Tenders for flood-damaged structures before Dashain, efforts to rehabilitate displaced people, says Minister Lamsal

Kathmandu, October 6

Infrastructure Development Minister Sunil Lamsal has said bids will be invited before Dashain to rebuild structures damaged in the Bhotekoshi–Trishuli flood, and that efforts will be made to rehabilitate displaced people. He also said the process of amending existing laws is moving ahead so that infrastructure is built in a way that natural disasters cannot damage.

“The present practice is exactly the opposite, and we are now departing with a major paradigm shift,” he said. “The government is taking that forward.”

From now on, he said, bridges must be designed to withstand even high floods.

Minister Lamsal said current designs are based on estimates of how high floodwater will reach, but pay no attention to the stones, gravel and sand that pile up every year. He said bridges will be built with that in mind.

“Compared with the hills, the Tarai has much more deposition. But existing law does not allow extraction from forest and national park areas,” he said. “When we extract more than the allowed amount, it causes erosion problems, and when we don’t extract, it damages infrastructure too. In the new law, we have started the process of amending the law to solve this problem.”

Contracts and rehabilitation before Dashain

He said the process of awarding contracts to rebuild damaged bridges, roads and other physical infrastructure will start before Dashain.

He also said work is underway with the aim of arranging safe housing soon for those who lost their homes.

“We are working to the target of providing housing before Dashain,” Minister Lamsal said. “As far as possible, we want to rehabilitate people and create a festive atmosphere.”

He also committed to working to solve the drought problem in the Tarai.

He said the Bhotekoshi–Trishuli flood was unusual and beyond what the early warning system could keep pace with, and that the government will pay attention to this in the future.

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