The government is preparing to declare September 7 as a day of national mourning to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the Bhotekoshi-Trishuli flood.
The flood, which struck on August 26, has claimed the lives of 987 people so far, while 3,916 others remain missing.
September 7 will mark the 13th day since the disaster. The government is preparing to declare national mourning and observe a public holiday on that day.
At a meeting of the House of Representatives’ Business Advisory Committee on Tuesday, Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Chief Whip Kabindra Burlakoti informed members that the government was preparing to declare national mourning.
RSP Whip Prakash Chandra Pariyar also said that the government was likely to make such a declaration.
“The House will meet on the September 2 and 3. There will then be three days of public holidays, after which the House will resume from September 7. If the government declares national mourning on the September 7, Parliament will resume its business from September 8,” Pariyar said.
The House of Representatives is scheduled to endorse a special motion on Wednesday. A meeting has been called for 1 p.m. to pass the motion.
During the meeting, lawmakers will express their views on the damage caused by the Bhotekoshi-Trishuli flood, as well as ongoing rescue and relief efforts.
Eak Ram Giri, spokesperson for the Federal Parliament Secretariat, said that the Business Advisory Committee had reached an agreement to endorse the special motion.
Following the devastating earthquake of April 25, 2015, the House had also passed a special condolence motion during its meeting on May 7.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Nepali Communist Party lawmaker Yuvaraj Dulal called for the formation of a special parliamentary committee to monitor flood-affected areas and assess the government’s response. However, no decision was made on forming such a committee.
RSP lawmaker Bipin Kumar Acharya, who is also the party’s general secretary, proposed further discussions on the formation of a committee after an all-party meeting.
The meeting also discussed how much money from lawmakers’ salaries should be contributed to the Prime Minister Disaster Relief Fund.
The Nepali Congress said that its parliamentary party had already decided to contribute an amount equivalent to at least 15 days’ salary.
CPN-UML Chief Whip Ain Mahar said that his party was also in the process of making a decision and suggested that each party should decide separately. The meeting subsequently agreed that contributions would be determined on a party-wise basis.
