Damauli/Birtamode, January 16

A public awareness rally was organised on the occasion of 18th Earthquake Safety Day in Damauli, Tanahun today.

The rally was jointly organised by Earthquake Technology National Society, Byas Municipality Office and Federation of Photo Journalists Tanahun Chapter.

Participants at the rally, including leaders of political parties, security personnel, representatives of government and non-government offices, entrepreneurs, businessmen, representatives from Civil Society, teachers, students, farmers and mediapersons, took a round of Damauli Bazaar. The rally was taken out with musical instruments.

Inaugurating the awareness rally, Chief District Officer Mahadev Pantha of Tanahun said the weak infrastructure of buildings and houses had put people at risk of losing their lives and properties. “Therefore, the infrastructure must be strong so that we could be confident of our construction and feel safe,” he said.

Engineer Sushil Shrestha of Tanahun District Technical Office said Nepal was an earthquake prone zone. “People should be alert and prepared as earthquakes are unpredictable,” he urged. The rally concluded at the site of Damauli Festival where participants exhibited the consequences of weak structures and the advantages of having earthquake resistant structures in place.

Earlier, visitors at the festival observed as many as 33 photos of the destruction caused by the powerful April 25 earthquake and subsequent aftershocks.

Bikalpa Dhungana, a young scientist, exhibited a machine that alerted people before an earthquake.

Meanwhile, Byas Municipality Engineer Rabindra Mul made public statistics showing that 154 houses were completely destroyed while 3,000 houses sustained damages in the municipality due to the devastating temblor. He said they were launching different earthquake awareness campaigns through various programmes.

Meanwhile, the 18th National Earthquake Safety Day was observed with different programmes in Jhapa today.

In Birtamod, the day was marked with various district-level programmes. Birtamod Municipality, Nepal Red Cross Society sub-branch Birtamod, Federation of Nepali Journalists Birtamod, Birtamod Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Marwadi Youth Front Birtamod jointly organised a rally, a mass gathering and an awareness programme related to earthquake. Speakers expressed their concerns about the lack of awareness among people regarding earthquake and its damages.