The government is weak in preparing for disaster management. 37 people have lost their lives due to the flood and landslides in the capital valley where all the resources of the state power are concentrated due to the lack of vigilance and rescue preparations. Across the country, 112 people have died and 100 people have been injured. There has been huge damage to public and personal property.

Even though the Weather Forecasting Division and experts have been warning of the risk since a week ago, the government has been criticized everywhere for not being prepared accordingly. Not only from the citizen level, but also the leaders of the ruling party have criticized the government for not paying enough attention to the livelihood security of the people.

Ruling Congress leader Shekhar Koirala has commented that the government has shown indifference to the livelihood security of citizens. The government has also ignored the incident of people fleeing in the capital. This is extreme carelessness," Koirala said in a public program, "Is the government only a chair and a post?" Koirala asked, "Where is the state?" Referring to the huge loss of life in the capital, the external road connection was broken. 

On Saturday, the laborers who were there are being rescued after the motor factory was submerged by the flood in Lalitpur's Nakhkhu River. Photo: Hemant Shrestha/Kantipur

Five people were swept away on Saturday morning while waiting for rescue by sitting on a tin roof in Nakkhu, Lalitpur. In this regard, Acting Prime Minister Prakashman Singh said, 'The helicopter had to be ready for rescue. Everyone has seen the weather conditions. As the weather improves, helicopters and police have been mobilized to rescue citizens who are at high risk.

Home Minister Ramesh Akhtar said that due to lack of 'visibility', helicopters could not be used to rescue citizens who were stuck on a tin roof in the middle of the Nakkhu river. There was not enough visibility to fly the helicopter. Armed and rescue teams of Nepal Police tried from the ground. In that process, the young men also drowned. They are the ones who have to be rescued," he said. "I would like to express my grief on behalf of the government if they failed despite their efforts.

Lalitpur-25 Common people waiting for rescue on the roof of a terrace in Sugam settlement. Chaniklal Tamang rescued two of the five people who were swept away by the flood, while one of them swam out, two of them are still missing.  Photo:

from Jeevan Pokharel's Facebook At the moment, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is in America to participate in the United Nations General Assembly. According to Deputy Prime Minister and Urban Development Minister Singh, who is also acting Prime Minister, Prime Minister Oli is scheduled to return home on Monday as per the predetermined schedule. Oli had a telephone conversation with Bihan Singh in the morning to get information about the flood situation. After the dialogue, Singh held a coordination meeting of ministers and secretaries of concerned ministries along with disaster management officials at Singh Darbar. Earlier, at 10 o'clock, the Home Minister called an emergency security meeting. 

Acting Prime Minister Singh has claimed that the rescue work of the government is satisfactory. He said that if the government did not speed up the rescue on time, more citizens would have lost their lives. We could not have predicted that there would be such a heavy rain. According to the report, the disaster management committee and the Ministry of Home Affairs had prepared. The number of deaths has been reduced due to timely rescue by the government," Singh told Kantipur, "CDO (Chief District Officer) and security personnel have been active in the district since morning. We are doing the work that needs to be done on behalf of the government.' 

In the coordination meeting chaired by Acting Prime Minister Singh, the Nepali Army and Police concluded that the disaster victims were rescued in time. In the meeting, the heads of the security agencies gave a 'briefing' about the damage caused by the flood. The meeting instructed the relevant ministries to immediately start operating the blocked road and water supply.

"Decisions have been made such as repairing roads damaged by landslides and opening transport services as soon as possible, repairing water supply in places where water supply has been cut off, and keeping ambulances ready at airports and flood-affected areas," said a minister. According to him, the meeting has also decided to arrange free treatment for those injured in the flood. The government has also called an all-party meeting on Sunday to discuss this matter.

The government has asked the local level to close schools for three days from Sunday, saying that life has been disrupted by the floods. The Ministry of Education has asked for the postponement of the education, stating that the school building has been damaged, students and parents have been affected by the flood, transportation has been disrupted and there has been difficulty in daily life.

According to the statement issued by the ministry, in the emergency meeting held on Saturday under the chairmanship of Acting Prime Minister Singh, it was also decided to postpone the examinations of all educational institutions including universities and councils and request them to be conducted at an appropriate time.