Kathmandu, September 1
Bodies of people who died in the Bhotekoshi floods will also be managed in Kathmandu as authorities struggle to handle the large number of recovered bodies.
Kathmandu Chief District Officer Ishwar Raj Paudel said the authorities have identified a government forest area where the bodies will be managed.
“We have decided to manage them in a government forest area,” Paudel told Onlinekhabar.
Unidentified bodies recovered between Fishing and Golaghat had earlier been managed in Chitwan.
The volume of recovered bodies has overwhelmed existing mortuary capacity. On the third day after the August 26 floods, mortuaries were already unable to accommodate the bodies, with some at risk of decomposing along the corridor.
The Ministry of Health has said hospitals across the country have a combined capacity to hold around 600 bodies.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, 987 bodies have been recovered so far. Around 100 of them have been brought to Kathmandu.
Paudel said identifying a suitable location in Kathmandu had taken several days of continuous effort.
“We were able to identify the site only after three to four days of continuous effort,” he said.
The government will manage unidentified and unclaimed bodies in accordance with the Unidentified and Unclaimed Bodies Management Directive, 2021.
The directive requires authorities to prepare records of recovered bodies, conduct preliminary identification, use additional methods for identification where necessary, establish identity, maintain records and place identification markers on the bodies.
