International Seminar on Disaster Mitigation in Kathmandu, Nepal

The seminar was held in Kathmandu, Nepal on 18th Nov, jointly by the Nepal Engineering College and Ehime University, Japan. About 100 persons from Nepal, India and Japan participated and 9 papers were presented in two sessions, followed by a panel discussion. The venue was Soaltee Crown Plaza, one of the three biggest hotels in Kathmandu city. The seminar started with an inaugural session chaired by Dr. R.R. Upadhyay and with chief guest speech by Mr. P.N. Chaudhury, Chairman, the National Standing Committee, followed by a special lecture titled “Landslide Hazard Mapping: A Tool for Disaster Management in Nepal” was given by Dr. V. Dangol, General Secretary, Nepal Landslide Society (NELS).

The First Technical Session was chaired by Dr. V. Dangol, General Secretary, NELS, where four scientific papers were presented followed by a closing remark by the chairman. The titles of the papers are as follows:

Monitoring Slope Movements and Early Warning Systems (P.K. Basudhar and S. Chandra)

Disaster Management in Nepal: Issues and Challenges (G.B. Tuladhar).

Role of Go and NGo Organizations in Water Induced Disaster Mang and Public Awareness (S.B. Khadka).

Planning of Sabo Engineering and its Impact in the Dahachowk Watershed Area: An Example in the Hillside of Kathmandu Valley (R.Tuladhar, S. P. Sharma, M. Hiruma).

The Second Technical Session was chaired by S. Chandra that included three talks followed by a closing remark by the session chairman. The presented papers are as follows:

Landslide Triggering by Torrential Rainfall, Understanding from the Matatirtha Landslide, Southwestern Outskirts of the Kathmandu Valley (R.K. Dahal and K.R. Kafle).

Water Induced Disaster Scenario of Nepal, Based on Disaster Information System of the Department of Water Induced Disaster Prevention (L.C. Pradhan, P.M. Shrestha, T. Fukada, Y. Sumi).

Post Disaster Management in Nepal (B. H. Devkota, presented by R. Mishra).

The Panel Discussion with a title “Need of Coordinated Approach in the Landslide Disaster Mitigation in Nepal” was chaired by Mr. A.N. Bhandari, President, Nepal Landslide Society, Dr. V. Dangol, Mr. G.B. Tuladhar, and Prof. D. Bhattarai; summarization of the seminar, and further ideas and problems were raised with the main fruits bellow.

1. Formation of a central organization to assemble all data related with disasters in Nepal is principally necessary. Data need updating, and easy access will be given to users since the lack of sharing data has been common. Monitoring of the work is also very important.

2. A good policy and legislation is required in this direction, which in Nepal is lacking at present.

3. Not only legislation, good implementing practice is also essential, because only laws and regulation are not sufficient in developing countries.

4. Controlling mechanism should also be developed.