Bangladesh contributes $1 million to PM Relief Fund

KATHMANDU: The government of Bangladesh has contributed $1 million to the Prime Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund to support relief, recovery and humanitarian efforts following the devastating Bhotekoshi flood of August 26.

Bangladesh’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir conveyed the decision to the Nepali ambassador to Bangladesh, Ghanshyam Bhandari, on Thursday. He also handed over a letter from Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to his Nepali counterpart Balendra Shah.

The flood has claimed 1,290 lives as of Friday afternoon, while over 4,000 are missing. The government has said that reconstruction could rise to $5 billion.

At least 12 hydropower projects have been affected, with around 431 MW of generation capacity damaged, equivalent to about 10 per cent of Nepal’s electricity-generation capacity. This also disrupted Nepal’s power export to Bangladesh.