KATHMANDU: The National Network of Disaster-affected Community has said natural disasters continue to claim hundreds of lives and displace tens of thousands of others across the country every year thanks to the government’s apathy towards timely preparedness measures and a risk reduction strategy. According to the statistics provided by Ministry of Home, the disasters in the form of flood, fire, landslide and avalanche alone destroy property worth well over a billion rupees on average every year. The NNDC, however, claims that the loss exceeds the official data. Speaking at National Workshop for Disaster-affected Community organised here today, Nawaraj Gautam, secretary, NNDC, quoted a UN report as saying that Nepal was the 11th most vulnerable country to earthquakes and 30th on the list on those prone to water-borne disasters. He lamented that the government was not lending its ear to the persistent cry of victims for relief, rehabilitation and resettlement. “We want to wake up the sleeping government so that the disaster victims will get respite from their long-standing anguish,” said Gautam. Furthermore, Nepal is the sixth most susceptible zone to the effects of global warming. The representatives of disaster victims from 40 districts have blamed lack of awareness in public about disaster and risk reduction measures, the government and stakeholders’ indifference to the public debate on the issue and non-implementation of international standards for the alarming situation. “Even the victims, who lost everything they had to floods years back, are yet to get relief materials. Political parties treat us merely as their vote bank and forget us after polls,” rued a flood victim. Jagannath Prasad Kurmi, coordinator, NNDC, said the Natural Disaster and Rescue Act-1982 was merely a piece of paper and could not address the risk of future disasters. Meanwhile, NNDC is all set to organise the first national convention of disaster-affected communities in Kathmandu on June 10 and 11 to draw the attention of authorities concerned to the recurring natural disasters.