Summary of Recent News (September 30)

Damauli (Tanahu), Sept 30:  Two-way traffic has been resumed along the Prithvi Highway after clearing the landslide debris since this morning.

The Bimalnagar-Aanbukhaireni section has been opened for two-way traffic after the removal of large boulders that had fallen on the road in Bimalnagar, Bandipur Rural Municipality-4 of Tanahun under the Prithvi Highway.

Due to the landslides triggered by incessant rain, the section which was operated in one way after removing the fallen boulders on Sunday afternoon has been operated for two-way traffic since this morning.

Vehicles were banned for some time in the morning to remove the boulders. Deputy Superintendent of Police Deepak Rai of District Police Office in Tanahu said that all road sections in the district were made operational now.

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Patan (Lalitpur), Sept 30: Water supply of Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Ltd (KUKL) has been disrupted in Lalitpur due to the flooding and landslides triggered by incessant rain.

The KUKL Lalitpur branch chief, Leela Bhatta, informed that the water supply service has been interrupted due to the recent relentless rains, as the penstock pipe from Pharping Pump House and the pipeline from Nallu in Lalitpur to Chapagaun Panipokhari have been damaged.

“The pipeline and intake of water coming from Nallu have been completely damaged, there has not been any on-site inspection, due to the landslide in Pharpingdanda itself, the pipe is bent and broken in some places, it will take some time to restore it”, Bhatt said.

Chief Bhatta said that due to the damage of the road due to the landslide, it is difficult to reach the source and conduct an on-site inspection.

Bhatta informed that about 70 percent of households will be affected by water supply. It is shared that it will take 10 days to restore the service after the assessment of the damage caused by the disaster through on-site inspection.

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Lumbini, Sept 30: The Lumbini Province Government has put its subordinate bodies on standby to respond to potential risks from natural disasters.

The government has expressed sorrow over the loss of lives and properties in disasters caused by the continuous three-day rains in the province.

A meeting of the Council of Ministers here today has stressed the need to mobilize all mechanisms considering that greater cooperation is essential for effectively managing situations before, during, and after disasters, according to Minister for Physical Infrastructure Development, Bhumishwor Dhakal.

The meeting agreed to establish a road infrastructure development office in Nawalparasi (Bardaghat Susta East).  Eleven districts in the Province have already such offices.

According to Minister Dhakal, the cabinet decided to designate roles and responsibilities of the secretary recently transferred here. As per the decision, Bhimarjun Pandey has been designated to the Ministry of Infrastructure Development, Bhupendra Thapa to the Ministry of Women, Children, and Senior Citizens, and Ishwor Raj Paudel has been assigned to oversee the Office of the Chief Minister and the Council of Ministers.

It also endorsed the Province Gazette and Regulations on Editing and Publications of Laws – 2081 BS.

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– Madhes province government allocates emergency funds

Mahendranagar (Dhanusha), Sept 30: The Madhes Province Government has decided to allocate Rs 10 million each to the eight districts in the province for the emergency relief and rehabilitation of the people affected by the loss and damage caused by the relentless rain.

The provincial government has also decided to immediately allot Rs 50 million to the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development for the reconstruction of roadways damaged due to the flooding in the Madhes.

A meeting of the Madhes Province Government on Sunday took these decisions, Chief Minister Satish Kumar Singh said.

“The meetings of the Provincial Security Committee has been ordered under the leadership of the Minister of Home, Communications and Law of the Madhes government and it has been urged to collect details of the damage at the ward-level,” Chief Minister Singh said, adding that eight districts of the Madhes province have been affected by the floods and landslides.

According to the Chief Minister, the worst hit areas include Hanumannagar, Kankalani in Saptari by the swollen Koshi river, the Rajdevi Municipality in Rautahat by the Bagmati river, and various local levels including Balara Municipality in Sarlahi by the Bakaiya and Bafmati rivers.

Chief Minister Singh said the provincial government has made an open call to all the donor agencies for relief and a decision has been made to reach the affected areas. He also said that the bodies concerned have been directed to provide prompt health services in the affected areas in the Madhes.

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Kathmandu, Sept 30:  The government has decided to collect the details of losses caused by the recent nationwide rain-induced disaster within the next 15 days by forming a special task force.

The decision aims to assess the losses and ensure compensation to the affected on time. Flooding and landslides caused by incessant rains on September 27-28 resulted in 192 deaths, 30 missing, and 194 injuries (as per the Home Minister’s latest updates).

A meeting of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Executive Committee held today under the Chair of Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak formed the task force comprising under-secretaries from the ministries of home affairs, finance, health and population, physical infrastructure and transport, agriculture and livestock, urban development, the energy, water resources, and irrigation and communications and information technology as well as experts from relevant areas.

As per the meeting decision, the relevant ministries will promptly commence reconstruction works of government and public buildings, transport infrastructures including roadways and bridges, in the drinking water sector, at schools and health institutions.

The meeting recommended that the Council of Ministers endorse the Disaster Sensitive Social Security Guidelines, 2081 BS. The Committee will seek the submission of the Law Ministry to this regard and propose the Council of Ministers to endorse it in accordance with Clause 39 of   Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act-2047 BS.

The Committee has planned to identify potential beneficiaries and grant assistance (first installment) for building temporary shelters within a week as per the Temporary Shelter Guideline-2081 BS.

As per the meeting decision, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport Management is required to work instantly to restore the disrupted roadways so that the stranded passengers can reach their destination.

The relevant bodies will undertake managerial duties through a fast track to resume transport, and drinking water services among others amidst adversities caused by the flooding and landslides.

The process of distributing relief to those affected by weather-related disasters will be started immediately from one-door policy and relief will be provided to the families of the deceased persons as per the ‘Disaster Rescue and Relief Standards, 2077’ according to the decision of the Council of Ministers on June 15.

The meeting thanked the volunteers for the post-disaster search, rescue, relief, and removal of boulders, mud among other debris piled up by the flood. For restoration and reconstruction, the local level has established the Disaster Management Volunteer Bureau. And according to the mobilization procedure, 2078, national, province, district and municipality volunteer bureaus have been instructed to actively mobilize volunteers.

The Provincial Disaster Management Executive Committee and the Local Disaster Management Committee of the disaster-affected provinces have requested for post-disaster search and rescue, relief, treatment, rehabilitation, reconstruction and recovery activities as per the responsibilities prescribed by the Act.

The Communication Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, 2081 will be approved with amendments within one week after taking opinions from the members of the committee.

The process of amending the Emergency Warehouse Operation Procedure, 2081 will also be carried forward.

After assessing the epidemic that might spread after the disaster, the Ministry of Health and Population will conduct programmes such as public awareness and health camps in potentially risky areas to prevent the spread of epidemic diseases.

Disaster-affected Private Housing Retrofitting, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Subsidy Procedure, 2081 will be amended and submitted to the Council of Ministers for necessary decisions.

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Chautara (Sindhupalchowk), Sept 30: Seven people are still missing in a landslide that occurred Saturday at Tegagaun, Jugal rural municipality-3 in Sindhupalchowk district.

The rural municipality-3 ward chair Laxman Lama Dong said the seven, who left for their village from Tembathang on Friday, are out of contact.

According to him, the landslide has completely destroyed the houses of Mingmar Rinjeb Sherpa, Lhakpa Sherpa and Pemba Sherpa at Tegagaun. Together with them, locals Sangmo Sherpa, Dhendu Sherpa, Sadalo Sherpa and Dhoma Sherpa have gone missing.

The ward chair quoted the locals as saying that landslide has occurred close to Tembathang and Tega as well.

Chief District Officer Kiran Thapa has carried out an aerial inspection of the disaster-hit areas. The Sindhupalchowk Chamber of Commerce and Industry has provided food stuff to the landslide-affected families at Tega.

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Janakpurdham, Sept 30: The death toll due to floods in Madhes province has reached six. A girl was also among the dead. Among the deceased two are from Mahottari and Rautahat and one each from Saptari and Sarlahi.

Similarly, two people are missing and eight people are injured due to the flood, said Subas Chandra Bohora, spokesperson of Madhes Province Police Office, Janakpurdham.

Likewise, one each is missing in Sarlahi and Parsa. In eight districts of Madhes province, there has been a loss of Rs 5.6 million due to flood. Nine livestock also died due to flood.

Among the deceased are 16-year-old Rohit Sah of Gaushala Municipality-8 and 21-year-old Man Bahadur Thing of Bardiwas Municipality-11 of Mahottari; eight-year-old Prince Kumar Sah of Balan Bihul Rural Municipality-4 and currently living in Rajbiraj Municipality-8 of Saptari; 37-year-old Rajkumar Mukhiya of Durgabhagavati Rural Municipality-4 of Rautahat and 14-year-old Asha Kumari Sah of Paroha Municipality-7 and 12-year old Ankit Thakur of Laxmipur-12.

Similarly, 15-year-old Mukesh Mahato Soti of Bagmati Municipality-9 of Sarlahi went missing after being swept away by the river. A girl has gone missing in Parsa. Out of the eight districts, three were injured in Rautahat, one in Siraha, one in Sarlahi and three in Bara, Superintendent of Police Bohora informed.

Four hundred and eighty-eight people from 96 families have been displaced by the flood. Similarly, 35 people trapped in the flood have been rescued. From today, the life of the province is becoming normal.

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Life after disaster: Flood-affected people start managing whatever remains of their

goods and property

Lalitpur, Sept 30: The swollen rivers in the Kathmandu Valley wreaked havoc in the downstream areas following incessant rains since Friday. The rain stopped only towards afternoon on Sunday and by the time the downpour stopped it had caused much damage, flooding swathes of land, inundating settlements and washing away structures.

The settlements near the bank of the Nakhkhukhola rivulet that flows through Tika Bhairab in Lalitpur were submerged in the flooding caused by the surging water in the river. The swollen river left a trail of destruction on its path. People’s homes, shops and dwellings were all waterlogged. The normal life, trade and business in many places of the district are still in chaos after the disaster.

The flooded rivers washed away the shelters at settlements near the rivers and all the household goods inside them.

With the flood subsiding, the hapless flood victims have started managing whatever remains of their household goods that are drenched. They are busy clearing the mud, silt and debris that has deposited in their rooms, shops and the house compound.

Many of the victims lamented that the flood washed away their motorbikes, cars and household articles like refrigerators, furniture and valuables as well as important documents.

Renuka Limbu who lives near the Nakhkhupul at Lalitpur Metropolitan City-18 lamented that the flooded stream swept away her six pigs and 70 ducks and chicken. “The water entered our room at 12 midnight on Friday. We started removing out the goods and articles soon after the flood water entered our house. The water surged as we were still moving out goods from the house and by 7 am on Saturday, the flood washed away our entire shelter. Not only to ours, the flood caused much damage to the houses and sheds of other people as well,” she said.

The bridge linking Nakhkhudol at Lalitpur Metropolitan City -14 and Bhainsepati, ward no 25 of the metropolis has been closed after it was damaged by the flood. The temporary sheds of those living close to the Nakhhudol Bridge have all been washed away by the flood.

The disaster-hit people in the area are now busy collecting, cleaning and managing whatever goods that they can find with the help of their relatives.

A local Rom Rana said the flood washed away his entire nursery and all the goods inside his shed, causing a loss of approximately Rs 1.3 million.

“We were alert that there might be a flood after listening to the news, but we had no time to move all our goods to safer place. Once the water started entering our room, we only had time to collect the important documents and all the other household articles were swept away. Now we are worried about our food and accommodation. We are in distress,” he said.

The swollen Nakhkhukhola rivulet has swept away five shops run at makeshift sheds at Nakhkhudol.

Narayan Sunuwar, whose shop was washed away by the flooded rivulet, is in distress. “I am a wage labourer. The flood took away all the goods and all my tools. I have nowhere to go, no food. I have been rendered homeless. No relief has come from anywhere so far. Although I saved my life, all my clothes, goods and belongings have been washed away by flood,” he lamented.

Ganesh KC, the ward chair of Lalitpur metropolis-13, said that the local government will immediately get down to managing the power and water supply, and roads and other structures damaged by the flood.

“We are extremely sad over the damage caused by the Nakhkhukhola. We have already swung into action for restoring electricity and water supply and the roads in the affected areas, giving utmost priority to this task,” he said.

Meanwhile, Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has said it is making maximum efforts to restore regular power supply to the areas where it has been disrupted due to the incessant rain that lashed the district on September 27 and 28. Electricity supply to most places in Lalitpur district was disrupted plunging these areas into darkness after the landslides and floods knocked down electricity poles and cables.

NEA said that although power supply to Kathmandu and Bhaktapur has been restored, repair and maintenance of the power supply system to the rural areas of Lalitpur continued.  Bijaya Mahato, Chief of the NEA Lagankhel Distribution Centre, said that the repair and maintenance of the power supply system has been difficult and delayed at many places due to the disruption of roads to these places.

According to NEA spokesperson Chandan Kumar Ghosh, adequate workforce has been mobilized for carrying out the repair and maintenance works and power would be restored to many places by the evening today.

The people in areas that suffered flooding in Bhaktapur are busy clearing and cleaning their houses of flood debris.

The areas are full of wreckage and debris. The people are removing the mud and silt from inside the rooms on the ground floor, taking out the goods and kitchenware from the kitchen, the food grain, lentils and other food stuffs that have become inedible, the wet furniture, beddings, clothes, TV sets, refrigerators, carpets and other articles.

One can see these articles outside on the house courtyards covered with mud. People can be seen pumping out the accumulated water from the eateries, groceries, stores, electronics shops, furniture workshops and show rooms and cloth stores mostly operated on the ground floor. Goods that have been damaged can be seen dried outside the shops.

Even today, the flood-affected people at Radhe Radhe of Madhyapur Thimi Municipality, Balkot of Surya Binayak Municipality, Gadedharatol and Sipadol of Dadhikot and various other flood-hit areas in Bhaktapur can be seen cleaning their shops and dwellings of water and mud.

Efforts are under way even today to open the road blocked by a hundred fallen trees due to the landslides at Sipadol, Gundu and Dadhikot, among other places.

Chief District Officer Roshani Kumari Shrestha said works are on to protect the houses that are vulnerable. She shared that works are being carried out to open the rural roads and transit points, nut the main road transit point at Sanga is not closed and it is fully operational.

CDO Shrestha said the District Administration is collecting the details of the damage caused to houses, sheds and business areas by the flooding and landslides. She added that the local levels and the District Chamber of Commerce and Industries are also collecting data on the damage and losses caused by the disaster.

Distribution of relief to the disaster victims has also been started with the help of the Red Cross.

Kathmandu, Sept 30: Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Damodar Bhandari, has warned subordinate bodies about the potentiality of artificial price hikes and shortages and supplies of goods on a black market on the eve of the festival taking advantage of post-disaster adversities. He wanted them to strengthen monitoring against such potentialities and promote the rights of consumers.

The Minister today summoned the Director General of the Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumers Protection, Rajan Paudel, to his office and directed him for nationwide market monitoring to prevent cheating on customers likely in the wake of disasters and on the eve of the festivals.  He pledged all possible support to the Department from the Ministry towards that end.

Similarly, the Minister also directed the Chief Executive Officer of Food Management and Trade Company Limited, Ramesh Acharya, and the Chief Executive Officer of Salt Trading Corporation Limited, Urmila Shrestha, to systematize fair-price shops opened targeting the festivals and ensure consumer’s increased access to such outlets, according to Minister’s Secretariat Anand Bhatta.

He also instructed Nepal Oil Corporation’s Managing Director Dr Chandika Prasad Bhatta,  to increase the stock of cooking gas for the festivals.

The Ministry’s Secretariat has also objected to’propaganda’ that it agreed with the Hotel Association of Nepal to bypass the monitoring of the hotel business.  Instead, there are reports that some hotels are charging more than the maximum retail prices and the Minister has already instructed for strict monitoring,” the Secretariat said.

In the meantime, the Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection said it regularises the market monitoring as per the existing laws and is making all possible measures to supply quality goods at reasonable price rates. Department Director and Information Officer Dik Bahadur Karki said the monitoring has been intensified in view of the upcoming festivals.

Lumbini, Sept 30: Lumbini province has been declared as a fully-vaccinated province.

Chief Minister Chet Narayan Acharya declared at a programme today that the province has achieved full vaccination status after ensuring that all children under the age of 15 months have been vaccinated according to the national vaccination schedule.

According to the fiscal year 2024/25 data, 262 thousand 856 children in Lumbini province have been fully vaccinated.

Health Minister Khem Saru and other local level chiefs and deputy chiefs participated in the announcement programme. It is shared that the children are being vaccinated against various communicable diseases.

Vaccines against tuberculosis, diptheria, whooping cough, hepatitis B, Haemophilia, influenza B, polio, measles, rubella, pneumonia, meningitis, Japanese encephalitis, typhoid, rota virus diarrhea have been provided.

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Makawanpur, Sept 30: The Bhainse-Bhimphedi road has been blocked due to a landslide in Bhimphedi Rural Municipality-4 Ratomate of Makwanpur.

Sanjeev Shrestha, Vice Chairman of Bhimphedi Rural Municipality, said that traffic services were disrupted along the road due to the landslide that occurred this morning.

“Task of removing the landslide debris is underway. But it may take time to resume traffic till Tuesday,” Shrestha said.

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Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS) Sudurpaschim, Sept 30:  The Armed Police Force, Nepal and Indian Seema Suraksha Bal (SSB) have reached an understanding to collaborate for combatting cross-border crimes along the Nepal-India border in Kailali and Kanchanpur districts.

In a meeting of security officials from both countries held at Gauriphanta of Lakhimpuri district in Uttar Pradesh, India on Friday, it was agreed for the collaboration to protect the no man’s land and border pillars, repair the damaged border marker pillars, and combat drug smuggling, human trafficking, and possible infiltration of third parties in border areas, according to Kailali’s APF Superintendent of Police, Dal Bahadur Pandey.

Similarly, it has been agreed to facilitate the people’s trans-border movement by the police from both countries considering the looting of Nepalis en route home from India for the Dashain celebration in the post.

In addition to this, bearing in mind the public grievances over the restriction of movement on foot along the Gauriphanta transit point after 8:00 pm, the meeting has decided to allow the movement of those not requiring customs clearance even after 8:00 pm.

Pandey, APF Superintendent of Police from Kanchanpur, Khagendra Bahadur Chand, and SSB 39th Battalion Deputy Commandant Bijendra Kumar were among those attending the meeting.

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Kathmandu, Sept 30: The CPN (Maoist Centre) has set up a central relief fund targeting the flood and landslide affected people.

According to the party, anyone interested in contributing to this fund can deposit the donation amount to the fund in the party’s bank account number 3601010000045 at the Global IME Bank Koteshwar branch.

The Maoist Centre has set up the relief fund in line with a decision of the party office-bearers and it has also issued a circular to the party’s subordinate committees to deposit relief money in the fund.

The Federal Parliament members and the Province Assembly members of the party will deposit their ten days’ salary in the central relief fund. The Maoist Centre has issued circular to the local level people’s representatives from the party for voluntarily contributing to the fund.

Maoist Centre’s office secretary Dor Prasad Upadhyay said provision has been made by which the party’s provincial committees also can collect relief amount and deposit the same in the central relief fund.

The party’s Disaster Management Department has set up a ‘help desk’ at the party central office and made arrangements for daily updating the disaster situation.

Kathmandu, Sept 30: Over 1,700 vehicles have entered Kathmandu following the clearance of the Prithvi Highway which was blocked by a landslide at Jhyaplekhola in Dahding.

Rhishiram Tiwari, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Home Affairs, said that the vehicles were previously stranded on the highway due to the landslide and have now arrived in the federal capital with passengers. Until the filing of this report, preparations are also underway to allow vehicles to go out of the Kathmandu Valley via the same route.

Tiwari said that the Ministry is coordinating with relevant agencies to restore roadways, including major highways affected by recent flooding and landslides triggered by continuous rainfall on September 26, 27 and 28.

Additionally, passengers stranded along the BP Highway in Kavrepalanchowk due to flooding from the Roshi River are expected to be rescued by this evening. A Nepali Army team has been deployed to assist with the rescue operations using ropes and aerial support.

He urged everyone to remain vigilant about potential hazards during travel while weather conditions are still unstable and to choose safe travel measures. “The risk of landslides has not been eliminated.”

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Kathmandu, Sept 30: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli returned home this afternoon after leading the Nepali delegation to the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York of the USA.

Upon arrival at the VVIP lounge of Tribhuvan International Airport, the Prime Minister was welcomed by Speaker Devraj Ghimire, National Assembly (NA) Chairperson Narayan Prasad Dahal and Deputy Prime Ministers Prakash Man Singh and Bishnu Prasad Paudel.

Ministers, government senior officials, and chiefs of security bodies were also present to receive the Prime Minister.

On the occasion, a contingent of the Nepali Army presented a guard of honour to the head of the government.

The Prime Minister left here on Friday, September 20 to attend the 79th session of the UNGA (September 24-30) that was held at the UN Headquarters in New York of the United States of America. He addressed the Session on September 26.

The general debate of the 79th session of the General Assembly was held with the theme of “Leaving no one behind: acting together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development, and human dignity for present and future generations”.

During his stay in New York, the Prime Minister also attended a reception hosted by US President Jo Biden.

He addressed the Conference of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and the second High-Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and participated in other events.

He held bilateral meetings with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi including other leaders on the sidelines of the Session.

His spouse Radhika Shakya, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Arzu Rana Deuba, PM’s principal political advisor Bishnu Rimal, Foreign Secretary Sewa Lamsal, and government senior officials were in his entourage.

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