KATHMANDU: Secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Narayan Gopal Malego, said that the South Asian countries are facing some common disasters.

At a workshop on 'South Asian Partnership for Humanitarian Aid' organised by the Disaster Preparedness Network Nepal today, Malego said that more than 3,000 people lose their lives due to disaster in South Asia every year.

Malego further said property worth over Rs 7 billion was damaged by the April 25 earthquake in Nepal stating, "The government is devoted to carry out works on how disasters could be lessened."

Similarly, Executive Director at the Sphere India, Vikrant Mahajan, said that they have involved mitigating cases of disaster as floods, landslide, fire and avalanche, among others which have caused huge loss of lives and property.

He stressed that all South Asian countries should move ahead for the preparedness of disaster as the SAARC region face same sort of disasters.

Similarly, Chairperson of the Disaster Preparedness Network Nepal, Ram Chandra Neupane, said that discussion was focused on how SAARC countries could move ahead by carrying out study of the losses caused by disaster in the region.

Representatives from national networks working in the sector of disaster management from Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka have been participating in the workshop.