Nepal's only billionaire praises India, PM Modi for swift disaster response; calls rebuilding task 'gigantic'

Kathmandu: Nepal's only billionaire and philanthropist Binod Chaudhary on Tuesday praised India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for their swift response to the devastating flash floods in the country, saying the scale of the disaster was "far bigger" than anyone had contemplated.

Chaudhary also described the rebuilding task as "gigantic", highlighting how villages, markets, schools and bridges were washed away and more than 500 megawatts of power generation capacity went out of operation.

"The scale of the disaster is far bigger than one would have ever contemplated. We had floods in the past in the same location even last year and that's nowhere close to what it is now," Chaudhary told PTI Videos.


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"We've lost about a thousand people. About 4,000 people are missing... More than the last count that I've taken, we had lost some 40-odd bridges," he said, highlighting the scale of damages.

"More than 500 megawatts of power stations had gone out of circulation, out of operation and many projects which were under construction, particularly the power projects, they all had to be halted, they're washed away, damaged. So it's really a very, very painful situation," Chaudhary added.

The death toll from the devastating flash floods in Nepal crossed 1,000 on Tuesday, as rescuers struggled to trace those stranded amid intermittent rainfall and a fresh flood alert. Around 4,000 people, including 583 foreigners, remained missing, while around 12,000 people had been rescued, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.

Read more: Nepal PM Balendra Shah demands climate action after Himalayan disaster takes over 939 lives

Chaudhary praised the Nepal government, security agencies and friendly neighbours, particularly India, for their response to the disaster. "I must acknowledge that the government and the security agencies and also supported by our friendly neighbours, India in particular has done a great job in supporting, in coming forward with the relief material right away," he said.

He particularly praised New Delhi and PM Modi for supporting Nepal, not just after the latest disaster but also recalling India's response during the 2015 earthquake.

"I think we have no doubt in my mind that India is equally concerned. And I've seen this on multiple occasions. Even during the 2015 earthquake, India was the first one, Prime Minister Modi was the first one to come up with the immediate rescue arrangement, support, infrastructure, logistics," he said.

He said India had "gained that prominence, gained that capacity" and the ability to respond on a large scale.

"Given the scale at which India has been able to move, build the infrastructure. There has been a transformation in the quality of the infrastructure that India has been able to build over during the last 12 years. So the whole system is of a different level and caliber," Chaudhary said.

"I would hope and I would appeal to the Indian government, Prime Minister Modi and all those who matter to do everything possible. I think these are the moments when India can make a big difference," Chaudhary said.

Chaudhary said financial assistance from different countries, companies, foundations and business houses remained of utmost importance, but cautioned that "money is one thing" and it cannot solve the problems overnight.

"You can't get the markets [to] start to function again. You can't rebuild the homes to house these people who are homeless," he said.

Chaudhary emphasised that the task ahead was gigantic and Nepal would have to rebuild better. "It is also an engineering issue. It is not only an issue which relates with one of those normal disasters, because the glacier meltdown because of global warming is really becoming a significant issue, which the whole world should be concerned about," he added.