Even when bodies are recovered, identifying their identities is a slow and challenging task. More than 1,400 bodies have been recovered so far, and Nepal has little experience in processing DNA at such scale. In some cases, authorities have taken DNA samples, then buried the bodies with markers in the ground, should families claim them.
Given the scale of damage and loss, families say compensation is desperately needed.
Nepal’s latest assessment counts 7,570 private buildings damaged or destroyed, home to nearly 33,000 people based on census data.
The BBC visited Lawat’s village Betrawati just days after the disaster, once the roads to the district of Rasuwa had been cleared. For days, this area had been cut off from the capital Kathmandu, and struggling with a shortage of basic supplies including petrol.
The damage in the village was staggering. The ground was nothing but hardened mud and silt. Footage of the flood showed it had swallowed most of the village in just minutes. There was no sign of its bustling market, the local Uttargaya School was in ruins, the houses swept away, and school buses were turned over.
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. It’s the largest amount of any municipality.
Local governments are now urging the prime minister’s office to figure out a way to resolve the death confirmation issue.
“Everything is on hold,” Bidur’s Mayor, Rajan Shrestha, told the BBC.
He said it could take up to 12 years for relatives to access the funds they are entitled to.
For one of South Asia’s smallest economies, finding money for compensation is a challenge, and the sums on offer are small when compared with the scale of the losses.