Govt effortful to reduce disaster impact: Home Minister Khand

Home Minister Balkrishna Khand has said government is effortful to minimize the loss caused by the disasters. Home Minister Khand said it on Saturday while inaugurating a bailey bridge constructed over the Melamchi River linking Helambu Rural Municipality-2 and 7.

Necessary efforts are underway to control and reduce the disaster risks, he said, adding that government is always ready to carry out responsibility towards citizens despite limited resources. The Home Minister directed the concerned ones to prepare DPR for the construction of bridges swept away by the flooded Melamchi River last monsoon.

On the occasion, he expressed confidence that the bailey bridge would be an exemplary development carried out by the Nepali Army in a short time.

He asked local people to follow the health protocols against the virus with use of facemasks and sanitizers and getting vaccinated against it. Chairperson of Helambu Rural Municipality Nima Gyaljen Sherpa demanded the formation of a committee to protect the settlements at risk of flooding in Melamchi area and announcement of reliefs to flood victims whose lands and houses were swept away by the flood.

He urged the Home Minister to make arrangements to release budget to prepare the detailed project report to construct bridges and blacktop damaged roads in the Melamchi area.

Director of the Nepali Army Disaster Management Yam Prasad Dhakal stressed the need for constructing embankments on the riverbanks of the Melamchi River after redirecting it to its original course so as to protect the settlements downstream. Construction of a bridge at Helambu and surrounding rural municipalities would help resume trade and people’s mobility, he said.

The Nepali Army constructed the bridge in the area at the cost of over Rs 11 million.

People’s mobility has been heavily affected after the bridges in the area were swept away by the flood last July.
Five concrete bridges were washed away and over 300 private houses were damaged in the disaster. Similarly, hundred ropanis of farmlands were swept away.