Kathmandu Metropolis Expects Fewer Riverine Disasters After Slum Evictions

Kathmandu. Kathmandu Metropolitan City has stated that riverine disaster incidents will decrease this year after the removal of slum settlements. Chief of Metropolitan Police Senior Superintendent Bishnu Prasad Joshi informed that riverine disaster incidents will decrease after the citizens living on the riverbanks in wards 11, 14, 31, and 32 of KMC were removed.

"In previous years, disaster incidents near the riverbanks used to occur more frequently. After the settlements in those areas were removed, it is believed that riverine disaster incidents will decrease this year, except for a few sporadic incidents in one or two places," he said.

According to him, caution needs to be exercised in the area from Samakhushi to Khadipakha. Joshi informed that KMC has identified locations and formulated a strategic plan to reduce other water-borne incidents that may occur during the monsoon.

He stated that KMC has already worked on including capacity building at the ward and community levels for pre-disaster preparedness, management during disasters, and post-disaster rehabilitation for urban disaster risk reduction, along with coordination plans between internal and partners.

He also mentioned the need to build a participatory mechanism to make the city safe. It is strongly believed that the strategic plan will fulfill the need to reduce risks through collective knowledge, skills, and thought development. The strategic plan will be implemented next year, and programs and budgets will be proposed accordingly, he said.

He also stated that discussions have been held on how effective services can be operated through the relationship between the municipality and ward levels with various pre-preparedness mechanisms regarding disaster management.

"There is a need to bring policies for ward-level disaster management, including infrastructure development risks, forecasting, and capacity building at the center and ward levels of KMC," he said. Stating that the city's primary risk is fire, Joshi said that the risk of electrical fires is increasing.

"Fire engines have been leaving the station within half a minute of receiving a fire report. It is difficult to reach the destination due to traffic congestion on the roads," Joshi said.