The committee, in which 50 percent of the members are women, also has separate teams for pre-information and communication, search and rescue, first aid, loss and need analysis, and drinking water and sanitation.

The municipality has already formulated ward-level disaster management plans and also established a fund for emergency purpose. According to Sobina Limbu, coordinator of the municipality’s community-based disaster resilience programme, the committee has also been organising various programmes, including street dramas, documentary shows, rallies and radio programmes, to raise awareness among local people on disaster preparedness.

As the Kathmandu valley is one of the most vulnerable cities in the world to earthquake disaster, the Ministry of Home Affairs, two years ago, designated 83 open spaces in the Valley for emergency rescue and evacuation works. Among these open spaces, two largest ones are the Tribhuvan University premises in Kirtipur and the National Agricultural Research Centre premises in Lalitpur. These two areas can accommodate up to 118,051 people during a disaster.

The municipality has been receiving support from the ministry, UK government, Oxfam and Lumanti to carry out its activities related to disaster preparedness.