After two weeks of obstruction, the ruling and opposition parties on Wednesday came together to resume the meeting of the House of Representatives, which directed the government to take serious steps to provide relief and rehabilitation for the victims of rain-induced disasters across the country.

Two opposition parties—Nepali Congress and Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal—had been resorting to the obstruction of the House, demanding the formation of a parliamentary panel to look into the two deaths in Sarlahi last month. Kumar Paudel, district chief of the Communist Party of Nepal led by Netra Bikram Chand, and Saroj Narayan Mahato, a Sarlahi resident, were killed in police firing.

Following continued obstruction, Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara held two rounds of talks with cross-party leaders to find a way out of the logjam. The dissenting parties agreed to clear the hurdles on the condition that they get to present the motion of public importance on the floods and landslides with a provision to direct the government for prompt response.

Dilli Malla, press advisor to Mahara, said the opposition parties agreed to keep the demand for formation of the probe committee on hold until the next meeting. The two opposition parties had been obstructing the Lower House since July 9 as the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) stood firm against forming the committee.

“Finally, we could forge a consensus in resuming the House. We have, yet again, demonstrated our culture of standing together during the time of a crisis,” said Nepali Congress leader Minendra Rijal, while presenting the proposal before the House. Around five dozen lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties discussed the motion before the House endorsed it unanimously.

At least 108 people have died while 33 people from 35 districts have disappeared in the foods and landslides since the onset of monsoon, according Minister for Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa. He said that 41,204 security personnel are directly involved in the rescue, relief and rehabilitation works.

Expressing their views on the motion, opposition lawmakers said the government has failed to carry out rescue and relief works effectively. They also demanded an early preparation and long-term solution to the perennial problem. Stating that Nepal and India should work together to find a lasting solution to the problem of flooding and inundation, Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba asked the government to use diplomatic channel to discuss the problem with the southern neighbour. “Blaming each other—India to Nepal and Nepal to India—is not a solution, only proper dialogue can give a way out,” Deuba told the House meeting.

A majority of lawmakers who took part in the discussion said the trend of sitting idle for the months after monsoon is to blame for the huge losses every year. Flood creates havoc in the Tarai districts every year while those from the hills are troubled by landslides. Lawmakers unanimously asked the government to have proper plans for building embankments, and ending the encroachment of rivers and unchecked degradation of the Chure as a long-term solution. They also asked for adequate compensation and a relief package for the deceased families and those who have lost their residence and land.

“We were united to combat hardship in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake. It is high time we demonstrated the same level of unity to support the flood and landslide victims,” said Yogesh Bhattarai, a communist party lawmaker.

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