The National Disaster Management Executive Committee under the home ministry on Monday announced relief schemes for families of those killed or missing in monsoon-induced floods and landslides.

During a meeting on Monday, the committee decided that the families of those unaccounted for after ten days will be provided with relief equal to the amount given to the families of the deceased.

The government has also decided to form a special task force within 15 days to assess the losses caused by rain-induced disasters across the country. The decision comes with the intent of offering timely compensation for those affected by the floods and landslides that are the result of incessant rains from September 27.

As per the decision, relevant ministries will promptly commence the reconstruction of government and public buildings and transport infrastructure, including roadways and bridges.

The committee also decided to provide temporary housing grants within seven days for the families that lost their homes. The committee stated that the district disaster management committees, led by the respective chief district officer (CDO), would facilitate and coordinate with the local and provincial bodies to implement these decisions.

“The relief distribution programme is already underway,” Dil Kumar Tamang, information officer at the home ministry, told the Post. “As per the decision of the National Disaster Management Executive Committee’s meeting, we have provided Rs200,000 to each bereaved family, and temporary shelters are being arranged for those in need.”

Due to the monsoon-induced floods and landslides, 238 people have lost their lives across the country as of Wednesday evening.

Last week’s incessant rain caused water levels in Kathmandu’s major rivers, including Bagmati, Bishnumati, and Dhobikhola, to rise, flooding nearby settlements. Areas such as Nakkhu, Balkumari, and Gwarko in Lalitpur were also inundated after the Karmasasha, Nakkhu, Godavari, and Bagmati rivers breached their banks.

In Bhaktapur, the Hanumante river crossed the danger mark, inundating several riverside settlements and displacing hundreds of people.

Although the government official claimed that relief distribution had already begun, Min Kumar Magar, who resides along the Bagmati riverbank at Thapathali in Kathmandu, told the Post on Wednesday evening that he and other flood victims have yet to get any assistance.

“Some police officers came by on Monday afternoon to collect data, but we are yet to get any relief,” Magar told the Post.

Not only Magar, but Kumar Thapa, another flood victim who lives in Nakhipot, Lalitpur, also said his family had also not received any relief announced by the government.

Madhav Prasad Dhungana, Kathmandu’s deputy chief district officer and spokesperson for the District Administration Office, says the district’s relief distribution is coordinated with the Nepal Red Cross Society and various municipalities. As relief is being distributed by area, it is possible that some people might not have received it yet, but they will soon, Dhungana said.

“Soon after the heavy rainfall started on Saturday, our district administration office started distributing the relief,” Dhungana told the Post. “At present, we are focussing on helping those affected by heavy rains.”

Dhungana said that as the government has adopted the one-door policy for relief distribution, all the relief that reaches needy people comes through the government.

Relief distribution in Lalitpur district has been coordinated with local representatives, says the assistant CDO, Kalpana Ghimire Nepal, who is also the spokesperson for the Lalitpur CDO office.

According to her, the Lalitpur administration has taken twin approaches while distributing aid to those in need. “Based on the request from local bodies, we have arranged for relief materials to be sent to the local units,” Nepal told the Post. “We have also started providing Rs200,000 to the families of the deceased from the disaster management fund.”

Assistant CDO Nepal said they distributed relief money in the Godavari area on Tuesday and in the Lalitpur metropolitan area on Wednesday, and that the distribution will be continued for the next few days.

Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has criticised the government’s relief distribution efforts as less than proactive. An NHRC official, citing reports, said the relief distribution is not satisfactory even in most areas within the Kathmandu Valley, let alone in remote parts of the country.

“While some people may have received relief from certain organisations, the information sent by our team members from the field suggest that many people within the Kathmandu Valley have not gotten any help,” an NHRC official said.

“When giving any kind of help, priority should be given to marginalised groups,” the deputy spokesperson of NHRC Shyam Babu Kafle told the Post. “In similar situations in the past, we have seen political parties giving priority to their own cadres for relief, and we have cautioned the government not to let that happen this time.”