KATHMANDU: The Ministry of Home Affairs has expanded its disaster hotline service to all 77 districts in a bid to improve the speed and effectiveness of emergency response, rescue coordination and public grievance handling.
According to a ministry press release, the new toll-free hotline 1234 replaces the previously centralized disaster hotline 1149, which was operated only from the national level.
Under the new system, calls made to 1234 from Kathmandu Valley—covering Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur—will be routed to the National Emergency Operation Centre at Singha Durbar. Calls from the remaining 74 districts will automatically be directed to the respective District Emergency Operation Centres.
The ministry said the decentralized system will enable citizens to directly report disaster-related incidents, seek assistance, lodge complaints and provide suggestions to their district emergency centres, making rescue operations, coordination and service delivery more efficient.
The expansion follows the government’s governance reform agenda endorsed by the Cabinet on March 26, 2026, which aims to strengthen results-based public service delivery, accountability and responsiveness.
The ministry also said all District Emergency Operation Centres are now operating round the clock and urged the public to follow official disaster alerts and advisories issued by the government and contact 1234 whenever emergency assistance is required.
Comment