The Emergency After the Emergency

The floodwaters in the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers may have receded, but the crisis facing thousands of survivors is far from over. As the immediate search and rescue operation continues, people in the affected settlements are confronting another danger: the lack of clean drinking water and basic healthcare. Floods often destroy or contaminate drinking-water sources. In the hills, springs and water sources are buried or swept away, while pipelines and distribution systems are damaged. The Bhotekoshi flood has done exactly that across several settlements. For survivors already struggling with the loss of homes, livelihoods and family members, finding safe drinking water has become an additional daily ordeal. The government must therefore treat clean drinking water as an emergency necessity, not merely a component of long-term rehabilitation. Until damaged water-supply systems are permanently restored, temporary arrangements must remain in place. Safe water must reach every affected settlement, and people must be provided with the means and information necessary to purify water before drinking it. The danger does not end with contaminated water. Floods increase the risk of diarrhea, other waterborne diseases and infections. Minor injuries can also become life-threatening when they cannot be cleaned and treated in time.

This is particularly worrying because access to healthcare has itself been severely disrupted. Roads and bridges have been washed away, while some health facilities in the affected areas have been damaged or destroyed. In many places, people are struggling even to obtain basic medicines. Those who need medical attention may have to travel long distances over damaged roads or wait for transport that may not be available. This situation requires the government to rethink what constitutes rescue and relief. Rescue cannot end when people are pulled from floodwaters. For survivors, rescue also means ensuring that they have safe water to drink, medicines when they are sick, treatment when they are injured and access to healthcare when they need it. Local governments should immediately identify settlements without functioning water systems and establish temporary supply arrangements. Water tankers, storage facilities, purification tablets and other necessary supplies should be deployed wherever required. At the same time, mobile health teams and temporary medical posts should be established in communities where health facilities have been washed away or rendered inaccessible. A reliable supply of essential medicines is equally urgent. The government should establish emergency medicine distribution points in affected areas and ensure that basic drugs, antibiotics where medically appropriate, oral rehydration salts, wound-care supplies and other essential medicines are available. Health workers should also be deployed to monitor possible outbreaks of waterborne and communicable diseases.

Destroyed roads and bridges will obviously take time to rebuild. Permanent health facilities and water-supply systems will also require substantial resources and planning. But people cannot be asked to wait for reconstruction before receiving basic necessities. Temporary arrangements must remain operational until permanent services are restored. The government has a responsibility to ensure that geographical isolation does not become a death sentence. If a ward cannot provide water and healthcare, the municipality must step in. If the municipality lacks the capacity, the provincial and federal governments must immediately fill the gap. For people struggling to survive in flood-affected areas, clean drinking water, basic medicines and functioning health services are not secondary needs. They are the first necessities the government must guarantee. Therefore, the priority now should be clear: safe drinking water, basic healthcare and essential medicines must reach every flood-affected community. Infrastructure reconstruction can follow, but the basic needs of survivors cannot wait. The flood may have subsided, but for thousands of people, the emergency continues. The government must ensure that those who survived the disaster do not lose their lives to contaminated water, untreated injuries or illnesses simply because roads have been destroyed and health facilities have disappeared.