THE HIMALAYAN TIMES- Perspectives

Lead story

March 13, 2016

Reconstruction moving at snail’s pace

Almost a year after the natural disaster the nation is still waiting for something concrete in terms of reconstruction

Abhilasha Rayamajhi
Kathamndu

Almost a year has passed after the massive natural disaster hit Nepal, however reconstruction work is still in the planning phase. The devastating earthquakes that took place in April and May 2015 caused a loss of 8,891 lives and 22,200 people were affected. Precisely, 608,155 houses were completely damaged and 298,998 sheds were partially damaged by the earthquake in 14 districts of Nepal. Similarly, 2,687 government buildings including schools, hospitals and health posts were completely damaged while 3,776 suffered partial damage.

The impact of the earthquake was observed to be higher in remote and rural areas and low income communities were most affected. According to a research by The Asia Foundation on high impact districts, 72 per cent respondents reported that their houses were completely destroyed while 14 per cent said their houses were partially destroyed needing significant repairs before they could be lived in again.

The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) was formed nearly eight months after the disaster. A total budget of 6.69 billion US dollars will be required for the reconstruction. The international community and donor agencies had pledged to offer 4.1 billion US dollars. However, the reconstruction works is taking place at a snail’s pace and government has not yet received the grant.

Cause of delay

“Delay in formation of NRA and the appointment of the CEO for the authority due to political disputes shows how serious the government is regarding such a critical issue,” says Dr Basanta Raj Adhikari, Deputy Director, Centre for Disaster Studies, Institute of Engineering, Tribhuvan University (TU). The government had promised to complete the reconstruction works within five years and provide NRs 200,000 to each individuals. But at the current pace where the work hasn't even begun properly that doesn’t seem realistic, he said.

Citing that reconstruction work must gear up, he said, “We have enough technical and financial resources for reconstruction efforts. Our current need is to make optimum utilisation of the resources.” He further added that the work is delayed but now proper risk mapping must be carried out before reconstruction in order to build back better and safer homes.

Sudip Pokharel, Director of Democracy Resource Centre Nepal said, “Nepal was not prepared for the disaster at all. Moreover, governance works in an ad hoc manner rather than going for a scientific approach.” Political parties with their disagreements politicised the whole reconstruction effort. Further, leadership and participation of political parties in the relief and reconstruction works was observed to be weak.

Even though the technical expertise and financial resources are enough in the nation, they could not be mobilised due to miscommunication and lack of coordination according to him. There were 500 engineers assigned in the field after the earthquake but the assessments were inconsistent. “Research and assessments conducted shortly after the disaster are unable to capture the intensity and impact of the disaster,” he claimed.

Random reconstruction

“People have rebuilt their homes randomly where ever and however they want without consultation with geologists or engineers,” said Dr Ranjan Kumar Dahal, Engineering Geologist and Geo-technical Engineer. He added that the focus has only been on rebuilding individual houses without considering geological engineering. People only consider the aspects of physical infrastructure.” He explained that houses and buildings that are built in valleys are built differently than houses built in Terai or Himalayas.

“We are only following the template taught to us by NGOs and INGOs rather than doing scientific studies and building disaster resistant houses. The relationship between ground, building and design is misunderstood. To rebuild and reconstruct disaster resistant houses appropriate geological study should be understood,” he said.

According to him geological studies and research from the side of government is required. We have not even done the things we could do easily. Calculation of ground acceleration, design and building’s response will make us more responsive towards disaster as per him. “The government should take the initiative to create demonstrative videos that show the consequences of randomly reconstructing houses and buildings and broadcast it through national television,” he suggested.

Opportunity to build better

According to Prabha Pokhrel, Social Development Expert and Chairperson of Integrated Development Society –Nepal, said, “There is lack of coordination, documentation and knowledge sharing even between various departments of the government in Nepal.” Pokhrel said even people who have the capacity to build homes are unable to do so because they care confused about where to build as disasters are unpredictable. Further, people are not sure of whether they should wait for the grant that the government has assured or to go ahead and build permanent shelters right away.

According to her, “Government should immediately provide a clear guideline that states which areas are safe for resettlement and when the victims will obtain the funds.” If this is clear then people can at least start to build homes and later they can claim the grant.

“The settlements in Nepal are random and unorganised. This is an opportunity for us to have planned urbanisation,” she said. The population residing in urban areas has increased from 28 per cent to around 40 per cent acording to her. She said that settlements are scattered and development is difficult in such situations. “The government should have a vision to plan to reorganise and rebuild settlements. When there is a school, hospital, a safe shelter to reside at the time of disaster and other infrastructures in the same area development can take place at a faster pace,” she added.

“Another important aspect that government must consider is climate change and its impact on water supply. The disaster has caused underground water to dry up and there is no use of making settlements in such areas,” according to her research.

Execution of realistic goals
She said, “It takes time for a new organisation to function completely. In order to establish a proper mechanism for reconstruction, coordination and communication between government, donor agencies, national and international expertise is a must.” Moreover, forming realistic goals and executing is essential.

“NRA was established just two months ago and it takes time for any new organisation to start work efficiently,” says Suresh Adhikari, Spokesperson of NRA. He shared that government and NRA is still working on data verification and geographical mapping. He informed that NRA will provide NRs 50,000 to the earthquake victims of Dolakha district till the end of Falgun and it will soon distribute grants in Sidhupalchowk.

He further said that it is true that there will not be lack of funds for reconstruction works. However, the government has not yet received the sum that donor agencies have pledged because there were delays in formation of laws regarding the reconstruction authority. The focus of NRA is now on building individual houses. He concludes, “The government’s focus is to rebuild 500,000 individual’s houses, resettlement plans and simultaneously work on rebuilding cultural heritages.”