Temporary housing to be arranged for families displaced by recent disasters

KATHMANDU: The government has decided to make immediate arrangements for temporary housing for families who lost their homes in the recent disaster.

A meeting of the National Council for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management held at Singha Durbar on Tuesday decided to instruct local governments to identify beneficiaries and send their details for the immediate construction of temporary shelters.

According to Dinesh Prasad Bhatt, Chief Executive of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, the first instalment of the housing grant will be disbursed immediately in accordance with the relevant standards for temporary housing grants once the beneficiaries are identified.

The meeting also decided to distribute relief assistance from all three tiers of government through local governments to prevent duplication. Similarly, it decided that the Ministry of Home Affairs will ensure that immediate relief is provided to the families of the deceased and missing persons in accordance with prevailing laws, while the Ministry of Health will arrange free treatment for the injured.

Likewise, the meeting decided that the Ministry of Water Supply will ensure access to clean drinking water to prevent possible epidemics following the disaster, and the Ministry of Health will conduct public awareness campaigns, health camps, and psychosocial counselling programs in high-risk areas.

According to Bhatt, floods and landslides triggered by heavy rainfall on October 4 and 5 resulted in 52 deaths, while five people are missing and 47 are injured.