Award for rehabilitating Nepal

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) based here has been awarded the Humanitarian GIS Award for its rehabilitation work after the massive earthquake in Nepal in April 25.

The award was announced at the 2015 International User Conference of the Environmental System Research Institute (ESRI) in the US on Monday.

ESRI president Jack Dangermond said ICIMOD was recognised for its contribution to the disaster response efforts of the Nepal government in the aftermath of the earthquake.

"ICIMOD's resolve and tireless efforts in the face of such devastation truly inspires us," Dangermond said.

On April 25, a magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck the Himalayan nation which killed close to 9,000 people, while 23,000 others were injured, more than 785,000 homes damaged or destroyed, and about 2.8 million people were displaced.

"In a disaster situation like the one Nepal faced, collecting, managing, processing, and disseminating timely and reliable information becomes critical to relief and recovery operations," ICIMOD director general David Molden said in a statement.

ICIMOD identified over 3,000 landslides and assembled a database of over 250 landslides and other large mass movements, conducted a special geo-hazards assessment of the Langtang Valley, examined the condition of Nepal's most dangerous glacial lakes and provided an update of priority lakes.