Kathmandu. The government on Monday approved the strategic planning for disaster risk reduction.
Minister for Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa said this while inaugurating a three-day international conference on ‘Experience of Earthquake Risk Management, Preparedness and Reconstruction in Nepal’ organized by the Home Ministry, National Reconstruction Authority, Nepal Academy of Science and Technology and National Society for Earthquake Technology (NSET Nepal).
Minister Thapa said, “Every year an average 900 people die from disasters. Around 2,000 people die in road accidents. There is nothing to blame nature in such incidents, as they are all human-induced problems.”
Minister Thapa said that the developed nations have contributed more on carbon emission resulting in climate change, destruction and thousands of peoples have died due to use of biological and chemical weapons, leaving millions of people affected.
Meanwhile, the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management National Council meeting today has decided to work on preparedness and response to mitigate the risk and impact of disasters by establishing coordination among the government ministries, province level ministries and local governments.
The meeting held with the participation of the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Ministers and Ministers and Chief Ministers at Singhadurbar as per the Clause 3 of the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act 2074 decided to make the disaster preparedness and responses more effective with the management of highly essential commodities, equipments, tools, boats, medicines and others on part of all ministries and stakeholders.
The meeting has stressed the need for coordination among all ministries, provinces, districts and local disaster management committee and security bodies in order to reduce the possible risk as well as create public awareness on the loss of such disasters including floods, landslides, fire, earthquake and others.
As per the decision of today’s meeting, the Nepal Army would keep its search and rescue teams in Itahari of Province No. 1, Pokhara of Province No. 4 and Surkhet of Karnali Province so that they would be mobilized immediately by considering the possible loss to people’s lives and property in the disasters.
Likewise, the equipments of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM) would be kept in function, pre information system would be made more effective while the information being received from the DHM would be disseminated to the people through Nepal Telecom and other service providing companies and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has taken its responsibility.
