Kathmandu: Nepal's Chief of the Army Staff, Ashok Raj Sigdel, has told a parliamentary committee that the country needs a clear and brief chain of command for disaster response, saying the lessons of the Bhotekoshi and Budhigandaki corridor floods show coordination still breaks down at the start of an emergency.

Sigdel was speaking on Friday at a meeting of the Parliamentary Special Committee on the study and monitoring of the Bhotekoshi and Kaligandaki corridor disaster. He said coordination in disaster response has improved compared with the past, but it needs to be made more effective, and responsibilities should be clarified by categorising disasters by their nature, Radio Nepal reported, citing the RSS wire.

No clear chain of command in the 2025 procedure, Army chief says

Although the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act, 2074, and its Regulations, 2076, assign coordinating roles to various bodies, the Emergency Operations Centre Operation Procedure, 2025, contains no clear chain of command, Sigdel told the committee. In the initial stages of a disaster, he said, there has been operational confusion in the field over who should lead the response among the army, the security agencies and civilian bodies, and a long chain of command delays the response.

Brigadier General Subash Jung Thapa, who also briefed the committee on Friday, made the same point in terms of dual command, saying overlapping jurisdictions among government agencies are hindering disaster response, according to a report of the briefing published by Onlinekhabar.

21 helicopters, stray drones and the airspace problem

Recalling the Bhotekoshi floods, Sigdel said 21 helicopters were deployed over an area of 35 nautical miles, which made managing the airspace challenging, and unnecessary drone flights caused problems for rescue operations. He argued that the army's air capability is a national asset that should be maintained at the highest level, with airbases strengthened and planes and helicopters added as needed, and that locations should be identified in each province where camps can be run immediately during a disaster.

The army also suggested that development projects should be carried out only after multi-hazard risk assessment and mapping, that specialised and damage-assessment teams with equipment such as high-capacity sludge pumps, breathing apparatus, tunnel communication systems and thermal LiDAR drones be kept ready, and that foreign rescue teams be called in only after a needs assessment, with uncoordinated entry into rescue sites controlled. Sigdel said district-level bodies should lead response, restoration, reconstruction and recovery, with support from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority. The committee has not yet announced its response to the army's suggestions.

Source: Radio Nepal (RSS)