Laws should be formulated keeping disaster at centre: Law Minister Gautam

Kathmandu: Minister for Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs, Sobita Gautam, has said that laws need to be made focusing on disaster incidents.

Speaking at today’s meeting of the Parliamentary Special Committee on Climate Change Impact, Climate Justice, and Bhotekoshi-Trishuli Disasters under the House of Representatives, she said that even though disaster events are increasing, past warnings have not been taken seriously.

“There were consistent warnings about disasters in the past 10–12 years; how much did we listen, and how much did we not? Looking at the history—the massive Jure landslide, the landslide in Melamchi, the Thamey floods to the huge flooding by the Roshi River—there have been major disasters time and again in the river corridors and highway areas. The floods in Bhotekoshi and Rasuwa have shaken everyone.”

Minister Gautam emphasized that disasters should be at the centre not just when making laws but in every action of the state. She shared that the Ministry of Law has been continuously discussing with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) about the legal procedures regarding the declaration of death and death registration for people missing after the Bhotekoshi disaster.

Mentioning that the provisions related to the declaration of death are present in the Civil Code and the Registration Act among other laws, the Law Minister said it is also worth considering whether it would have been appropriate to amend the law in the face of the disaster. “At that time, there was a lot of debate about management of the dead bodies.

Issues about the availability of refrigerators from the private sector also came up. If the necessary legal provisions for dead body management hadn’t been made at that time, the situation could have become even more complicated,” Minister Gautam said.

She mentioned that the necessary legal framework for managing bodies was issued at the time, and now discussions are ongoing to find solutions regarding the process of declaring and registering deaths.

Minister Gautam informed that topics like relief after the Bhotekoshi disaster, weather forecasting, facilitating industrialists and businessmen, and protecting children who lost their families in disasters are related to the respective ministry.

Post-Bhotekoshi disaster reconstruction should be able to withstand disasters

Taking part in the discussions during the meeting, MPs emphasized providing victim-friendly relief and reconstruction in the areas affected by the Bhotekoshi disaster.

They have urged the government to arrange immediate relief and rehabilitation for those affected by the Bhotekoshi floods, provide legal and financial support to the families of missing persons, and focus on building infrastructure that can withstand future disasters.

The MPs mentioned that alongside the claim for climate-related damage, providing quick relief and rehabilitation to those affected is an important task today. They also suggested giving attention to operating the Kerung International Border, which has been damaged by floods and landslides, and recommended constructing physical infrastructures like bridges and roads.

They suggested that the state should pay attention to making special arrangements for declaring those unaccounted for as disaster dead and doing this is important because families can get benefits like insurance if someone missing is formally declared dead through special arrangements.

They suggested paying attention in time because water sources have dried up in the Bhotekoshi flood-affected area, which could cause problems with irrigation in the coming days.

They emphasized that infrastructure construction should be carried out only after assessing multiple types of risks and that to protect infrastructure from potential risks, we should avoid building structures along riverbanks as much as possible in the future and look for alternatives.

The lawmakers suggested adopting climate adaptation in the development and reconstruction to be done now.

They added that more investment and groundwork are needed to make the flood early warning system more reliable and effective. They further suggested paying special attention to protecting the local culture while rebuilding and recovery phases after the Bhotekoshi flood.

Those MPs speaking in the meeting included Mohan Acharya, Parashuram Tamang, Mingma Gyabu Sherpa, Achyutam Lamichhane, Gangadevi Shrestha, Dhananjaya Regmi, Sujata Tamang, Anushka Shrestha and Saraswati Lama.

RSS