Photo/Illutration An urban area of Minami-Sanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, hit by tsunami in March 2011 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Nearly 40 percent of municipalities remain woefully underprepared to grapple with the prospect of widespread reconstruction from a natural disaster, according to a survey by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

The central government is pushing local authorities to develop reconstruction strategies before disaster strikes, citing the experience of towns, cities and villages in northeastern Japan devastated by the magnitude-9.0 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami 11 years ago.

At that time, town development plans were compiled only after the event, which led to delays in reconstructing affected areas and helping residents to get back on their feet due to a lack of data on public land and land registry surveys.

The government is calling on municipalities to develop reconstruction strategies while they continue to step up disaster preparedness efforts.

A 2017 revision to the government’s basic disaster preparedness plan calls on municipalities to actively prepare for recovery from disasters.

The following year, the government compiled guidelines on five tasks municipalities need to tackle: deciding which division will be responsible for rebuilding disaster-hit areas; establishing procedures for drafting reconstruction plans; training officials; gathering and analyzing basic data necessary for reconstruction; and setting goals and creating plans for town development based on estimates of disaster damage and challenges facing municipalities.

In a survey of 1,788 municipalities conducted by the ministry last year, only about 62 percent said they had started at least one of the five tasks. In particular, only 6 to 7 percent said they have worked on training officials, collecting the necessary basic data or setting town development goals.

In a separate ministry survey, some municipalities said they had no time to spare on following the guidelines due to other pressing tasks, while others said they have no idea what they are supposed to do.

The government will start drafting new guidelines from April to urge municipalities to have reconstruction strategies in place. It will also send experts to municipalities upon request.

Under the new guidelines, the government will give specific examples of what preparations municipalities should make based on, among other things, whether they are urban or regional areas or coastal regions prone to tsunami.

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