KATHMANDU, Oct 13: Krishna Prasad Poudel, chair of the National Assembly’s special parliamentary committee studying and monitoring disasters along the Bhotekoshi and Kaligandaki corridors, has said disaster risks cannot be reduced without relocating vulnerable riverside settlements to safer locations.
Speaking at the committee’s meeting on Tuesday, Poudel said authorities must sooner or later acknowledge that settlements along riverbanks face extreme risks. He said that if awareness campaigns alone cannot persuade residents to relocate, the government must incorporate relocation measures into its policies and programmes and take necessary action.
He also stressed the need to make early warning systems more systematic and scientific. Nepal, he said, should study the warning systems and methods adopted by developed countries and implement approaches suited to the country’s needs.
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Poudel said the committee’s study report should go beyond immediate disaster management and serve as a comprehensive, analytical guide for the future.
The committee also incorporated suggestions from its members, revised its terms of reference and approved the expanded scope at Tuesday’s meeting.
The revised terms cover scientific assessments of disaster causes, risks and damage; risk reduction, preparedness and early warning; search, rescue, treatment and humanitarian response; relief, compensation and social protection for affected people; rehabilitation, resettlement and the development of safe settlements.
The committee will also examine disaster-resilient infrastructure reconstruction and development, intergovernmental, cross-border and international cooperation, climate justice, legal and policy reforms, and the development of a long-term roadmap.
The committee said it would take an integrated approach to disaster management, examining the entire process from preparedness and immediate rescue and relief to reconstruction and the development of safer settlements.
The National Assembly formed the special committee to address the loss of lives and property, damage to infrastructure and livelihoods, and environmental destruction caused by the Bhotekoshi flood on August 26, 2026, and subsequent rain-related disasters along the Bhotekoshi, Trishuli and Kaligandaki corridors. Its mandate includes immediate relief as well as rehabilitation, resettlement, safer reconstruction and long-term disaster risk reduction.
The committee’s term runs until the end of Poush 2083, in mid-January 2027.