Bhotekoshi disaster: regional dialogue held in Bangkok, panel seeks relief fund spending details

The Parliamentary Special Committee for the Study and Monitoring of the Bhotekoshi and Kaligandaki Corridor Disaster has demanded that the Prime Minister's Disaster Relief Fund publish detailed information on the funds received and spent.

At its meeting, the committee sought information on the total amount collected in the fund, its sources, and the allocation and spending made to affected municipalities and wards. Committee chair Krishna Prasad Paudel also demanded details of the relief and compensation given to affected local levels and wards.

According to Narayan Prasad Sharma Duwadi, Secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, about Rs 18.28 billion has been collected in total in the Prime Minister's Disaster Relief Fund and the Prime Minister's Relief Fund. He said a separate, source-wise breakdown of the amount received through banks would be made available.

Meanwhile, in Bangkok, Thailand, Nepal jointly organised a high-level regional dialogue on the Bhotekoshi-Trishuli disaster with UN ESCAP on Thursday. The dialogue, titled "From Sagarmatha to the Sea," was held on the sidelines of ESCAP's fifth ministerial conference.

Ministers, diplomats, scientists and disaster management experts from across Asia-Pacific took part. Rising temperatures have triggered a chain of disasters in the mountain region, and Nepal used the occasion to brief participants on this crisis.