Kathmandu, August 31:

Forty-five of per cent respondents of a survey conducted recently in the Kathmandu valley said they will hold themselves responsible for all kinds of damages caused by natural disasters, especially earthquakes. The survey, conducted by the Building Research Institute of Japan in coordination with the National Society for Earthquake Technology (NSET), covered 1,100 households.

According to the unpublished report, 18 per cent of respondents said they will blame the builders, three per cent will hold the government responsible, 15 per cent will blame god, while other 15 per cent had no idea on whom to blame. One per cent of the respondents said they will blame other factors for the damages.

Amod Mani Dixit, executive director, NSET, said, “According to a similar research conducted by a foreign student in 1958, only 15 per cent of respondents considered themselves responsible for damages caused by earthquakes.”

The increase in the percentage of respondents holding themselves responsible for the destruction clearly suggests the increased level of awareness among people about earthquakes, Dixit said.

“A few years ago, we had to ask stakeholders for help in conducting disaster risk management programmes. These days, governmental and non-governmental sectors are asking the NSET to launch awareness drives in their institutes,” he said.