The world famous trekking route Annapurna Circuit is safe and is open for business, said an assessment report prepared by Miyamoto International, a global structural and earthquake engineering firm. However, there are some areas that have been identified as having a particularly high hazard level due to their existing features or geometry.
The assessment of the Annapurna region’s main trekking routes for structural and geotechnical earthquake-related damage was funded by SAMARTH-NMDP, a programme supported by UK-AID, and conducted on behalf of the Tourism Ministry.
The audit report submitted to the Tourism Ministry on Thursday showed that structural earthquake-related damage in the Annapurna region was very limited—3 percent of total buildings stock and 0 percent of bridges assessed.
“It appears that the Annapurna Circuit and Annapurna Sanctuary trails covered in this study are largely undamaged by landslides after the earthquakes. However, some areas have been identified as having high hazard level,” said Kit Miyamoto, CEO of Miyamoto International presenting the report.
The report said that there are few places with very high rock slopes and areas with evidence of historic large rockfall and slope instability and a detailed risk-assessment study of these areas is recommended. Thirty bridges and villages with 250 accommodations were assessed in the Annapurna region.
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