KATHMANDU: The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) has said the government is preparing to issue death certificates for people who went missing in the Bhotekoshi floods.
Speaking at a meeting of the Parliamentary Special Committee for Study and Monitoring of Disasters in the Bhotekoshi and Kaligandaki corridors at Singha Durbar on Tuesday, NDRRMA Chief Executive Dr Dharma Raj Upreti said the law had been amended to allow missing persons to be legally declared dead or treated as deceased.
He said the process of issuing death certificates to both Nepali and foreign nationals missing in the floods had reached its final stage.
Upreti added that the verification process would become easier once DNA test results arrived at the police laboratory. That process is also nearing completion, he said.
Relief and rescue operations are continuing, while work on other recovery measures is also underway, according to Upreti.
He said the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport was overseeing the construction of transitional shelters and efforts to expedite the work.
Upreti also said work had begun in areas declared disaster-affected following damage to roads and other infrastructure caused by late-monsoon floods in Manang, Mustang, Myagdi and Parbat districts.
At the meeting, Physical Infrastructure Development Ministry Secretary Padma Kumar Mainali said land had been identified at 300 locations through the Ministry of Land Management for the construction of transitional shelters.
The government aims to set up around 100 high-quality tents as transitional shelters before Dashain, Mainali said. He added that coordination was still needed, as local governments are responsible for selecting beneficiaries.
Krishna Prasad Paudel, chair of the parliamentary special committee, said a report would be prepared based on facts and data and presented at a National Assembly meeting.