Nepal declares Kathmandu Valley as crisis-hit zone

KATHMANDU: Nepal today declared all three districts in the Kathmandu Valley as the crisis-hit zone, curtailing certain civil rights in order to demolish and clear the infrastructure damaged by the quakes and reconstruct them.

A Cabinet meeting today decided to declare the Kathmandu Valley districts - Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur - the Disaster Area for a year so that damaged buildings could be demolished and reconstructed during the period, according to Minister for Information and Communications Minendra Rijal.

The declaration of Disaster Area will curtail some civil rights in the districts.

The decision was made based on the provisions in the Natural Calamity (Relief) Act, 1982, informed Minister Rijal, who is also the government spokesperson.

Nepal is still recovering from two major quakes and several aftershocks that have killed nearly 9,000 people and left a trail of destruction.