 30 million to four in Nuwakot, Rs 10 million to four in Dhading, Rs 2 million to one local level in Gorkha and Rs 4 million to two local levels in Tanahun.
Rasuwa and Nuwakot had previously received Rs 10 million each, while Dhading had received Rs 5 million.
The Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation, Federal Affairs and General Administration has also defined the roles of local and central agencies and instructed government employees working in affected areas not to leave their duty stations.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority has deployed 12 specialised teams, including an Emergency Communication Restoration Team.
Government officials say thousands of personnel from the Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force are involved in rescue operations. The prime minister and the Bagmati provincial government have also remained active in the field, facilitating relief and rehabilitation efforts.
Despite the coordination problems reported by local representatives, the government maintains that relief supplies are reaching the areas where they are most urgently needed.
