KAVRE, Nepal — Survivors of the monsoon floods that ravaged Nepal at the weekend criticized the government on Tuesday for inadequate relief efforts during a disaster that killed at least 218 people.
Deadly floods and landslides are common across South Asia during the monsoon season from June to September but experts say climate change is making them worse.
Entire neighborhoods in the capital Katmandu were inundated at the weekend, along with villages in remote pockets of the Himalayan country that were still awaiting relief efforts.
“There is no road, so no one has come,” Mira KC, who lives in a village in Kavre district to Katmandu’s east, said.
“Even if they do, those who died are dead already and the damage is done. All they will do is offer condolences, what will they do?”
The floods disproportionately hit Katmandu’s poorest residents living in haphazard slums along the banks of the Bagmati river and its tributaries, which run through the city.
Slum resident Man Kumar Rana Magar, 49, said that authorities had provided shelter for him and his neighbors at a school after their homes were inundated.
However, he said they had been forced to leave before they were ready to return to their homes when the school reopened for classes.
“We are so close to the seat of the government. If they cannot take care of the poor this close, what will they do about others?” he said.
At least 218 people were killed in the floods, with another 27 still missing, according to Nepal’s home ministry. More than 4,000 others were rescued.
Nepal’s weather bureau said preliminary data showed 240 millimeters (9.4 inches) of rain fell in the 24 hours to Saturday morning, the biggest single-day downpour in more than two decades.
Experts said authorities did not prepare adequately for the disaster despite forecasts of intense storms.
“Precautions that should have been taken were ignored,” climate expert Arun Bhakta Shrestha, of Katmandu-based think tank International Center for Integrated Mountain Development, said.
Nepali disaster management expert Man Bahadur Thapa said gaps in coordination and resources had also hindered the rescue process.
“We could have saved a lot more lives if we prepared and built the capacity of our responders,” he said.
Home ministry spokesman Rishi Ram Tiwari said authorities had been “working relentlessly since the disaster began and all our resources are at work.”
Monsoon rains bring widespread death and destruction in the form of floods and landslides across South Asia every year.
Experts say climate change has worsened their frequency and intensity.
More than 300 people have been killed in rain-related disasters in Nepal this year.
AN-AFP
BAHASA MELAYU
Kemarahan di Nepal atas kelewatan bantuan apabila jumlah korban banjir cecah 218
KAVRE, Nepal — Mereka yang terselamat daripada banjir monsun yang melanda Nepal pada hujung minggu mengkritik kerajaan pada Selasa kerana usaha bantuan yang tidak mencukupi semasa bencana mengorbankan sekurang-kurangnya 218 orang.
Banjir maut dan tanah runtuh adalah perkara biasa di Asia Selatan semasa musim tengkujuh dari Jun hingga September tetapi pakar berkata perubahan iklim memburukkan lagi keadaan.
Seluruh kawasan kejiranan di ibu kota Katmandu ditenggelami air pada hujung minggu, bersama-sama dengan kampung-kampung di poket terpencil di negara Himalaya itu yang masih menunggu usaha bantuan.
“Tiada jalan, jadi tiada siapa yang datang,” Mira KC, yang tinggal di sebuah kampung di daerah Kavre di sebelah timur Katmandu, berkata.
“Walaupun mereka melakukannya, mereka yang mati sudah mati dan kerosakan telah berlaku. Apa yang mereka akan lakukan hanyalah mengucapkan takziah, apa yang akan mereka lakukan?”
Banjir secara tidak seimbang melanda penduduk termiskin di Katmandu yang tinggal di kawasan setinggan seram di sepanjang tebing sungai Bagmati dan anak sungainya, yang mengalir melalui bandar.
Penduduk setinggan Man Kumar Rana Magar, 49, berkata pihak berkuasa telah menyediakan tempat berteduh untuk dia dan jirannya di sebuah sekolah selepas rumah mereka ditenggelami air.
Bagaimanapun, dia berkata mereka telah dipaksa keluar sebelum mereka bersedia untuk pulang ke rumah masing-masing apabila sekolah dibuka semula untuk kelas.
“Kami begitu hampir dengan kerusi kerajaan. Jika mereka tidak dapat menjaga orang miskin sedekat ini, apakah yang akan mereka lakukan terhadap orang lain?” katanya.
Sekurang-kurangnya 218 orang terbunuh dalam banjir, dengan 27 lagi masih hilang, menurut kementerian dalam negeri Nepal. Lebih 4,000 yang lain telah diselamatkan.
Biro cuaca Nepal berkata, data awal menunjukkan 240 milimeter (9.4 inci) hujan turun dalam tempoh 24 jam hingga pagi Sabtu, hujan lebat sehari terbesar dalam lebih dua dekad.
Pakar berkata pihak berkuasa tidak bersedia secukupnya untuk bencana itu walaupun diramalkan ribut kuat.
“Langkah berjaga-jaga yang sepatutnya diambil tidak diendahkan,” kata pakar iklim, Arun Bhakta Shrestha, dari pusat pemikir Pusat Antarabangsa bagi Pembangunan Gunung Bersepadu yang berpangkalan di Katmandu.
Pakar pengurusan bencana Nepal, Man Bahadur Thapa berkata jurang dalam penyelarasan dan sumber juga telah menghalang proses menyelamat.
“Kita boleh menyelamatkan lebih banyak nyawa jika kita menyediakan dan membina kapasiti responder (pasukan tindak balas pertama) kita,” katanya.
Jurucakap kementerian dalam negeri Rishi Ram Tiwari berkata pihak berkuasa telah “bekerja tanpa henti sejak bencana bermula dan semua sumber kami sedang bekerja.”
Hujan monsun membawa kematian dan kemusnahan meluas dalam bentuk banjir dan tanah runtuh di seluruh Asia Selatan setiap tahun.
Pakar berkata perubahan iklim telah memburukkan kekerapan dan keamatannya.
Lebih 300 orang terbunuh dalam bencana berkaitan hujan di Nepal tahun ini.
AN-AFP
