The Nepalese government is stepping up recovery efforts, including assessing the demand for temporary housing for residents who lost their homes in the massive floods.

According to Nepalese media outlets such as Online Khabar on the 10th (local time), the Nepalese government has recently been surveying victims of the major floods regarding their demand for temporary housing facilities.

The government is assessing whether their previous homes were completely destroyed, the number of family members who died or are missing, and their preferred types of temporary housing, with plans to wrap up the survey within a week.

Recently, the Nepalese government formed a Relocation and Housing Management Task Force (TF) involving the Ministry of Urban Development and the Ministry of Infrastructure Development.

However, an official from this task force stated, "Not everyone currently staying in shelters may require temporary housing."

There are currently a total of 37 temporary shelters set up along the Trishuli River, accommodating 3,628 displaced people.

Among the displaced people, 2,699 are staying in shelters in Nuwakot district, Bagmati province, in the central-northern region, while 733 are using shelters in Rasuwa district and 196 in Dhading district, according to statistics.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) of Nepal announced that 7,570 private buildings were completely or partially destroyed, with the number of people directly affected reaching 32,933.

Local government bodies in Nepal are currently conducting direct demand surveys, after which the government plans to select suitable sites and begin constructing temporary housing facilities.

Online Khabar reported that site selection work is already underway in multiple locations, including Galchi in Dhading district and Bidur in Nuwakot district.

Displaced residents are expected to live in temporary housing facilities before moving to resettlement areas once the Nepalese government finishes damage assessments and establishes reconstruction plans.

The NDRRMA also estimated that USD 4.77 billion (approx. KRW 6.38 trillion) will be required to support initial recovery operations.

Dharma Raj Upreti, chief of the NDRRMA, explained in an interview with Kyodo News that "this is the amount needed to provide basic services such as initial recovery of damaged infrastructure, construction of temporary housing, food, medical care, and education."

He added that estimates for the total scale of damage caused by this massive flood are still being evaluated.

Upreti emphasized that the Nepalese government is also conveying the need for support to partner countries including China, India, Japan, Qatar, and the United Kingdom, as well as international organizations such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The South Korean government has also decided to dispatch the 2nd batch of the Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT) to help with Nepal's reconstruction and recovery activities.

The 2nd batch of the KDRT consists of 8 members, including officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, firefighters, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and medical personnel, and is scheduled to operate in Nepal for a week.

Previously, the 1st batch of the KDRT was dispatched on the 2nd with a scale of 44 members and deployed for search and rescue operations, and is scheduled to withdraw on the 11th.

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Park Doo-soon stated, "The Nepalese government's stance is to shift operations from search and rescue to reconstruction and recovery," adding, "They have requested support from our government for the reconstruction and recovery of the affected areas."

However, families of three missing South Korean nationals affiliated with Korea Southern Power held a press conference in the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu the previous day, urging the Korean government, including the KDRT, to continue the search operations.

Korea Southern Power and Doosan Enerbility have expanded their own search operations to find nine missing employees at the Upper Trishuli-1 (UT-1) hydroelectric power plant construction site.

Korea Southern Power increased its search team size from 76 members the previous day to 91 members today, while Doosan Enerbility increased the number of drones from 4 to 8.

Meanwhile, due to the massive floods that occurred in the upper reaches of the Himalayan mountainous region on August 26, more than 1,400 people have died and over 5,600 remain missing combined in Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China as of today.

(Photo: Yonhap News)