Birendranagar: Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak has announced that disaster risk reduction and management authority has been transferred to the provincial governments. Addressing the Provincial Emergency Warehouse Handover Programme in Birendranagar, Surkhet, he stated that the rights, under the policy, directive, and responsibility of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), have been delegated to the provinces.
According to National News Agency Nepal, Home Minister Lekhak emphasized that the provinces will no longer need to seek permission from the NDRRMA during disasters. Instead, provincial governments will independently manage disaster-related activities. He noted that emergency warehouses have been established in all seven provinces, emphasizing the government’s priority on disaster risk reduction. Plans are also underway to construct similar depots at the local level, recognizing the proximity of local governments to the people.
The Home Minister highlighted that both the NDRRMA and the National Council, led by the Prime Minister, alongside the Executive Committee coordinated by the Home Minister, are actively engaged in disaster risk reduction initiatives. Reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts have been accelerated, focusing on structures damaged by last year’s earthquakes in regions such as Doti, Bajhang, Bajura, and Jajarkot.
During the event, the Home Minister officially handed over the Provincial Emergency Warehouse at Itram, Birendranagar Municipality-7, to Karnali Province Chief Minister Yamlal Kandel. Chief Minister Kandel expressed that beyond the warehouse, the federal government should also transfer related entities and associated rights to the provinces. He pointed out that the handover took seven years and urged the federal government to provide the necessary budget for warehouse operations.
NDRRMA Executive Chief Bhishma Kumar Bhusal explained that while humanitarian goods mobilization was previously under the Home Ministry’s purview, disaster management rights have now been decentralized in line with the NDRRM Act, which outlines the rights of all three tiers of government.