Kathmandu, November 9
Seventy-five days after the devastating floods in Bhotekoshi on August 26, the government is yet to establish the fate of thousands of people reported missing. Families of the missing are still waiting for confirmation, while flood survivors continue to face difficulties accessing relief assistance.
According to the latest figures released by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) last Friday, the disaster has left 1,464 people dead and 5,285 missing. Nearly three months after the floods, authorities have yet to determine whether those missing are alive or dead.
While the government has not been able to establish the final number of missing people, affected families are struggling to receive the assistance announced for them.
The government has decided to provide Rs 200,000 to families who lost one member and an additional Rs 100,000 for each subsequent death in the same family.
The floods affected people across 75 districts. Of the 5,285 people reported missing, details of 2,294 have so far been received from the districts. The NDRRMA has received lists of missing people from 32 districts.
On November 7, the authority issued a public notice inviting claims concerning people who remain unaccounted for. It has given families seven days to submit claims through their local governments so that the authorities can establish whether the missing individuals are alive or deceased.
The lists submitted so far include people believed to have died or gone missing in several districts. Among them are two people from Dhankuta, 15 from Dadeldhura, six from Khotang, four from Bhojpur, two from Achham, six from Kapilvastu, two from Jajarkot, three from Sarlahi, 14 from Lalitpur, three from Sankhuwasabha and 51 from Kailali.
The lists also include nine people from Mahottari, 16 from Baglung, two from Taplejung, 63 from Jumla, three from Bajura, six from Kalikot, 17 from Nawalpur, 17 from Udayapur, 35 from Kavrepalanchok, 11 from Nawalparasi, one from Tehrathum, 1,538 from Rasuwa, four from Eastern Rukum, 51 from Saptari, 74 from Bardiya, eight from Syangja, 37 from Ramechhap, 38 from Dang, 219 from Sindhupalchok and 37 from Sindhuli.
However, details have yet to reach the central authority from Nuwakot and Dhading, two of the districts heavily affected by the floods.
The authorities have also received details of 171 foreign nationals from seven countries through their respective embassies. These include eight from Germany, 33 from Australia, two from Italy, nine from South Korea, 11 from Russia, 54 from Ukraine and 54 from Malaysia.
The delay in officially declaring missing people dead has also prevented the government from distributing financial assistance to bereaved families. Support from non-governmental organisations has similarly been held up because families cannot receive assistance without formal confirmation of death.
The Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS), which has decided to provide Rs 100,000 to the family of each deceased person, has also been unable to distribute the funds.
NRCS president Bishal Bhandari said the organisation was waiting for verified details of those who had died.
“We have received Rs 400 million to spend on flood relief, and we must spend it by January. We have decided to provide assistance to the families of the deceased,” Bhandari told Onlinekhabar. “If we seek funds from donors but cannot spend them, questions will be raised about our capacity to utilise resources. We could also lose the basis for seeking assistance in the future.”
The NRCS has reached an agreement with the government to distribute assistance to bereaved families in coordination with the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens.
Centre and local governments blame each other for delay
The delay in compiling verified figures has exposed a dispute between the central authority and local governments. While the NDRRMA says local governments have been slow to submit lists, local representatives argue that the central government is responsible for delays in the process.
Dr Prakash Pokharel, deputy spokesperson for the NDRRMA, said the authority had already provided local governments with instructions on how to compile and submit the details.
“We have sent everyone instructions on how to fill in the details. Since the names are taking time to arrive from the local level, the delay is happening there. We need information from all 75 districts,” Pokharel told Onlinekhabar. “The process is taking time because details have to be collected from many places.”
Pokharel said the authority had initially expected to finalise the decision on declaring missing people dead before Tihar, but the process had been delayed. The authority said the details received from across the country would be consolidated and submitted to the Cabinet for a decision to declare the missing people dead.
Local representatives, meanwhile, say the floods themselves disrupted administrative work, as some local governments lost employees and other staff members were psychologically affected by the disaster.
Madhav Aryal, chairperson of Uttargaya Rural Municipality, said the loss of employees and the impact on surviving staff had slowed the collection of information.
Five employees of the rural municipality died in the floods.
“We lost employees, and the colleagues who continued working were also psychologically affected. We also lost some of the sources from which we could have collected data,” Aryal said.
With the fate of missing people still unconfirmed, funds allocated by the government have yet to reach many affected families. Non-governmental organisations have also been unable to distribute the assistance they announced for bereaved families because deaths have not been formally established.
NRCS volunteers are helping local governments collect information on those affected by the floods. However, Ganesh Nepal, ward chairperson of Ward 10 of Bidur Municipality, said delays in the central government’s procedures had slowed the process.
Nepal said the figures collected during a disaster can change as new information emerges.
“They introduced a new application for registration on October 14. The Dashain holidays began soon afterwards, and employees had to undergo training,” he told Onlinekhabar. “The details that had already been collected also had to be entered into the new application, which caused some delay.”
Under the current procedure, families or relatives of missing people must submit a self-declaration application, along with the required documents, to their ward office.
Based on the names submitted by local governments, the District Disaster Management Committee verifies the details before forwarding the lists to the central authority.
The government has amended the law through an ordinance to allow people missing in disasters to be declared dead after 45 days.
A Cabinet meeting held on October 7 approved the amendment, reducing the period required before a missing person can be officially declared dead.
