KATHMANDU: Lawmakers have urged the government to intensify the search for people missing in the Bhotekoshi and Rasuwa floods and facilitate DNA testing to identify recovered bodies.
They also called for arrangements to ensure that families of people whose bodies have not been recovered can access legal rights related to death registration, insurance, compensation, banking and property division.
Speaking during the special hour of Thursday’s House of Representatives meeting, Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) lawmaker Thakur Singh Tharu said many families of the Rasuwa flood victims had performed final rites using symbolic bodies made of kush grass according to tradition, but such rites had not received legal recognition.
He said the absence of a recovered body meant that a postmortem report could not be prepared, preventing local authorities from registering the death. He urged the government to address such legal complications alongside relief and rehabilitation efforts.
Tharu also called for an immediate amendment to Section 40 of the National Civil Code, 2017, saying its provision concerning people missing in disasters was not reasonable.
“In disaster situations, the law should not create complications; families should be provided relief and justice and should not be made to wait for years,” he said.
RSP lawmaker Bishwaraj Pokhrel urged the government to intensify the search for missing people and conduct DNA testing on recovered but unidentified bodies to establish their identities and ensure proper final rites.
He said the right of bereaved families to bid farewell to their deceased relatives according to their religious traditions should be respected as both a humanitarian and legal right, taking into account international practices, human rights principles, International Committee of the Red Cross provisions and the National Civil Code.
Similarly, RSP lawmaker Krishnahari Budhathoki called for arrangements to make death registration, insurance claims, bank-related procedures and management of other liabilities easier for families who lost relatives in the Bhotekoshi flood.
Nepali Congress lawmaker Bishnu Bahadur Khadka called for more effective search and rescue operations for people missing in the Bhotekoshi flood, including intensified searches both inside and outside tunnels.
Nepali Congress lawmaker Gita Gurung urged the government to relocate vulnerable settlements along riverbanks and establish an early warning system in view of the risk of sudden floods originating from Tibet.
Lawmakers also drew the government’s attention to market monitoring during the festive season, controlling inflation and black-marketing, ensuring adequate LPG supplies and seeking compensation for climate-related disasters.
Nepali Communist Party lawmaker Mahendra Bahadur Shahi urged the government to control black-marketing and inflation, ensure the availability of daily necessities and improve travel safety during the festive season. He also called for mature diplomatic initiatives to ensure adequate LPG supplies.
Shram Sanskriti Party chief whip Aren Rai demanded the immediate repeal of the revised procedure that cuts welfare-oriented advertisements and called for an increase in such advertisements in line with current needs.
He also called on the government to make public details, budgets and objectives of political leadership development and youth mobilisation programmes operated in Nepal with assistance from foreign governments or organisations.
Rastriya Prajatantra Party lawmaker Tahir Ali Bhat raised concerns about youth unemployment, dissatisfaction in the education sector and limited access to health services.
RSP lawmaker Tara Bishwakarma asked when the approximately seven-kilometre road from Godawari Municipality Kunda to Chapakharka Triveni would be completed.
CPN-UML lawmaker Kul Bhakta Shakya said Lumbini and Tilaurakot in Kapilvastu had been neglected and urged the government to appoint officials to the Lumbini Development Trust at the earliest.
RPP lawmaker Bharat Giri said disruptions along the Prithvi Highway had begun causing shortages of daily necessities. He urged the government to prevent black-marketing and price hikes ahead of the festive season and prioritise the Nijgadh–Kathmandu Fast Track.
RSP lawmaker Aravind Sah thanked the government for its decision to establish a constituent engineering campus of Tribhuvan University in Madhes Province. He also called for improving the quality of schools in Madhes and filling teacher vacancies internally.
CPN-UML lawmaker Ringla Yadav demanded that the government make public details of the funds deposited in the Prime Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund, the amount spent and the beneficiaries.
Likewise, RSP lawmaker Ashok Kumar Chaudhary called for upgrading Itahari District Hospital. He said the previous LPG shortage had resulted from weaknesses in system management and noted that the current government had begun working to improve the system.
RSP lawmaker Nita Bhundari Karki said continuous erosion by the Lakhandahi River in Sarlahi-1 had left parts of Lalbandi resembling an island. She urged the government to initiate bilateral dialogue with India in view of the risk of inundation in border areas.
RSP lawmaker Ram Binod Yadav called on the government to make public service delivery more citizen-friendly and focus on implementing minimum service standards.
RSP lawmaker Amrita BK demanded action against gangs involved in deceiving and trafficking women in the name of employment. She urged authorities to investigate and take action against groups allegedly using visit visas to illegally send Dalit women to countries including Oman, Dubai, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
RSP lawmakers Lal Bikram Thapa and Jhabilal Dumre thanked the government and all agencies involved in rescue and relief operations during the disasters.
Dumre also raised the issue of climate justice, saying Nepal should seek compensation for climate-related losses rather than relying solely on relief and assistance.
RSP lawmaker Rukesh Ranjit urged the government to address rising prices of food and other essential goods as Dashain, Tihar and Chhath approach. He called for immediate action against those engaging in black-marketing under the pretext of supply-chain disruptions.
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