Kathmandu. The lawmakers of the National Assembly have demanded relief along with employment and concessional loans to the flood-affected people.

During a special hour of today’s NA meeting, lawmakers drew the attention of the government to make the search and rescue, relief distribution, rehabilitation and reconstruction works in the flood-affected areas more effective, as well as to arrange employment and concessional loan to the flood-affected people.

Lawmaker Mohammad Khalid said that priority should be given to search and rescue, relief distribution, rehabilitation and reconstruction in the flood-affected areas. He said that it is necessary to provide employment and concessional loans to the affected people.

Khalid said that there is a shortage of LP gas for cooking in the country and there is a demand of about one lakh cylinders daily, but only 30,000 cylinders are being supplied. He said that the prices of daily consumables are also increasing and the government should pay attention to market management.

Lawmaker Tul Prasad Bishwakarma urged the government to provide timely relief to the flood victims in Rasuwa and to give priority to the search and rescue of the missing people. He stressed on the need of making proper arrangements for health check-up and treatment of the affected people as the health risks may increase in the flood-affected areas.

Lawmaker Lalit Jung Shahi said that the Bhotekoshi floods were caused due to climate change and that although Nepal’s contribution to climate change was negligible, Nepal has suffered its impact to a large extent. “Rich countries should compensate for the damage caused by climate-related disasters and provide adequate amount of money to Nepal from the Loss and Damage Fund,” he said.

Lawmaker Renu Chand expressed regret over the lack of adequate coordination between the central and local governments in the disaster management of the Bhotekoshi floods. He said that the local government should be given adequate resources, means and authority in disaster management as the local level is the closest government to the people.

“The state government has also provided assistance to the affected areas through the construction of tuins,” she said, adding, “Instead of keeping the displaced people in the holding center for a long time, they should be managed in the appropriate place.” Special care should be provided to pregnant women, children, the disabled and the sick. ”

Lawmaker Kiran Babu Shrestha said that all Nepalis should unite in this time of national crisis. He said that all the state bodies and citizens should move ahead unitedly for the rescue and support of the disaster victims.

Lawmaker Gita Devkota said that many people lost their lives due to lack of timely rescue in the flood-affected areas of Bhotekoshi. She said that the people displaced by the disaster should be managed in proper places on time and immediate initiatives should be taken to reopen the roads blocked due to landslides.

Stressing that relief distribution should be scientific and based on need, she called on the government to immediately build disaster-resilient infrastructures, bring special rehabilitation package for the disaster survivors and provide psycho-social counseling to the disaster-affected people.