Kathmandu, September 30
The parliamentary special committee formed to study climate change in the Himalayas and the Bhotekoshi-Trishuli disaster is scheduled to hold its first meeting today.
The meeting will be held at Singha Durbar and will elect the committee chairperson.
Rastriya Swatantra Party lawmaker Ganesh Parajuli has already filed the sole nomination for the chairperson. Lawmaker Mohan Acharya has proposed his candidacy, while Nisha Dangi, Pushparaj Kandel, Ramesh Kumar Malla, Dhruv Rai and Saraswati Lama have supported it.
The House of Representatives had formed the 15-member special committee at its meeting on September 21. As Parajuli is the only candidate, he is expected to be declared elected unopposed at today’s meeting.
The committee members are Achyutam Lamichhane, Anushka Shrestha, Gangadevi Shrestha, Ganesh Parajuli, Dhananjay Regmi, Dhruvraj Rai, Nisha Dangi, Pushparaj Kandel, Mohan Acharya, Mingmagyabu Sherpa, Ramesh Kumar Malla, Rabindra Patel, Saraswati Lama, Sujata Tamang and Sita Thapaliya.
The committee’s terms of reference include studying the impacts of climate change in the Himalayas.
It will review available studies and data on changes in Himalayan temperatures, snowfall, glaciers, glacial lakes and watersheds and the risks arising from such changes. It will also identify gaps in research and monitoring and recommend measures to strengthen scientific research and regular monitoring.
The committee will study the causes and impacts of the Bhotekoshi-Trishuli disaster, including its origin, sequence of events, immediate causes and factors that intensified the risks, based on expert and scientific evidence. It will also review its possible links to climate change, the impacts on transboundary watersheds and the effects on downstream areas.
The committee will also review search, rescue, relief and rehabilitation efforts.
It will assess search and rescue operations, the status of missing citizens, relief distribution, safe temporary shelter, basic services and livelihood restoration to ensure an appropriate response to the needs of disaster-affected people. It has also been authorised to recommend immediate and medium-term measures based on the needs of affected communities.
The committee has been tasked with proposing a roadmap for sustainable and safe reconstruction.
It will also study disaster risk reduction and early warning systems and make recommendations.
The committee will explore possibilities for climate diplomacy and cross-border cooperation and has been authorised to recommend legal and institutional reforms.
