KATHMANDU, Jan 9: National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) has decided to launch a three-month mega campaign (mahaabhiyan) starting from January 16 for the reconstruction of earthquake ravaged infrastructures.
Chief Executive Officer of NRA Sushil Gyewali spoke about the plan at a meeting with line ministries at Singha Durbar on Friday. The mega campaign will kick off from January 16 and continue till April 25, the date last year of the devastating earthquake. January 16 (Magh 2) is 18th National Earthquake Safety Day in Nepal.
According to Rameshwor Dangal, joint secretary at the Home Ministry, President Bidya Bhandari is likely to launch the mega campaign from Ranipokhari in Kathmandu and Bungamati in Lalitpur.
President Bhandari will lay the foundation stone at the Ranipokhari temple to symbolize the start of reconstruction of public heritage sites and the prime minister will unveil a map of the reconstruction master plan for the Bungmati area the same day. “Various reconstruction plans will be unveiled during the campaign period,” said Dangal.
CEO Gyewali had called a meeting with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Urban Development and Local Development and representatives from the Department of Archeology. During the campaign, the authority also plans to train 1,500 engineers in assessing the condition of the affected buildings and planning for reconstruction.
However, Secretary at the NRA Baburam Adhikari said that detailed plans for the reconstruction are yet to be finalized. “The authority is still holding consultations with line ministries, but the campaign will be finalized soon,” said Adhikari. A meeting of the directive committee and the advisory council has been called for next week to give final touches to the campaign.
NRA has announced its campaign soon after acquiring full shape on Tuesday; nine months after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the country. The April 25 earthquake and repeated aftershocks left more than 9,000 people dead and destroyed 800,000 public and private structures partially or completely, including some world heritage sites.
Eight months after the earthquake, parliament endorsed the bill on the reconstruction authority, paving the way for the formation of the authority on December 17, 2015. A week after endorsement of the bill, the government appointed Gyewali as CEO of NRA.
The cabinet on Tuesday gave full shape to the authority, forming an advisory council headed by the prime minister and with former prime minister Sushil Koirala, who is also president of the main opposition party Nepali Congress, as its vice-chairman.
The directive committee, also headed by the prime minister, has likewise been given full shape. The CEO-led executive committee has also been given full shape with the appointment of former secretary Dhruba Prasad Sharma and engineers Chandra Bahadur Shrestha and Bishnu Bahadur Bhandari as members.
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