Senior government officials got down on their knees, wrapped their hands to protect their heads and maintained the posture for an awkward length of time at Basantapur Durbar Square in the Capital on Thursday. They were performing the standard earthquake drill— duck/drop, cover and hold on. The 16th National Earthquake Safety Day was observed in the Capital with the objective to teach people a valuable lesson that could save their lives during earthquake s.
With the slogan: Earthquakes are unpredictable and can be deadly! Let’s work together to save lives and property— this year’s National Earthquake Safety Day was focused on the ways one could apply in practice to mitigate the loss of human lives and properties during tremors.
Addressing the programme at Basantapur, Chairman of the Interim Election Government Khil Raj Regmi said every concerned actors should work together to minimise the risks related with natural disasters. He also highlighted the initiatives on disaster risks mitigation, including the identification of 83 open spaces and formation of Urban Rescue and Search Team, that were being taken by the government to assist the people of Kathmandu Valley during earthquake s.
Chief of Community-based Disaster Risk Management Division Bijay Krishna Upadhyay stressed the need of strict implementation of building code to reduce casualties and property loss during earthquake s. “Implementation of building code has become a major challenge in the absence of the monitoring body,” said Upadhyay.
Meanwhile, the foundation stone for the proposed seismically safe Crash Rescue and Fire Station Building was laid at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) on the occasion of the National Earthquake Safety Day.
The building is being built with the USD 462,000 assistance that was provided by the government of the United States to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation.
US Ambassador to Nepal Peter W Bodde said his country was committed to helping Nepal improve its emergency response capacity.
“We want to plan and prepare in a way that will save lives and destruction of property, lessen the impact of a disaster, and shorten the time of recovery,” he said.
The building is a part of a larger effort to improve critical infrastructure to allow the airport to remain open if a major earthquake were to occur. Experts say TIA is located on seismically active zone that is likely to face severe consequences in lack of disaster preparedness.
source-.ekantipur.com
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