Nepal Mourns 1,300 Flood Dead as 5,000 Missing

Nepal's prime minister, Balendra Shah, has ordered a crackdown on online abuse aimed at flood survivors, The Independent reported. In a Facebook post he said people who "make unnecessary remarks, belittle those in pain or seek to cause them further suffering at this sensitive time are criminals," and that the government "will show no leniency towards them."

The country's cyber bureau formed a 10-member team to identify accounts posting demeaning comments about victims and their families. Bureau spokesman Dilip Kumar Giri said: "Such behaviour, which causes further distress to flood survivors, must be discouraged. Those responsible will face action." Police arrested a man from Baitadi over comments about the ethnic identity of flood victims, which they said could inflame ethnic tensions. Under Nepali law, convictions for prohibited online content carry a fine of up to 100,000 Nepali rupees, up to five years in prison, or both.

The abuse surfaced after families posted appeals for help finding relatives, The Kathmandu Post reported, drawing hostile replies aimed largely at women and certain ethnic communities.

Water is the other threat. The Himalayan Times reported that five of 15 water samples from displacement centers in Nuwakot tested positive for E. coli, and that the floods damaged 55 drinking-water projects across the Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading and Gorkha districts, with losses estimated at 640 million Nepali rupees. Health officials have warned of diarrhea, cholera and skin infections.