(Adnkronos) – The Nepalese government estimates the cost of reconstruction after the devastating flood and subsequent landslide on August 26, which occurred in the border area with China, at over 4.5 billion dollars. This was announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “The total estimated budget for reconstruction amounts to approximately 4.78 billion dollars (about 4.12 billion euros),” a ministry spokesperson, Lok Bahadur Chhetri, told the press. Caused by the collapse of a glacier and rock masses, the wave that swept through several valleys in the region has caused over 1,400 deaths and at least 5,600 injuries in the two countries, according to the latest official figures.
Among the still missing people are hundreds of foreign tourists and pilgrims, as well as a similar number of workers employed in Nepal at hydroelectric power plants or dam construction sites. The flood also swept away bridges, roads, homes, and infrastructure, forcing thousands of people to take refuge in makeshift camps. “Approximately 57.67 million dollars will be needed for immediate reconstruction and relief operations in the next six months, and 4.71 billion dollars for long-term reconstruction,” Chhetri specified.
The spokesperson added that a more precise assessment is still underway to “determine the overall extent of the damage suffered and the necessary funds” for repair and reconstruction operations. The government has attributed responsibility for the catastrophe to global warming, which is accelerating the melting of glaciers along the entire Himalayan range. Prime Minister Balendra Shah will speak this month before the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York to advocate for “climate justice,” the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amrit Bahadur Ra, also confirmed to the press. “He will draw the international community’s attention to the loss of life and material damage suffered by Nepal due to climate change and the catastrophes it causes,” he explained. More than two weeks after the flood, rescue operations continue in Nepal in an attempt to find any survivors, especially inside several tunnels of hydroelectric plants buried under mud and debris. The Nepalese emergency management agency announced on Friday that it had recovered 1,385 bodies and still had no news of 5,130 people. On the Chinese side, state media reported 43 deaths and 519 missing in the territory of Tibet, bringing the overall, still provisional, toll of the catastrophe to 1,428 dead and 5,649 missing.
