KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 13

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said the Government of Nepal had been working with specified mission, objective, policies and action plans in the sector of disaster risk reduction and management.

Addressing a virtual meeting organised to mark the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction today, he said all three tiers of the government had been working in tandem with necessary action plans to mitigate the impacts of natural disaster.

The theme of the day was ‘Disaster risk governance’.

“The government is committed to reducing the disaster risk and carrying out post-disaster recovery operations effectively. We have achieved 90 per cent success in post-earthquake reconstruction and recovery works so far. Now we should ensure that our houses, offices, critical development infrastructures and cultural and religious heritages are disaster-resilient,” PM Oli said.

He also said the government had been preparing to incorporate disaster risk reduction and management in school curriculum to raise awareness regarding protection of environment and natural resources. “The government will continue to coordinate with national and international organisations to build a resilient society,” he said.

On the occasion, Minister of Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa said awareness and active role of the general public and stakeholders would help to minimise the disaster related risks. Nepal is facing the wrath of natural and human-induced disasters with greater frequency and intensity. It is one of the disaster-prone countries. As many as 415 persons were killed due to rain-induced disasters across the country during this monsoon. The Ministry of Home Affairs said it was the biggest single-year casualty resulting from natural disasters in a decade, barring the 2015 earthquakes.

According to statistics released by Nepal Disaster Risk Reduction Portal under the MoHA, as many as 415 persons, including 165 females, lost their lives to disasters, especially landslides and floods, between June 12 and October 8, compared to 252 persons last year. As many as 563 persons were injured and 101 others went missing after being buried in landslides and swept away by floods. Natural disasters have incurred an economic loss of around Rs 566.55 million.

Feature Image: File

A version of this article appears in print on October 14, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.