Minister Gautam pledges legal reforms and safer infrastructure to reduce disaster risks

LALITPUR: The Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sobita Gautam has pledged to reform existing laws and policies on disaster risk reduction and build safer infrastructure suited to the country’s geography.

Speaking at the opening session of the Fifth National Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Lalitpur on International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, Gautam said major floods in recent years had underscored the need to take experts’ warnings about disaster risks seriously.

“Nature has been sending us messages repeatedly over the past 15 years. Disaster experts have been warning that Nepal is at risk and that laws and infrastructure must be improved. But this time, the flood in Rasuwa has made it imperative for us to listen to those warnings,” she said.