Relief to 50,000 for 9 months proposed
BY YUVRAJ ACHARYA
KATHMANDU, Sept 2 -
The government has prepared a plan for providing relief for nine months to 50,000 people affected by the Saptakoshi flood. The Home Ministry has proposed the action plan for cabinet approval after it was discussed at the Central Natural Disaster Rescue Committee chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bam Dev Gautam on Monday. Proposals forwarded by the Central Natural Disaster Rescue Committee are to be approved at Wednesday's cabinet meeting. Initial figures show that around 50,000 people of 10,000 families were affected in four west Sunsari villages after the river breached the eastern embankment at Paschim Kushaha village a couple of weeks ago and changed its course. The Home Ministry has estimated it requires about Rs 450 million for relief including food, shelter and other basics, according to ministry officials.
"The World Food Program has initially pledged food for a month and expressed willingness to extend the support for a further period based on our assessment report," said Thir Bahadur GC, under-secretary at the ministry. Other donor agencies, during their meeting with the government, also shown interest in extending support for relief and rehabilitation efforts. "The government has sought their (donor) support at the stage of recovery rather than for relief," a high-level government official said. "They need our concrete plans and identified areas for support, and we are going to prepare these soon." The government has not found sites for rehabilitating the displaced. It has considered a plot of land in Jhumka of Sunsari district on which the construction of a jail is planned, according to GC. Another plot under consideration is occupied by a steel factory but the factory has refused to give it to the government.
Transport resumption top priority
Besides the immediate relief, the government has given top priority to resumption of transport from the eastern region to the rest of the country as more than 12 kilometers of the East-West Highway has been completely damaged by the floods. Secretary at the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works Purna Prasad Kadariya told the Central Natural Disaster Rescue Committee meeting Monday that the road will need at least four months to become operational once the water levels recede.
He said the ministry needs Rs. 320 million for repairing the damaged road, two culverts and other transport infrastructure. The ministry has proposed installing six Bailey bridges over the diverted Koshi River streams along the damaged 12-kilometer section of the highway to ensure smooth operation of vehicles. Installing the Bailey bridges also takes at least four months, he told the meeting. The bridges are to be imported as the ones available in Nepal are shorter than the width of the streams.
Three ferries as alternative
Concluding that it will take four months to bring the highway back into operation, the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works has proposed using ferries across the Saptakoshi near Chatara, a point where the river enters the Tarai plains. The ministry proposed that heavy vehicles coming west from the Koshi should be diverted to Dharan from Itahari, a traffic hob in the eastern region, to reach Chatara. Vehicles going east are to be diverted to Gaighat from Lahan or to Phattepur from Kanchanpur on the East-West Highway.
The Dharan-Chatara road has been recommended as feasible for heavy vehicles, according to the ministry's proposal. Since most of the industries in the eastern region are based in the Itahari-Biratnagar corridor, the road will be the only route for the transport of goods to the rest of the areas and to the capital. For light vehicles, the ministry has proposed the Jhumka-Chatara road along the Koshi East Canal. The canal-side road is not feasible for heavy vehicles.
The ministry has proposed operating three ferries for trucks and buses acrossing the river at its deepest point at Chatara. Building the ferries having 18-ton load capacity will cost more than Rs 10 million, according to the ministry's proposal. A heavy equipment manufacturer in Balaju can prepare the ferries in one month, Kadariya told the meeting. "But this is not a long-term solution," Kadariya was reported to have told the meeting. "It will work until the Bailey bridges are installed along the highway." Water Resources Ministry infrastructure worth Rs.570m damaged Infrastructure under the Water Resource Ministry worth Rs 570 million was damaged in the floods, according to Shankar Koirala, secretary at the Ministry of Water Resources. This includes Rs. 345 million in irrigation canals, Rs. 185 million in spurs and Rs 32.5 million in electricity poles, transmission lines and other things. Agriculture also has suffered a heavy loss. All the farmland in four villages in western Sunsari was submerged, 30,000 head of cattle were affected and 400 perished in the flood.
Record low water in Saptakoshi, repairs to be easy
With the record-low flow of water in the Saptakoshi River, technicians involved in the repair works of the spurs claimed that it would be easier for them to continue with their task. The water level was recorded at 1, 10,000 cusec Tuesday evening, which was 58,000 cusec less than that of 15 days ago when the erosion began.
Chief Engineer at Water Induced Disaster Management Office, Mohan Bhattarai, said that attempts to stop the erosion were satisfactory. He also claimed that the settlements-bound river waters which entered through western Kushaha, was not posing a big threat now. Workers involved in the repair works said that poor condition of the roads was posing problems to ferry construction materials in vehicles.
Koshi barrage should be scrapped: DPM
Bam Dev Gautan told the Central Natural Disaster Rescue Committee meeting on Monday that getting rid of the Koshi barrage was the only lasting solution to Koshi flooding. He said the government would take initiatives at the political and diplomatic levels toward terminating the Koshi Agreement signed at the time of the barrage construction 60 years ago. Gautam directed government officials to speed up relief and rehabilitation work in the flooded sites. On Tuesday, he inspected the affected areas along with home ministry officials, police chiefs and an army general.
Source: The Kathmandu Post, 3 September 2008
The government has prepared a plan for providing relief for nine months to 50,000 people affected by the Saptakoshi flood. The Home Ministry has proposed the action plan for cabinet approval after it was discussed at the Central Natural Disaster Rescue Committee chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bam Dev Gautam on Monday. Proposals forwarded by the Central Natural Disaster Rescue Committee are to be approved at Wednesday's cabinet meeting. Initial figures show that around 50,000 people of 10,000 families were affected in four west Sunsari villages after the river breached the eastern embankment at Paschim Kushaha village a couple of weeks ago and changed its course. The Home Ministry has estimated it requires about Rs 450 million for relief including food, shelter and other basics, according to ministry officials.
"The World Food Program has initially pledged food for a month and expressed willingness to extend the support for a further period based on our assessment report," said Thir Bahadur GC, under-secretary at the ministry. Other donor agencies, during their meeting with the government, also shown interest in extending support for relief and rehabilitation efforts. "The government has sought their (donor) support at the stage of recovery rather than for relief," a high-level government official said. "They need our concrete plans and identified areas for support, and we are going to prepare these soon." The government has not found sites for rehabilitating the displaced. It has considered a plot of land in Jhumka of Sunsari district on which the construction of a jail is planned, according to GC. Another plot under consideration is occupied by a steel factory but the factory has refused to give it to the government.
Transport resumption top priority
Besides the immediate relief, the government has given top priority to resumption of transport from the eastern region to the rest of the country as more than 12 kilometers of the East-West Highway has been completely damaged by the floods. Secretary at the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works Purna Prasad Kadariya told the Central Natural Disaster Rescue Committee meeting Monday that the road will need at least four months to become operational once the water levels recede.
He said the ministry needs Rs. 320 million for repairing the damaged road, two culverts and other transport infrastructure. The ministry has proposed installing six Bailey bridges over the diverted Koshi River streams along the damaged 12-kilometer section of the highway to ensure smooth operation of vehicles. Installing the Bailey bridges also takes at least four months, he told the meeting. The bridges are to be imported as the ones available in Nepal are shorter than the width of the streams.
Three ferries as alternative
Concluding that it will take four months to bring the highway back into operation, the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works has proposed using ferries across the Saptakoshi near Chatara, a point where the river enters the Tarai plains. The ministry proposed that heavy vehicles coming west from the Koshi should be diverted to Dharan from Itahari, a traffic hob in the eastern region, to reach Chatara. Vehicles going east are to be diverted to Gaighat from Lahan or to Phattepur from Kanchanpur on the East-West Highway.
The Dharan-Chatara road has been recommended as feasible for heavy vehicles, according to the ministry's proposal. Since most of the industries in the eastern region are based in the Itahari-Biratnagar corridor, the road will be the only route for the transport of goods to the rest of the areas and to the capital. For light vehicles, the ministry has proposed the Jhumka-Chatara road along the Koshi East Canal. The canal-side road is not feasible for heavy vehicles.
The ministry has proposed operating three ferries for trucks and buses acrossing the river at its deepest point at Chatara. Building the ferries having 18-ton load capacity will cost more than Rs 10 million, according to the ministry's proposal. A heavy equipment manufacturer in Balaju can prepare the ferries in one month, Kadariya told the meeting. "But this is not a long-term solution," Kadariya was reported to have told the meeting. "It will work until the Bailey bridges are installed along the highway." Water Resources Ministry infrastructure worth Rs.570m damaged Infrastructure under the Water Resource Ministry worth Rs 570 million was damaged in the floods, according to Shankar Koirala, secretary at the Ministry of Water Resources. This includes Rs. 345 million in irrigation canals, Rs. 185 million in spurs and Rs 32.5 million in electricity poles, transmission lines and other things. Agriculture also has suffered a heavy loss. All the farmland in four villages in western Sunsari was submerged, 30,000 head of cattle were affected and 400 perished in the flood.
Record low water in Saptakoshi, repairs to be easy
With the record-low flow of water in the Saptakoshi River, technicians involved in the repair works of the spurs claimed that it would be easier for them to continue with their task. The water level was recorded at 1, 10,000 cusec Tuesday evening, which was 58,000 cusec less than that of 15 days ago when the erosion began.
Chief Engineer at Water Induced Disaster Management Office, Mohan Bhattarai, said that attempts to stop the erosion were satisfactory. He also claimed that the settlements-bound river waters which entered through western Kushaha, was not posing a big threat now. Workers involved in the repair works said that poor condition of the roads was posing problems to ferry construction materials in vehicles.
Koshi barrage should be scrapped: DPM
Bam Dev Gautan told the Central Natural Disaster Rescue Committee meeting on Monday that getting rid of the Koshi barrage was the only lasting solution to Koshi flooding. He said the government would take initiatives at the political and diplomatic levels toward terminating the Koshi Agreement signed at the time of the barrage construction 60 years ago. Gautam directed government officials to speed up relief and rehabilitation work in the flooded sites. On Tuesday, he inspected the affected areas along with home ministry officials, police chiefs and an army general.
Source: The Kathmandu Post, 3 September 2008
