Kathmandu, Oct 17: More than a month after the Gen Z protests, the government has still not been able to prepare a consolidated report of the destruction and arson that occurred during the demonstrations.
The task became even more complicated after multiple agencies were assigned to collect the data, creating confusion and overlap.
On September 8 and 9, Gen Z demonstrators vandalized and set fire to several government, private, and commercial buildings across the country, including the Parliament building, Singha Durbar, Supreme Court, Presidential Office, and ministerial residences.
Initially, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) was assigned to collect the damage details. Later, the responsibility was transferred to the Ministry of Urban Development, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, and the National Planning Commission (NPC).
“We are not handling the task of compiling the damage report. The National Planning Commission and the Ministry of Urban Development are looking after it,” said NDRRMA chief executive Dinesh Prasad Bhatt to Baahrakhari.
On September 16, a meeting of secretaries chaired by Chief Secretary Ek Narayan Aryal decided that the NPC would lead a “Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA)” in coordination with the Ministry of Finance and the NDRRMA.
Based on that decision, a meeting led by Bhatt on September 21 formed a technical committee to prepare a detailed damage report.
The committee included representatives from the NPC, the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction, the Department of Archaeology, the Nepal Engineers’ Association, the Structural Engineers Association of Nepal, the Society of Nepalese Architects, the Society of Mechanical Engineers Nepal, the National Society for Earthquake Technology (NSET), and the Society of Electrical Engineers Nepal.
The committee was given 45 days to complete its work, but later the responsibility was handed over to the NPC. The authority’s work, which aimed to finalize the report by November 4, was halted midway, and the NPC has now resumed the task.
“The questionnaire for the integrated report has been completed. We are conducting online training for field data collectors. The teams will go to the field after Tihar,” NPC spokesperson Hari Sharan Pudasaini told Baahrakhari.
The Ministry of Urban Development and the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport are also separately collecting damage data. The Urban Development Ministry is compiling reports on federal government offices and had sent circulars to offices a week ago requesting details.
“We are gathering data from federal offices. Some reports have been submitted, others are on the way. The assessment will likely take about two months,” said ministry spokesperson Narayan Prasad Mainali.
According to Mainali, 444 government buildings under the federal government have been reported damaged so far. Of them, 112 were completely destroyed, 224 partially damaged, and 108 sustained minor damage.
The ministry’s preliminary data also shows that 648 government-owned vehicles were burned during the protests. Among them were 145 four-wheelers, 256 two-wheelers, and 2 buses.
Within the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, 30 vehicles were completely burned and 7 partially damaged, while 20 others were vandalized.
According to the Department of Roads Director General Vijay Jaishi, protesters burned 88 four-wheel vehicles and 100 motorcycles belonging to the department across the country. Over 10 additional vehicles were vandalized.
“Protesters caused damage worth around Rs 308 million in four-wheel vehicles, Rs 7 million in motorcycles, and Rs 40 million in other equipment,” Jaishi said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs alone suffered damages worth Rs 140 million during the violence. Six ministry vehicles were completely destroyed by fire, and 15 others were vandalized.
People's News Monitoring Service