KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 19

The Ministry of Home Affairs has decided to establish Disaster Management Database System for effective documentation of various disaster events.

According to Home Administration Reforms Action Plan, 2022, a software will be developed for the purpose of DMDS. Nepal police has been designated as the responsible agency for this purpose, whereas MoHA and Nepal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority will provide necessary support to the security agency.

The DMDC will be interfaced with Disaster Information Management System, which was recently established in the MoHA in a bid to strengthen information-based disaster risk reduction and response.

It provides real time data about hazards and disaster events, affected population and casualty. The DIMS is being used by all the provincial governments and local levels for internal information management. The local levels of the provinces have access to the DIMS to update and provide relevant information related to disaster data from the field, which can be directly fed into the system.

According to the MoHA, the hi-tech system will assist authorities in sharing early warning information, risk mapping, warehousing of search and rescue materials and emergency operation, and maintaining records of disaster-related incidents.

It helps all the agencies coordinate with each other to carry out disaster management activities in a speedy and more effective manner. It will be used as a common platform in the area of disaster management.

It will serve as a repository of data, information, policies, and key decisions on disaster risk reduction and management in the country to foster partnership in disaster management and a common system for disaster management at multiple tiers of the government and stakeholders, the MoHA said.

As many as 504 persons were killed in various natural and non-natural disasters across the country during the year 2021. Similarly, 1,750 persons were injured and 74 others are still missing.

According to the MoHA, landslide stood as the deadliest disaster and claimed 178 lives and left 134 others injured mainly in Sudurpaschim Province and other districts.

Likewise, fire killed 97 people, flood (63 people), lightning (55 people) and snakebite (20 people), among others. Disasters affected 6,463 families across the country destroyed or damaged 5,531 houses and caused economic loss of around Rs 2.47 billion.

A version of this article appears in the print on February 20, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.