Nepal government representatives on exposure trip to India

A group of 21 elected local government representatives from the 2015-quake-hit Nuwakot district of Nepal are on a five-day exposure visit to India to learn about the country's sustainable urban development and livelihood integration, officials said on Thursday.

The group, which began their trip on February 10 under the India's post-earthquake reconstruction efforts in Nepal in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), include mayors, chairs, vice-chairs of eight rural municipalities and an official from the Federation of Nepalese Journalists, the Indian Embassy here said in a statement.

"During their visit to India, the delegation will visit Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Roorkee, to observe the Shake Table Testing Facility and different labs such as Structural Engineering lab, Fire lab, Technology Demonstration lab and Rural Park," it said.

The delegation will also visit the Centre for Urban and Regional Excellence in New Delhi to learn participatory process for sustainable urban development and livelihood integration.

At the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), the delegation will a hear presentation on post-earthquake conservation and restoration works by INTACH together with a guided tour at its heritage academy, the statement said. The massive earthquake in Nepal in April, 2015 created havoc, killing over 10,000 people and injuring nearly 22,000 people. Gorkha and Nuwakot were the worst-hit districts. India is collaborating with Nepal on post-earthquake reconstruction of 23,088 houses in Nuwakot district.

"To complement the Nepal's owner driven reconstruction approach, UNOPS is providing socio-technical facilitation to home owners to rebuild their resilient homes," the statement said.

"The visit will provide an avenue for building capacities of key local stakeholders for ensuring earthquake resilient reconstruction by raising community awareness about disaster management, recovery and resilience," it added.