KATHMANDU: Gagan Thapa, chairperson of Agriculture and Water Resources Committee of the Parliament  today said the agencies involved in reconstruction efforts, including the National Planning Commission, needed to consult all concerned government bodies before implementing policies. Thapa also added that they should think of completing the mapping of landslide prone areas. He observed this at a meeting of the Agriculture and Water Resources committee organised here today where   top government officials from Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of Land Reforms, Department of Soil Conservation and Watershed management, Department of Hydrology and Meteorology  and Department of Water Induced Disaster Prevention informed the panel members about the risks of landslides and water induced disasters and the works their offices were carrying out to mitigate such risks. Thapa said since these issues require consultation among different agencies and line ministries, the government should make efforts to consult all the concerned agencies before implementing any new policies as far as reconstruction and rebuilding Nepal was concerned. Making a presentation before the panel, watershed management expert Madhukar Upadhya said human settlements in the hills faced more risk of landslides as most of the settlements are on residual soil and colluvial deposit. Every year, he added, over 12,000 big or small landslides occur in Nepal. Upadhya told THT that some people were overstating the danger of landslides in the hills. “People need to exercise caution, but this does not mean the entire district or villages in quake-affected areas should be resettled due to the risk of landslides,” he said, adding that most of the cracks were surfacial. Residents living in areas where cracks are very deep may need to be resettled to safer places but residents of other areas should just carefully monitor the situation during monsoon. “Even at Jure in Sindhupalchowk where landslides occurred last year, the symptoms of landslides occurred five days before the incident,” he said and added that though locals needed to exercise caution, they should not panic unnecessarily.  Upadhya said vertical rocks that suffered cracks could cause landslides on the roads during the rainy season. He also said there were three to five feet cracks on residual soil and some unconfirmed reports indicated that some areas had bamboo size deep cracks. “If landslides occur in these areas I do not think that they will block the rivers,” he added. Another watershed management expert Kesharman Sthapit said it would be wise to develop a habit of living in harmony with nature instead thinking of controlling rivers. “If we tend to control our rivers, it can cause siltation and cause rivers to break embankments leading to waterlogging for long,” he said and added that the best thing would be to manage the watershed areas. “If we do not control the rivers, maybe we will not be able to cultivate our land once in a few years, but that is better than controlling the river. If a controlled river breaks embankment, that could be more destructive,” he argued. Sthapit also said the government should not encourage human settlements in areas that are vulnerable to risk of flooding. Director General of Department of Hydrology and Meteorology Rishi Ram Sharma said his office had already established warning systems in almost all the big rivers of the Tarai, but the office was yet to install such system in flash-flood prone rivers.