Following deadly flash floods that left thousands missing across Nepal, families are facing severe administrative hurdles in obtaining death certificates. The legal delay prevents relatives from accessing government compensation, managing property, and carrying out inheritance transfers while communities struggle with billions in infrastructure damage.
Weeks after flash floods tore through the China-Nepal border region, communities in districts like Nuwakot and Rasuwa are confronting a landscape of deep destruction. Narayan Prasad Nepal, who returned to Nepal with savings after working in Saudi Arabia only to lose his home in the 2015 earthquake, rebuilt his life abroad once more, only for last month’s floods to destroy everything. He is currently staying with his family at a relative’s house while considering another stint overseas.
Missing Persons and the Twelve-Year Legal Wait for Death Certificates
While rescue operations have ended, authorities estimate that more than 5,000 people remain missing alongside 1,453 recovered bodies, according to Nepal’s disaster management agency. Only 112 bodies have been handed over to relatives, while 1,333 remain temporarily buried pending identification. In Kathmandu, tents have been set up at the Nepal Police Hospital where families can provide DNA samples to match against recovered remains, with assistance from experts from India, China, the United States, Singapore, and South Korea.
For families whose loved ones were swept away and never found, obtaining proof of death has turned into an administrative barrier. Section 40 of Nepal’s Civil Code provides exceptions, but it lacks provisions for sudden disasters.
Pasang Maya Tamang, who lost her 5-year-old son to the flash floods, showed a photograph of him from inside a classroom converted into a temporary shelter in the Nuwakot district. Her son’s body was recovered, but she was unable to travel to see him.
Betrawati straddles flood-devastated Rasuwa and Nuwakot, and is part of the Bidur municipality, where the government estimates more than 3,000 buildings have been damaged or destroyed, representing the largest amount of any municipality. When the BBC visited the area after roads to Rasuwa were cleared, the local Uttargaya School was in ruins, houses were swept away, school buses were turned over, and the local market was gone, leaving ground made of hardened mud and silt.
Without a death certificate, families cannot access government funds designated for funeral costs and bereavement compensation. These documents are equally vital for property transfers and inheritance matters.
Local Governments Urge Prime Minister’s Office to Amend Outdated Laws
Local officials are pressing the central government to resolve the legal gridlock. Bidur Mayor Rajan Shrestha stated that municipal offices have had to turn away grieving residents seeking paperwork because officials are still debating the confirmation issue.
Everything is on hold.
Rajan Shrestha, Bidur’s Mayor, via BBC
Reconstruction Bill Climbs as International Appeal Focuses on Climate Risks
The administrative crisis unfolds as the country faces a reconstruction bill estimated at $4.77 billion.
Roads engineer Ishmita Shah noted that work crews and the army have been laboring since the second day after the disaster to reopen damaged routes and construct bridges in remote areas, though upcoming weather threatens to make the work increasingly challenging.
