KATHMANDU, Sept. 6: Prime Minister Balendra Shah has said the government is providing temporary shelter, healthcare, relief and other necessary assistance to elderly people affected by the floods.
Shah said search and rescue operations are still underway, citing the rescue of 64-year-old Chandrika Shrestha by a joint team of the Armed Police Force Nepal and Nepal Police from Betrawati in Bidur-10, Nuwakot.
According to Shah, seven elderly residents of the Devighat Senior Citizens Protection and Study Foundation who were affected by the floods have been provided short-term shelter at Nepal Senior Care in Mhaipi, Kathmandu, while another 17 are staying at the Krishnapranami Temple in Inarpati, Nuwakot.
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The government has also arranged wheelchairs and walkers for them and provided health checkups and psychosocial counseling, Shah said.
The prime minister pledged to keep the temporary arrangements as brief as possible and ensure safe, permanent housing for elderly flood victims at the earliest.
He also said the anger expressed by people who lost family members in the floods should be understood as an expression of grief. The government, he warned, would take a firm stance against unnecessary comments, humiliation or actions that cause additional psychological distress to victims.
Shah also thanked security personnel deployed in dangerous, flood-affected areas for search and rescue operations, saying it was everyone’s responsibility to support and boost their morale.
“Dear mothers and fathers, please place your trust in us,” Shah said.
