Japan to Lift Evacuation Order for Part of Fukushima Town

Tomioka, Fukushima Pref., March 10 (Jiji Press)--Japan is set to lift the evacuation order that has been in place since the 2011 nuclear disaster for part of the Fukushima Prefecture town of Tomioka on April 1.

The order will be removed at 9 a.m. (midnight March 31 GMT) in an area designated as a reconstruction base, as agreed mainly between the central and Tomioka municipal governments Friday.

"I feel that the lifting of the evacuation order will mark the start of full-fledged reconstruction," Ikuo Yamamoto, mayor of the northeastern Japan town, told a press conference.

Reconstruction base areas are set up within the so-called difficult-to-return zones in the prefecture where entry is heavily restricted because of high radiation levels.

Tomioka's reconstruction base area covers the Yonomori district and part of the Osuge district in the town's northeast, accounting for 6 pct of the town's total area, or some 390 hectares.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]