Kathmandu. The lawmakers of the House of Representatives have stressed on victim-friendly relief and reconstruction in the areas affected by the Bhotekoshi disaster.

They have also drawn the attention of the government to make arrangements for immediate relief and rehabilitation of the flood survivors, to provide legal and financial facilities to the families of the disappeared people and to build infrastructures that can withstand disaster in the coming days.

Speaking at a meeting of the Parliamentary Special Committee on Climate Change in the Himalayas, Climate Justice and Bhotekoshi-Trishuli Disaster in the House of Representatives today, lawmaker Mohan Acharya said that providing relief and rehabilitation to the climate affected people along with claiming for the loss and damage caused by climate change was an important task today.

He also suggested the government to construct physical infrastructures such as bridges and roads keeping in mind the condition under which Kerung is the international border point, which was damaged by floods and landslides.

Lawmaker Acharya said, “There may be another climate-related disaster, so it is necessary to build infrastructure that can sustain it in the coming days.” Lawmaker Parshuram Tamang suggested making arrangements to provide relief to the affected families after the completion of the last rites.

He suggested that the state should pay attention to the fact that the family of the disappeared person could get insurance and other facilities if the family could be declared dead by making special arrangements.

Lawmaker Mingma Gyabu Sherpa said that the relatives of the missing and deceased are waiting for the documents including the death registration. He said that the state should seriously think about the issue as the death certificate is required to provide financial and other treatment to the survivors.

Lawmaker Achyutam Lamichhane expressed the view that improvement in road infrastructure in the flood-affected areas would make it easier for the citizens to commute. He suggested that attention should be paid to the problem of irrigation in the coming days as the water sources in the flood-affected areas of Bhotekoshi have dried up.

Lawmaker Gangadevi Shrestha drew the attention of the government to make arrangements for alternative transportation as the national road connectivity with Dhading district headquarters has been cut off after the Rasuwa floods. Lawmaker Dhananjay Regmi stressed on the need of constructing infrastructures only after assessing the risk of multi-disasters. He said that an alternative should be sought by not constructing structures on the banks of the rivers as far as possible in the coming days to protect the infrastructure from possible risks.

During the meeting, lawmaker Sujata Tamang suggested adopting climate adaptation in the development and reconstruction to be carried out in the future. Lawmaker Anushka Shrestha said that more investment and homework should be done to make the flood early warning system more reliable and effective.

Lawmaker Saraswati Lama suggested the government to pay special attention to protect the local culture while carrying out reconstruction and rehabilitation following the Bhotekoshi floods.