The United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Office of U. S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) officially handed over a “Kathmandu Valley Post-Earthquake Debris Management Strategic Plan” to Mr. Somlal Subedi, Secretary of Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development, at a special event in Kathmandu yesterday.

The National Society for Earthquake Technology (Nepal) believes that an earthquake of a magnitude of 8 or higher on the Richter scale would destroy or severely damage 60 to 80 percent of buildings in the Kathmandu Valley, resulting in 55 to 65 million tons of debris.

The strategic plan provides organizational structure and standardized guidelines for “the clearance, removal, staging, reduction, recycling, processing, and disposal of post-earthquake debris in an environmentally responsible manner. Nine of the total 83 open spaces in the valley are suggested as sites for debris management,” reports a press relese issued by Public Affairs Section, Embassy of The United States.

In 2014, USAID, through the International Organization for Migration, assisted the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development in preparing the Strategic Plan as part of a larger project dealing with preparedness and management of open spaces for humanitarian response in the Kathmandu Valley. The U.S. Government supports the Government of Nepal, through preparedness, mitigation, and awareness efforts, to prevent or minimize the damage caused by disasters.