The government convened a panel of experts on Wednesday to draft a new national resilience plan, with a focus on accelerating repairs and upgrades to water and sewer pipelines throughout Japan.

The move comes after a sinkhole appeared in the city of Yashio, Saitama Prefecture on Jan. 28, which is believed to have been caused by a damaged sewer pipe. As of Wednesday afternoon, a 74-year-old truck driver who was driving over the road when it collapsed remains trapped inside the 15-meter-deep hole.

The current five-year plan, set to conclude in fiscal 2025 that ends in March next year, allocates about ¥15 trillion ($97.9 billion) to infrastructure projects aimed at strengthening disaster resilience. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced in a Jan. 24 policy speech that the new plan, covering fiscal 2026 to 2030, will exceed that amount.