Pokhara

The government is said to have taken all preparedness to tackle with untoward incidents of natural disaster during monsoon.

In a meeting of the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee, House of Representatives today, Home Secretary Prem Kumar Rai said the Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force’s search and rescue squads had been kept on standby in several strategic locations in all provinces analyzing the risk of loss of life and property from water-induced disasters such as flood, landslide and inundation during monsoon.

The State Disaster Management Executive Committee and District Disaster Management Committee have already come up with monsoon-related action plans and arrangements have been made at local level for disaster preparedness and response efforts. The Central Disaster Management Fund has presently a reserve fund of Rs 1.539 billion, it is shared in the meeting. It may be noted that Nepal suffers a significant loss of life and property every monsoon due to its unfavourable geography, weak geological state, inclement weather pattern, impact of climate change, population growth, unsystematic settlement and urbanization.

Nepal makes its position in a list of world’s 20 countries where the incidents of natural disasters are high. Preparedness plays a significant role in reducing the loss from such incidences and ensuring the delivery of basic services to citizens in the aftermath of disaster.

The meeting has directed the government to take all necessary measures for preparedness and response of natural disasters possible during monsoon.