Nepal to deploy army till mid-July for disaster management

The Nepal cabinet on Monday decided to recommend to the president the deployment of the army till the middle of July to carry out relief work following the massive destruction caused by the April 25 earthquake and its many aftershocks.

A meeting of the cabinet on Monday decided to recommend to President Ram Baran Yadav to mobilise the Nepal Army to carry out relief work and other necessary help for relocation and rehabilitation of the affected people, said Minister for General Administration Lal Babu Pandit.

The army launched its ambitious "Sankat Mochan" operation in quake-hit areas after thousands of foreign search and research personnel left the country after the Nepal government told them to return as the search bid was almost complete.

Though the army has been on the ground since April 25 and is involved in various rescue and relief work, the continuation of the army's deployment in quake-hit areas need a recommendation from the cabinet and approval from the president, who is the supreme commander of the Nepal Army.

The army said it has already deployed personnel in 580 village blocks in the worst-hit 14 districts.

In its new mandate, the army will conduct search and rescue operations in some of the remote areas, as well as assist survivors who were yet to receive help from the civilian government.

The army will also engage in information collection and other humanitarian efforts for another month in quake-hit areas.

It will also extend other humanitarian assistance like building temporary houses, providing shelters for the needy and small-scale infrastructure work.

As the first step, the army will build airstrips in quake-hit areas to ease the relief distribution efforts and to ferry essential commodities.