Nepal Police Launch Special Flood Search Campaign

Nepal Police has launched a special operation across an area stretching from Timure in Rasuwa district to Triveni in Nawalparasi to streamline the rescue of people affected by the Bhotekoshi floods and the search for those reported missing.

Under the operation, priority has been given to the use of sniffer dogs in search and rescue operations, management of holding centres, community-police partnership programmes, crime control and investigation, relief distribution and rehabilitation, DNA profiling, and traffic management.

To make the operation successful, the Nepal Police Disaster Rescue and Coordination Information Management Centre at police headquarters has issued necessary instructions to the police units in the flood-affected districts.

Police units have been directed to prioritise the possibility that people swept away or reported missing from various locations along the banks of the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers could still be alive, and to conduct rescue and search operations accordingly.

Police have also been instructed to complete the necessary legal procedures, including preparation of records, when bodies or human remains are recovered and to ensure their proper management.

In cases where cash, gold and silver, bank cards, or important government or personal documents belonging to citizens are found in the affected areas, police have been asked to return them to their rightful owners.

Nepal Police spokesperson and Deputy Inspector General Abinarayan Kafle said police teams have been deployed along riverbanks, in debris and other locations to search for people who went missing in the floods.

“Considering the difficult geographical conditions, we have placed special emphasis on the use of drones and canine teams to make the search operation more effective.

Police have intensified search and rescue efforts by launching a special operation from Timure to Triveni,” Kafle said.

Police have increased their presence in flood-affected areas of Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Gorkha, Tanahun, Chitwan, Nawalparasi East and Nawalparasi West.