Kathmandu January 16.

Minister for Home Affairs, Ram Bahadur Thapa, has said that possible losses from disasters could be reduced through public awareness and appropriate legal arrangements for disaster management. Home Minister Thapa said so at a programme organised by Kathmandu Metropolitan City in memory of those who lost their lives in the earthquake occurred on Magh 2, 1990 BS. He said, “Safe building and common commitment towards it is the best method to be safe and make safe from unexpected risk that might take place sometimes.” The Home Minister clarified that the government has given priority to reconstruction of physical infrastructures damaged by the 2015 Gorkha earthquake. Similarly, KMC mayor Bidya Sundar Shakya said that the KMC has formed ward-level disaster risk mitigation and citizen security committee to mitigate losses of natural disasters as well as to increase public awareness. He said that the KMC has strictly implemented the building construction code in course of constructing any type of houses inside the KMC. Likewise, Coordinator of KMC Disaster Management Committee, Nilkaji Shakya, said that activities are underway to make citizen feel safe through Disaster Risk Mitigation and Citizen Security Committee formed at wards. The programme was organised to mark 22nd National Earthquake Safety Day under the slogan ‘Earthquake resilient infrastructures, basis of long-term happiness and prosperity’. Magh 2 is being observed as the National Earthquake Safety Day since 2055BS with an objective of creating public awareness about earthquake safety.