National Symposium discourses on “Experiences on Earthquake Risk Reduction and Response”

As a regular event prior to the main day activities of the Earthquake Safety Day, National Symposium on “Experience on Earthquake Risk Reduction and Response" was held at Hotel Himalaya, Lalitpur on 12th January 2015. The Symposium discoursed intensively on the set agenda of reviewing year-long efforts on Earthquake Risk Reduction and Response as well as consolidating future ideas of various stakeholders including policymakers, decision makers, central and local government authorities and professionals.

Although the National Symposium was planned for two consecutive days; 12th and 13th January 2015, the second day program was cancelled due to general strike called by the various group of political parties. The symposium was organized jointly by Department of Urban Development and Building Construction (DUDBC), Department of Education (DOE), National Society for Earthquake Technology – Nepal (NSET) in association with UNICEF, USAID, OXFAM Nepal, Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS), DPNet-Nepal, Nepal Engineers’ Association (NEA), Institute of Engineering (IOE), Kathmandu University (KU), Khwopa Engineering College (KhEC), Kantipur Engineering College (KEC), Kantipur City College (KCC), Nepal Engineering College (NEC), Nepal Geological Society (NGS), Nepal Landslide Society (NELS), Nepal GIS Society (NGISS), Structural Engineers Association of Nepal (SEANep), Federation of Contractor's Association of Nepal (FCAN), Society of Consulting Architects and Engineering Firms Nepal (SCAEF) and Society of Hydrologist and Meteorologist (SOHAM). The symposium had active participation of 185 participants representing the Government, Municipalities, INGOs, NGOs, Academic Institutions, Hospitals, Nepal Army, APF, Nepal Police, Mass Media and Community Members.

Opening Ceremony

As the Chief Guest of the Opening Ceremony, Mr. Suresh Prakash Acharya, Joint Secretary, MOUD emphasized that safe building construction is as important as Education or Health since it saves lives. Mr. Rameshwor Dangal, Chief of Disaster Management Division, MoHA emphasized on preparedness and effective building code implementation to reduce the risk of losing lives due to building collapse. From the Chair, Mr. Shambhu K.C., Director General, Department of Urban Development and Building Construction (DUDBC) felt the strong need of enforcing the building code regulations. Coordination of MOFALD and MOUD is required for the proper implementation of building code in municipalities, he said. Dr. Lava Deo Awasthi, Director General, Department of Education (DoE) briefed about the DOE priority and Master Plan to make safer schools considering the present scenario of vulnerability of existing school buildings. Welcoming the participants, Dr. Amod Mani Dixit, Executive Director, NSET highlighted the program agenda and briefed the importance of symposium to share the ideas and experiences of different organization and stakeholders. Mr. Dhurba Thapa, President, Nepal Engineers’ Association stressed on the enforcement of existing laws to reduce the impacts of disaster such as an earthquake.

Panel Discussion on Comprehensive School Safety

The panel discussion was chaired by Mr. Shiva Pd. Upreti, Deputy Director of DOE and facilitated by Dr. Youb Raj Paudyal, Engineer, DOE. The panelists were Mr. Jhappar Singh Vishwokarma, DOE; Ms. Sabina Joshi, UNICEF; Mr. Dhurba Devkota, Save the Children; Mr. Surendra Babu Dhakal, World Vision, Mr. Shyam Sundar Jnavaly, Plan Nepal; and Mr. Surya Acharya, NSET.

Dr. Youb Raj Paudyal started the session with Comprehensive School Safety utilizing three parameters firstly, Safe Physical Facilities, secondly, School Disaster Risk Management and third DRM Education. Mr. Jhappar Singh Vishwokarma, Senior Divisional Engineer of DOE stressed that the schools to be disaster resilient, there should be preparedness, response and recovery (reconstruction) activities. Mr. Vishwokarma described the challenges of having a safety policy for the private school’s students. Ms Sabina Joshi from UNICEF mentioned about the 5 years program developed by the UNICEF for Disaster Risk Reduction and the need of common understanding amongst the organizations working on school safety. Along the same line, Mr. Shyam Sundar Jnavaly from Plan Nepal focused on the need of contextualization in making plans for schools located at different geography and culture.

Mr. Dhurba Devkota from Save the Children expressed that preparedness and response capacity building in schools and community should be strengthened effectively highlighting the importance of regular drills not just for earthquake but also for other disasters like flood and landslides. Mr. Surendra Babu Dhakal from World Vision stressed that the school safety policies including disaster preparedness plan should be developed and implemented as soon as possible. Mr. Surya Acharya from NSET mentioned about the efforts in the retrofitting of the schools along with the Government, ADB and AusAID. He also shared the need of standardization of the works done so far by different organizations. The session chair Mr. Shiva Prasad Upreti concluded the session with emphasis on the safer construction of both school and residential buildings as well as raising awareness through education in schools.

Session on “Experiences of DRM in Nepal”

Session on “Experiences of DRM in Nepal” chaired by Mr. Ramesh Kumar Singh, Deputy Director General, DUDBC focused on various organizations’ experiences in the field of Disaster Risk Reduction and Response. Mr. Pradip Kumar Koirala from MOHA presented on “New Direction for DRM in Nepal” which required learning lessons from the past and changing focus from disaster response to disaster preparedness. Mr. Prakirna Tuladhar from DUDBC presented the turning points in the damaging earthquakes in the history of Nepal. Mr. Tuladhar also pointed out that the present DUDBC policies for various kinds of building construction are different in different municipalities and VDCs. Mr. Rishi Acharya from MoFALD presented on the works of MoFALD so far and the policies that have been guided by the ministry to construct buildings in Local Development.

Lt. Colonel Mr. Subash Thapa from Nepal Army made presentation on Nepal Army’s Experiences in Disaster preparedness, planning, implementation, response and overall management. DSP Mr. Jivan KC from Armed Police Force presented on APF’s capability in DRM including the readily available task force and accessories within the organization. DSP Mr. Prajwal Maharjan from Nepal Police presented on the availability of the skilled personnel and equipments all around Nepal for responding disaster situations as well as their preparedness to face future disasters.

Mr. Nagendra Sitaula from IOE presented on Disaster Education in IOE detailing the courses in the field of engineering education including research topics done by the Masters level students. Mr. Lok Bijaya Adhikari from National Seismological Center presented on Earthquakes in Nepal with eye-opening facts from seismological point of view. Mr. Dharma Raj Pandey from NRCS presented on Experiences of DRM in Nepal describing the background of Nepal Red Cross Society and its preparedness as well as disaster response capabilities.

The session chair Mr. Ramesh Kumar Singh, Deputy Director General, DUDBC concluded the session while stressing on the necessity of more organized efforts from all the stakeholders on disaster risk reduction and need for enhanced preparedness and capability building. At the end of the day, Mr. Ramesh Guragain, Coordinator of the Symposium, presented his vote of thanks to all the presenters and the participants of the National Symposium.

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