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Koshi River Floods: More Talks and Some Actions
By KTM Metro Reporter in Kathmandu
More than 20,000 Nepalis have been the victims of the floods caused by the breakup of small portion of the embankment built for controlling the river water held back by the dam built on the Koshi River right on the border between Nepal and India following the Koshi Agreement Between Nepal and India of 1954 signed by the then Nepali Congress Government led by Matrika Prasad Koirala, half brother of the former Prime Minister and current President of Nepali Congress Girija Prasad Koirala.
Numerous agencies and organizations have been collecting donations from Nepalis for providing relief to the flood victims. Nobody knows how many of the donations collected by so many agencies really have reached the flood victims. Some opportunists also become active in such situation to take the advantage of fund-raising in the name of flood victims.
According to the press, many flood victims have been still living under inhuman conditions and living on dry food even after so many days of so many organizations flocking to the area and trying to provide the flood victims with relief. However, some press reports say that the relief materials sent to the victims disappeared on the way.
The government has made a one-door system of providing relief materials to victims to manage properly the relief work. The political cadres also have been actively participating in providing the flood victims with relief materials but some critics say that they have been doing so for their own voters only.
The Prime Minister has been very busy accepting the donations for the relief of the flood victims. The Prime Minister’s Fund for Relief has already Rs 60 million provided by various agencies and individuals; however, the relief workers have to alleviate the misery of the flood victims, yet. The Prime Minister has released Rs 20 million for relief work immediately after the return from the visit to the flood-affected areas on August 20, 2008.
The government says that it has been preparing short-term and long-term plans for the assistance of flood victims. Interacting with the locals while visiting the flood-hit areas on September 02, 2008, the Deputy Prime Minister disclosed that the government has a plan of spending Rs 2.25 billions for the relief of flood victims.
The Press Trust of India reported that Indian Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav is coming to Nepal to talk to the President and the Prime Minister of Nepal about the measures to take up for resolving the problems of floods in Nepal and India.
Nepalese team and Indian team have been working to stop the undercutting of land by the Koshi River. Recently, the government of Nepal has deployed Nepali Army, too for controlling the massive soil erosion caused by the Koshi River.
The concerned Nepalese government authorities say that the Indian team regularly inspect and patrol the embankments following the Koshi Agreement Between Nepal and India of 1954; so, Nepalis could do nothing. However, the Indians also say that they could do nothing without the cooperation of the Nepalese authorities.
