18 Sept 2015 | A total of 63 local masons were trained on sustainable and safer building construction in the aftermath of damages due to earthquake this year. Local people can get in touch with the service providers of sustainable and safer construction including those trained masons by visiting the Information Centers established at Lalitpur and Pokhara Sub-Metropolitan City offices. At a time when the country is reeling under shortage of trained people to build multi-hazard resilient houses after the earthquake, Lalitpur and Pokhara Sub-Metropolitan Cities, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and Shelter for Local Technology Development Center (SLTDC) jointly organized three-day training for local masons in Lalitpur and Pokhara under Green-Homes project. The training consisted of hands-on practical sessions on sustainable and safer building construction techniques using green construction materials including hollow concrete block and soil cement block. Participants were also taken for an observation visit to the production and construction sites of hollow concrete and soil cement block. The training sessions were conducted by sustainable and safer housing experts from UN-Habitat, SLTDC and Inno Tech for 33 participants from 8-10 September in Lalitpur and for 30 local masons from 14-16 September, 2015 in Pokhara. UN-Habitat and its partners have plans to organize similar training at earthquake affected districts in the near future.