Kathmandu, May 23:

The Ban Landmines Campaign Nepal has called on the government to take measures to minimise the risks landmines pose.

Landmines planted during the insurgency have killed over 1,370 people so far, but the government and the Maoists have not taken initiatives to minimise the risk these explosives possess, Purna Shova Chirakar, coordinator of the Ban Landmines Campaign Nepal (NCBL), said today.

According to Chitrakar, anti-personal landmines have been planted in over 52 posts and improvised explosive devices in 285 posts.

“Over 400 landmines can be found in one post,” she said. It takes time to clear the mines, she said, calling on the government to take measures to minimise the risk the landmines pose.

In the peace accord signed on November 22, 2006, the government and the Maoists had expressed commitment to assist

each other to mark the landmines by providing necessary information within 30 days and defuse and excavate them within 60 days. “The commitment of the peace accord is yet to be implemented,” Chitrakar said.

According to the NCBL, 4,619 persons have been the victims of landmines since 1998. Out of

them, 1,370 have died and 3,249 survived. The survivors have been physically or mentally handicapped. “Most of the victims are from rural areas,” she further said.