Flood victims waiting for relief material

Flood and landslide hit people of mid and far western regions are waiting for the relief materials as diseases have struck the stranded starving people of Banke.
Most affected are the children and the aged from Simrana Khadaicha, Chhitaipurawa, Chauferi in Holiya VDC of Banke district. They are suffering from cholera, pneumonia, typhoid and common flu.
People lament that no health team has so far visited the affected areas. More than 100 persons are suffering from diarrhea and fever in Holiya’s Chauferi, said Ramdin Yadav, one of the flood victims .
Of the 500 persons who were air-lifted from Holiya’s Semarhana to Uchuwa in Jhora forests, more than 200 have fallen ill. Of them 150 are children, who have fever, cholera and conjunctivitis.
Reports quoted assistant Chief District Officer Narendra Prasad Sharma as saying that the authorities were aware that the flood-hit people were falling ill and necessary medical treatment was underway.
More than 500 houses in Banke district have been completely damaged due to the flood.
The relief material, including food grains and clothes meant for flood victims of Khaptad and Devisthan, has been stuck in Achham’s Sanfebagar airport as the helicopter could not take off due to bad weather.
The food grains and clothes were collected at the initiative of Sanfebagar management committee on Wednesday.
The relief operation has been hit by torrential rain, said Commander of Nepal Army’s Badimalika Battalion, Srikanta Koirala.
More than 25 thousand people from Banke and Bardiya districts have been displaced due to floods triggered by torrential down pours.

Meanwhile a press statement issued by the Directorate of Public Relations of Nepal Army said the army rescued four people from Simail Tank area of the Dashrathchand municipality of Baitadi district and sent them to Baitadi district hospital for treatment.
The release further said that the army carried out rescue operations in Bardiya, Chitwan and Accham District.
The statement further said that the acting Chief of the Army Staff, General Rukmangad Katawal has directed all units of Nepal army to actively assist the local administration in carrying out rescue operations.
Katawal also asked the army personnel to work in coordination with the local people, civil servants and effectively utilize the resources.

21 more die in floods, landslides

At least 21 people are confirmed dead in the spate of flooding and landslides in various districts in the past two days. While scores are still missing, over 10,000 have been displaced in Bardiya district alone.
Eight bodies each were recovered in Achham and Doti, two each in Bardiya and Baitadi and one in Banke district.
In Achham, five members of a family were buried in a landslide in Balyalta village, Khaptad VDC. Bude Bhul, 45, Company Bhul, 40, Krishna Bhul, 40, and a woman and girl child (unidentified) of the same family were buried under rubble.
Likewise, Prem Rawal, 70, and an unidentified elderly woman were buried alive in Devisthan VDC-5.
Also, Kale Bhul, 19, of Bhageshwor VDC in the same district, was swept away by a flooded river.
Five houses were swept away and over 100 houses have been completely damaged in Balyalta village which has been scarred by over 50 landslides, locals said. Around 300 head of cattle were also swept away by the landslide.
Security sources at Dhangadhi said that a rescue team comprising security personnel and Red Cross officials reached the village in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, a 27-member team headed by Home Minister Krishna Sitaula reached landslide-hit Balyalta village by helicopter and returned to Nepalgunj after inspecting the affected areas.
In Banke, rescue workers recovered the unidentified body of a man at Khatkan Puruwa area in Kamdi VDC, Monday. According to the local administration, 11 persons are still missing in Pudanbhetwa VDC. Army and police have started a full-scale rescue operation in flood-affected areas of the district.
According to the authorities, 300 people from flood-hit villages have been moved to safer places and given relief supplies. However, the scale of damage at villages across the swollen Rapti River could not be ascertained.
In Baitadi, Janaki Chand, 9, of Chokham VDC-4 was swept away by the Gansur rivulet while Ram Singh Saud of Malladehi-4 was buried and died in a landslide in the village Monday.
The local administration fears that the scale of damage in the area could be much worse. A team from the district Red Cross was sent to take stock of the situation.
In Bardiya, two were recovered from local Saryu River while an unidentified body was found on the bank of the Babai River, Monday. Over a dozen are still missing, according to Tirtha Bhattarai, administrative officer at
the District Administration Office.
Over 10,000 people have been displaced in the district. Among them, around 3,000 have been evacuated and accomodated in school buildings, at campuses and at government establishments in Gulariya, the district headquarters.
Over 300,000 people of 11 VDCs in the Rajapur Tappu area in the district have also been affected by flooding.
Meanwhile, Bimala Poudel of Sandhikharka-7 in Arghakhanchi district died and two others were injured after a house collapsed following incessant rainfall in Divarna VDC, Monday morning.
Similarly, Thulimaya Gurung, 60, of Manahari VDC-8 in Makawanpur district was swept away by a stream near her house Sunday morning.
In Nawalparasi, over three dozen families have been displaced while around 150 houses in Rampur and Khadauna VDCs are on the verge of collapse due to flooding.
Over 3,200 bigha of standing paddy in the district has been inundated.
Chief District Officer Madhav Prasad Regmi said that Bhujahawa, Somani, Pratappur, Kudiya and other VDCs were also badly affected by the floods.
Our report from Darchula said that 35 families of Katai VDC have been taking refuge in neighboring villages following landslides in the area.
"We chose to flee leaving behind goods and cattle as it [landslide] is still continuing," said Bhojraj Joshi, a local.
Locals at district headquarters are reeling under darkness as a hydro-power project on the bank of the Lasku Khola was damaged by landslide, Saturday.
In Kailali, six houses were demolished while 26 others were inundated due to flooding in the Chuha area. The flood also destroyed paddy on over 500 bigha of land.
Twenty families at Dhaungana Tole of Narayanpur were evacuated while over 300 families at Pratappur, Thapapur, Joshipur and Dhansinghpur have also been affected.

Maoists must lay down their weapons before joining an interim govt: US Congressmen

Visiting US Congressmen Jim Kolbe and Brian Baird have said they support Prime Minister G P Koirala's position that the Maoists must lay down their weapons before joining an interim government.

Addressing a brief press meet organized at The American Center in the Nepali capital prior to the conclusion of their four-day visit to Nepal, leader of the delegation Jim Kolbe said it would be impossible to have democracy and stability if one side continued to have arms. "In order to move this peace process further, they (the Maoists) must keep their arms aside," he added.When asked regarding the role of the United Nations in Nepal's peace process, Mr. Kolbe – who is also the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs-- said whatever the mandate of the UN, it will not include the ability to use force to disarm the Maoists. The 11-time representative in the US House from the state of Arizona, Kolbe said it was absolutely essential that the Maoists agree to set aside their arms and take part in the political process. "They are acting in a fashion that is contrary to the peace agreement and contrary to the view of Nepali people," he added.In a joint statement issued at the press meet, Congressmen Kolbe and Brian Baird said, "In our four-day visit, we have been impressed by the promise of Nepal's young democracy. We also grasp the difficult challenges that must be overcome to ensure that this democracy flourishes and Nepal enjoys a peaceful and prosperous future."Responding to a query, senior Democrat Congressman Brian Baird said the delegation was very moved by the situation of Bhutanese refugees in the camps in eastern Nepal. "The ideal condition would be their repatriation to their homeland," he said. Baird – who represents Washington D. C.-- added that during their next leg of visit to Bhutan, they will be meeting Bhutanese officials and urging them to be more proactive especially in working with the Nepali government and not to let the situation worsen further with respect to the Nepali-speaking population within Bhutan.He, however, said some Bhutanese refugees could choose third country settlement as an option. "But that should not be seen by the Bhutan government as an easy solution to this problem. They have a great responsibility to resolve this problem and should not take it as an excuse for further suppression of their people," he added.Responding to another query regarding Tibetan refugees, Kolbe said the US had indicated willingness and desire to take additional five thousand Tibetan refugees to the US. "We are continuing to take some of them," he added.When asked about the timing of his visit, Kolbe said it was an appropriate time for the US delegation to visit Nepal when peace accord had taken place between the government and rebels. "I believe, we have a moral responsibility to help Nepal build democracy," he said adding, "Though a small country, Nepal was located strategically between the two Asian giants and success here in creating a democracy and bringing peace and stability would be extremely important not only for its neighbours but for the whole region.""We can do a lot, but in the end, it has to be the Nepali people themselves to take crucial decisions," he added.The four-member delegation of the US House of Representatives arrived in Kathmandu Friday morning for a four-day visit.
Other members of the delegation included Ander Crenshaw, also a member of the Foreign Operations subcommittee and Fred Upton, a senior official. The delegation will travel to Bhutan, India, and Mongolia after Nepa

Government committed to ratify ICC Rome Statute: PM Koirala

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has assured that the government will ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as soon as possible.
During his meeting with an international delegation of the ICC campaign on Saturday, he said that the government was positive about ratifying the ICC Rome Statute and added that ICC Rome statute was essential for safeguarding the rights of people under serious threats.
“PM Koirala informed us that the government will ratify the Rome Statute and that he intended to bring the Maoists to the mainstream,” reports quoted Dr Ahmed Ziauddin, member of the team, as saying.
The team met deputy prime minister KP Oli and CPN-UML leader Madhav Nepal on Friday, according to the Informal Sector Service Centre. Oli also assured the team that the Rome Statute would be ratified once the Bill on Military Act tabled at the Parliament was amended.
Cases of genocide and grave human rights violations can be tried at the International Criminal Court once Nepal is a signatory to the Statute.
The ICC campaign team arrived in Nepal to lobby with the government regarding the ratification of the ICC Rome Statute.
“It is important for Nepal to become a party to the ICC Rome Statute so that the international mechanism will help the country put the necessary laws in place and reinforce the judiciary,” said Ziauddin, adding it will also help Nepal deal with human rights issues.
Subodh Pyakurel, chairman of INSEC, said the Rome Statute is yet to be tabled at the Parliament although the HoR has already passed a resolution directing the government to ratify the Statute.
On July 25, the House of Representatives had passed a resolution directing the government to ratify the ICC Rome Statute expressing firm commitment against all forms of crime against humanity.