KATHMANDU: Lawmakers have urged the government to declare a national day of mourning in response to the devastating floods in Rasuwa.
The lawmakers made the demand while speaking during the zero hour of the National Assembly on Tuesday.
Nepali Congress lawmaker Yubaraj Sharma urged the government to declare a national day of mourning and said the country must stand united in the face of the disaster.
“What was not supposed to happen has happened. Now, the government’s focus should be on search, rescue, relief and rehabilitation,” Sharma said. “Result-oriented action and proper management are needed rather than propaganda.” He also called for collective efforts to deal with the disaster.
Similarly, CPN (Maoist Centre) lawmaker Madan Kumari Shah ‘Garima’ demanded that the government declare a national day of mourning and lower the national flag for one day to express condolences to the victims.
She also called for the disaster to be raised at the international level, arguing that the consequences of climate change caused largely by the actions of wealthy and developed countries are being disproportionately suffered by countries like Nepal.
The devastating flood struck the Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwa on August 26.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), 987 bodies had been recovered from the disaster as of 9 am Tuesday.
Of the bodies recovered, 27 were found in Rasuwa, 95 in Nuwakot, 55 in Dhading, 65 in Gorkha, 38 in Tanahun, 216 in Nawalparasi East, 170 in Nawalparasi West and 321 in Chitwan.
NDRRMA said 3,916 people remain unaccounted for, while 279 people have been injured. So far, 11,814 people have been rescued.
A total of 20,819 security personnel have been deployed for search, rescue, relief and rehabilitation operations. Of them, 8,722 are from the Nepal Army, 7,894 from the Nepal Police and 4,203 from the Armed Police Force.
Lawmakers also drew the government’s attention to the scale of the disaster and called for stronger action through Parliament.
Nepali Communist Party (NCP) lawmaker Suresh Kumar Ale Magar said that the increasing occurrence of unseasonal and extreme natural disasters is linked to global warming and climate change driven largely by wealthy and developed countries.
He said, however, that poor and developing countries such as Nepal are bearing the brunt of the adverse effects.
Ale Magar urged the international community to recognize the disproportionate impact of climate change on vulnerable countries and called for greater international attention and support for Nepal.
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