An-R&R 25 9 04 - PreventionWeb.net · noted, 'SAARC DMC, on its own merits, has never been...

southasiadisasters.net May 20152

ABOUT THIS ISSUE

The Nepal Earthquake of25th April, 2015 has been

one of the most devastatingcatastrophes in the history of thesmall Himalayan nation. Theloss in terms of human andeconomic costs has beenexponential. Moreover, thisdisaster has undone all thedevelopment progress hithertoachieved. The response fromthe world community has beenswift but the sheer scale of thedamage caused has thrown opena lot of humanitarianchallenges. Concerted planningand action is required toovercome these challenges.

This issue ofSouthasiadisasters.net focuseson the theme of 'HumanitarianAction after the NepalEarthquake: Agenda for IAP'.The ISDR Asia Partnership (IAP)is committed to effectiveimplementation of the SFDRRin Asia Pacific region and theNepal earthquake representssignificant challenges to this. AsSouth Asia grapples with yetanother disaster, thehumanitarian communityneeds to draw importantlessons for an effective responseand recovery.

This issue ofSouthasiadisasters.net capturesthese important lessons. It is amust read for all who wish toexplore the opportunitiesSFDRR offers in making Nepalrecovery robust andsustainable.

– Kshitij Gupta

INTRODUCTION

Earthquake in Nepal: BeyondLoss and DamageNepal was struck by a devastating

magnitude of 7.8 earthquake onApril 25, 2015. According to theNational Emergency Operation Center,the death toll from the devastatingearthquake stands at 7,250 and thenumber of people injured is 14, 222(Mullen J. and Shelbayah S. 2015)1. Theearthquake is considered Nepal's worstsince a 1934 tremor that killed nearly17,000 people across both India andNepal; UN estimates over 8 millionpeople in need of humanitarianassistance, about a quarter of thecountry's population (T.V. Padma2015)2 . Apart from Nepal theearthquake jolted parts of Bangladesh,Bhutan, China, India and Pakistan.

The international response has beenswift but is proving to beoverwhelming and difficult to managefor a small country such as Nepal,which is amongst world's poorest andleast developed countries. Countriessuch as US, UK and Australia havepledged $10 million, $7.6 million and$3.9 million respectively; Nepal willalso receive $15 million support fromthe United Nations, which is trying tocoordinate international efforts tomaximize aid effectives (Ian Bremmer2015)3. Officials with Westerngovernments and aid organizationshave reported piling up of reliefsupplies at the airport and warehouses

because of bureaucratic interferencethat insist standard customs inspectionsand other procedures, even in anemergency (Gardiner H. 2015)4.

The National Building Code of Nepalenforced since 1994 remained largelyunenforced. Municipalities which areresponsible to issue building permitsin Nepal have not done enough toincorporate the building code into theirpermit processes. '…initial assessmentsseem to indicate that a majority ofbuildings that were destroyed wereeither built prior to the formulation andimplementation of the safe buildingcode, or did not adhere to it, saidRamraj Narasimhan, a Disaster RiskReduction expert with UNDP' (UNDP2015)5. A vast majority, up to 80 percentof buildings in Nepal are owner builtand constructed by masons notformally trained (UNDP 2015)6.

According to the US Geological Survey,the economic losses could be as high as$10bn and the cost of rebuilding is $5bn(which is equivalent to 20 percent ofNepal's GDP)7. Thus, the economiclosses in Nepal may have a majornegative impact on its GDP withouteffective and efficient use ofinternational support and assistance.With unemployment of over 40 percent,agriculture support more than 70% ofthe population and more than a third

1 Mullen J. and Shelbayah S. 2015. CNN. Police: 101-year-old man rescued one week afterNepal quake. May 3, 2015. http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/03/asia/nepal-earthquake/

2 T.V. Padma 2015. Himalayas could be hit by more powerful quakes in coming decades,warn scientists. April 30, 2015. http://www.thethirdpole.net/himalayas-could-be-hit-by-more-powerful-quakes-soon-warn-scientists/

3 Ian Bremmer 2015. These Are the 5 Facts That Explain Nepal's Devastating Earthquake.May 1, 2015 http://time.com/3843436/these-are-the-5-facts-that-explain-nepals-devastating-earthquake/

4 Gardiner H. 2015. The New York Times. Nepal's Bureaucracy Is Blamed as EarthquakeRelief Supplies Pile Up., MAY 3, 2015 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/04/world/asia/nepals-bureaucracy-is-blamed-as-quake-relief-supplies-pile-up.html?_r=0

5 UNDP 2015. Building Safety to Prevent Loss of Life. May 1, 2015. http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/presscenter/articles/2015/05/01/building-safely-to-prevent-the-loss-of-life-.html

6 ibid.

southasiadisasters.netMay 2015 3

of GDP where remittances contributeup to 22% to 25% percent of GDP andtourism 8.6% of the economy (BoharaA. K. 2015)8.

Never before has an earthquakeopened up so many cracks on so muchground as the recent earthquake inthe Himalayas has.

The first crack is in our perception ofdisasters in South Asia. We haveassumed that disasters areoccurrences that stay confined tonational boundaries; and neglected toregister the boundary-scorningnature of natural disasters. Floods,earthquakes, droughts, and cyclonesare trans-boundary phenomena thatrequire the joint efforts ofneighbouring nations if they are torespond to their vulnerable citizenseffectively. The Koshi River floodsbetween Nepal and India should havetaught us that lesson. Yet regionalapproaches to risk reduction,including South-South cooperationremain weak across South Asia.International aid community andnational governments from South

Asia as well as their associations suchSAARC or platform such as the AsianMinisterial Conference should havebetter prepared to handle trans-boundary response to disaster suchas this.

A recent paper raises many relevantquestions about role of SAARC thatdeveloped a ComprehensiveFramework on Disaster Managementand Disaster Prevention in 2005 andestablished a number of SAARCcenters, including the SAARC Centrefor Disaster Management andPreparedness (SDMC). The paper hasnoted, 'SAARC DMC, on its ownmerits, has never been considered aparticularly effective institution…any cautious hopes about what itcould achieve seem to have beenreplaced by widespread cynicismabout its ostensibly non-existentinfluence' (White S. 2015)9. Further itrevealed that not a single DRMgovernment official interviewed wasable to comment on any SDMCactivities that had provided criticalsupport to their national capacitybuilding effort; neither international

stakeholders were able to describemuch of what the Center does tosupport national capacities. Thisrequire critical review of revampingthe whole disaster managementarrangements within the SAARCregion and not only the structure andworking arrangements of SDMC.

At the same time SMC has been ledby eminent experts such as Dr. DharChakrabarti; Dr. Saten; and Dr.Santosh Kumar, who have developedregional frameworks; MoUs; capacitybuilding programme; publications;research; and policy dialogues ofimportance to South Asia. And in thislight SDMC offers great opportunityto reduce risks in South Asia.

The second crack is in ourunderstanding of the magnitude ofloss and damage. Scientificcommunity has already warnedabout a series of more fatal extremegeological events such as earthquakes,volcanoes and tsunamis; causal factoris seen by a growing body of scientistsas further proof that climate changecan affect the underlying structure of

7 Aljazeera 2015. The economic impact of Nepal's earthquake. http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/countingthecost/2015/05/economic-impact-nepal-earthquake-150501120857758.html

8 Bohara A. K. 2015. Nepal earthquake deals severe hit to culture, economy but may spark more regional cooperation. May 02, 2015.http://scroll.in/article/724590/nepal-earthquake-deals-severe-hit-to-culture-economy-but-may-spark-more-regional-cooperation

9 White S. 2015. A critical disconnect: The role of SAARC in building the disaster risk management capacities of South Asiancountries. May 5, 2015. http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2015/05/0505-saarc-disaster-capacity-south-asia-nepal-white?rssid=energy+and+environment

The damaged Basantpur square (Kathmandu) after the earthquake.

Phot

o: A

IDM

I.


the Earth (Renton A. 2015)10. Thisearthquake is only a small glimpseinto the kind of damage and loss afuture earthquake can cause across awide swath of towns and villages inNepal, India, Bhutan, and Bangladesh.Our response to this earthquaketherefore cannot just be aboutaddressing the current loss anddamage, but an effort towardspreparing and preventing future lossand damage.

The third crack reveals our indecisiontowards modes of recovery. TheGujarat model of recovery is widelyconsidered as one of the best examplesin South Asia. If that is so, how rapidlywill India be able to use it in theborderlands of Nepal? Will it be toNepal's advantage? China has a fasterand more accurate track record ofboth response and recovery; will thatbe a more attractive model for Nepalto follow? Nepal is a strategic ally toboth, India and China. China beingthe biggest foreign investor as of 2014and India being much closerlinguistically and culturally relativeto China are likely to play a criticalrole in Nepal's recovery as Nepal's6,000 rivers will be important to meetenergy needs of both the countries incoming years Ian (Bremmer 2015)11.

The fourth crack throws light on theissue of financial exclusion. Financialexclusion not only pushes backdevelopment and economic growth,but we have seen that it also pushesback recovery. South Asiangovernments and financialinstitutions have done little to bringbanking and financial services to theirvulnerable citizens. Transportingfood and water play an essential rolein recovery; but that role is limited.Access to money to rebuildlivelihoods has a far greater potentialto build financial capacities. It is tooearly to suggest who is planning

what to bring advantages of well-established micro-finance systems tothe victims of Nepal. However, it isclear that micro-finance has to belinked with both physicalreconstruction as well as livelihoodspromotion and risk transferapproaches.

Nepal faces a path in two directions.One direction is to rebuild, develop,and push economic growth along ourcurrent path. The second direction isto rebuild and develop with "clean","green", and sustainable technologythat shows awareness of climatechange. The second path seems wiserand more promising, but is it the pathwe have the courage to follow? Thesecond path will help mitigate impactsof major trans-border disasters suchas earthquake and floods.

'There have been no elections at thedistrict, village or municipal level fornearly 20 years, and the committeesin charge of local councils are notorganized enough to deal with thedifficult task of coordinatingemergency assistance' (Ian Bremmer2015)12. A review and overhaul oflocal district disaster managementplans across the country, butespecially of earthquake hotspots islong overdue. A third party reviewof the plans of key districts is overdue.Deutsche Gesellschaft fürInternationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)has a method called The Stocktakingfor National Adaptation Planning(SNAP) that can combine disasterpreparedness and climate riskaversion in development plans.

Looking ahead, there are severalmeasures that can be taken, andinsisted on by the state and by citizens,towards disaster preparedness.

First, there is an obvious and urgentneed to conduct safety audits of

schools; safety audits of hospitals; andto lay down safe building practicesfor all new schools and hospitals.

Second, mock drills matter. This is notthe last earthquake. Regular,monitored, and systematic mockdrills across small town and villagesin the region need to be conducted atthe earliest possible time. This willenable us to detect weaknesses andgaps in the system.

Third, business and industry mustbecome more involved in building asafer and more sustainable Nepal.Agriculture, transport, and urbandevelopment are some key areaswhere new, people-friendly andenvironment-friendly practices areneeded--a challenge that the businesscommunity can take up.

I witnessed the aftermath of Japan'sKobe earthquake a year after it tookplace in 1995, and was invited a fewmonths ago to review its recoveryefforts. I was invited to reviewrecovery efforts. What a remarkablerecovery Kobe and the surroundingarea have made in the last 20 years! Arobust and sustainable recovery ispossible only if we are able to lookbeyond the immediate loss anddamage, and turn disaster recoveryinto an opportunity for sustainabledevelopment.

Nepal has unique opportunity forbuilding back better lives andlivelihoods including publicinfrastructure and essential services.Reconstruction and recovery in Nepalis also an opportunity for theinternational aid community to putthe Sendai Framework for DisasterRisk Reduction in practice and ensureits success. Last, but not the least,recovery and development in Nepalhas to be smart and climatecompatible. – Mihir R. Bhatt

10 Renton A. 2015. More fatal earthquakes to come, warn geologists. April 28, 2015. http://europe.newsweek.com/nepal-earthquake-could-have-been-manmade-disaster-climate-change-brings-326017

11 Ian Bremmer 2015. These Are the 5 Facts That Explain Nepal's Devastating Earthquake. May 1, 2015 http://time.com/3843436/these-are-the-5-facts-that-explain-nepals-devastating-earthquake

12 ibid.


AGENDA FOR IAP

Nepal Earthquake: Challenges to be Addressed

It's been a month since theHimalayan nation of Nepal was

rattled by a magnitude 7.8earthquake. Dubbed as the worstearthquake in the past 80 years, thedevastation caused by thiscatastrophe has been unprecedentedin both human and economic costs.As of May 25 2015, the number ofcasualties has risen to 8,658 while thenumber of injured has reached21,150.1 As Nepal's infrastructure hasbeen laid to waste, the U.S. GeologicalSurvey has estimated the economiclosses arising out of the earthquaketo be US $10 billion and the cost ofrebuilding to be US $ 5 billion. Theresponse of the world community tothis humanitarian crisis has been aptbut given the overwhelming scale ofthe devastation caused, there are stillmany challenging areas that need to

be addressed to engender an effectiveresponse and recovery.

The United Nations Office for theCoordination of Humanitarian Affairs(UNOCHA) has come out with itssituation report # 18 about the NepalEarthquake. This report highlightsthe following key needs andchallenges (segregated by clusters) inhumanitarian response efforts inNepal:

I. Camp Coordination and CampManagementAccording to the needsassessment done for 88,400displaced people using thedisplacement tracking matrix(DTM), shelter, installation ofdrainage systems and food haveemerged as the most urgent needsof the displaced people.

II. Early Recovery• Five VDCs in Dhading District

(Laapa, Tipling, Setuu, Ruhiand Gaun) are still inaccessibleby road; 90 per cent of thebuildings are destroyed and 10per cent are damaged in theseVDCs.

• Support for early recoveryactivities including debrisremoval were requested byauthorities. In Chautara(Sinduphalchowk), the marketarea is high priority for debrisclearance and demolition alongwith residential areas acrossthe district.

• In Gorkha District, immediateremoval of rubble and debrisof residential buildings inBarpak and Laprak VDCs.

1 UNHCR 2015, Sources: OCHA, UNDAC, UNRCO (Nepal), Government of Nepal, MapboxNepal:2015 Earthquakes

Damaged houses at Sudal village in Bhaktapur district, Nepal.

Phot

o: A

IDM

I.


III. Education• According to the Department

of Education, a total of 32,145classrooms were destroyed and15,352 damaged in 42 districts.Education needs continue toincrease as additional datafrom the districts becomesavailable.

• The Cluster estimates 999,000children aged 3 to 18 years ofage will be unable to return totheir classrooms when classesresume on 31 May. Thousandsmore will need support toaccess education services.

IV. Food SecurityWhile 1.67 million people from267 village developmentcommittees (VDCs) have receivedfood rations, there are pressingneeds from the food securitycluster. They are:• Preliminary assessment

findings in six districts indicatethe most urgent needs for thesummer cropping season areseeds and fertilizers, followedby irrigation, tools andtechnical support, and the mosturgent needs for livestock areshelter and feed, followed bymedicine, vaccination andwater supply.

• Wheat and barley need to beprovided in time for the wintercropping season that starts inOctober.

V. HealthIt is estimated that more than103,000 people have been treatedsince the earthquake struck.However, there are many urgentneeds of the health cluster. Theyare noted below:• As per Government's figures,

402 health facilities weredestroyed and 683 damaged.Most of the damaged facilitiesare primary health carecentres, village health postsand birthing centres.

• Out of 351 health facilitiesproviding Emergency ObstetricMaternal and Neonatal Careservices, 112 (or 32 per cent)were destroyed and 144 aredamaged in the 14 districts.

VI. Logistics• As of 26 May, normal customs

regulations will be reinstated.The regulations andprocedures surrounding dutyexemptions are strict and willalso apply to humanitarianorganizations that have prioragreements with Government.Some flights carrying reliefitems have recently beendenied landing permissionsince certain items (e.g. toolsfor road repairs) were not onthe list of approvedhumanitarian goods.

• A number of organizationshave reported problems withpolice escorts directing theirtrucks arriving from India tothe Nepal Transit WarehouseCorporation, causing delaysand issues for consignees toretrieve their cargo.

VII. Nutrition• There is a need to provide

therapeutic feeding toapproximately 10,000 childrenwith severe acute malnutrition(SAM) to protect their lives inthe coming six months.

• It has been challenging to reachand mobilize communities insome VDCs due to damaged orblocked roads.

VIII. Protection• It has been reported that nearly

300 children have lost one orboth parents in the earthquake.

• There is a continued need toprovide psychosocial supportto affected people and providetraining on gender-basedviolence (GBV) to psychosocialcounselors.

IX. Shelter• As of 25 May (14:30, UTC+5:45),

a total of 500,717 houses werereported destroyed and 296,190houses damaged.

• The Cluster recommends thattwo tarpaulins are provided toeach household to ensuresuitable coverage. The currentdistribution equates to 31 percent of the cluster target.

X. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene• The Cluster is targeting 1.2

million people with emergencywater interventions, 1.1 millionpeople with hygieneinterventions including hygienekit and hand washing with soapand around 304,000 people withgender friendly sanitationfacilities out of an initialestimated 4.2 million people.

• Limited capacity of thepartners and difficult roadconditions continues toconstrain delivery of WASHsupplies and services. There isa need to assess localcommunity capacity to cope toimprove sanitation access.

• Limited funding has impactedthe capacity of the partners toplan and deliver relief as wellas early recovery activities.

The above mentioned needs andchallenges can also be viewed asrecommendations for governmentand humanitarian agencies to worktowards a more robust humanitarianresponse in Nepal. The earthquake inNepal has killed, maimed anddisplaced people with abandon.Addressing the challenges inhumanitarian response is imperativeto put the Nepal back on the road torecovery after this gargantuan humantragedy. – AIDMI Team

Source: United Nations Office for theCoordination of Humanitarian Affairs

and Office of the Resident andHumanitarian Coordinator in Nepal

www.unocha.org/nepalwww.un.org.np


IMMEDIATE RESPONSE

AIDMI's Relief Activities Post NepalEarthquakeOn 25th April, 2015 an earthquake

of 7.8 magnitude struck theHimalayan nation of Nepal. Theearthquake has claimed more than8000 lives and has left many injuredand homeless. The intensity of theearthquake was so strong that tremorswere felt across entire Indiaincluding major cities in the northernregion like Delhi, Patna, LucknowKolkata, etc.

In the aftermath of the deadlyearthquake, an immediate responseto help the affected people wasneeded. AIDMI's response to thisearthquake was swift, and a teamreached Kathmandu on 28th April.The decisions were taken promptly,and with the assistance of our partnerIntegrated Development Society (IDS)in Nepal, areas were selected forrelief material distribution. The areaswere selected on the basis of urgentneeds and request from Nepal Govt.representatives in the form of DistrictDevelopment Committee (DDC) andVillage Development Committee(VDC). Through initial assessments,it was agreed upon that people are inimmediate need of assistance in theform of food items, blankets, first aidmedicines, and most importantlyTarpaulin sheets.

Resources were mobilized and therelief materials were procured fromIndia and got delivered to

Kathmandu with the next 72 hours.Relief kits were prepared based onthe different needs of people indifferent areas. The basic kitcontained tarpaulin sheet, blanket,food items, hygiene kit, first aid, anda small torch to support a family of 5upto 10 days.

The relief material distributed byAIDMI contained the followingitems: Tarpaulin Sheets, Blankets,Food Kit, and Medical & Hygiene Kit.

Nepal’s biggest strength is its people’swillingness to overcome thechallenges with their own efforts.

Relief distribution at Sudal village.

Phot

o: A

IDM

I.

Sr. Location District No. of HouseholdsNo. Covered1. Bhumlichowk VDC Gorkha district 5032. Sudal VDC Bhaktapur district 2103. Sankhu Village Kathmandu district 100*4. Pangratar VDC Sindhupal Chowk district 200

Total 1013*women home based workers

Way AheadThe relief distribution work wascarried out successfully incoordination with the VillageDevelopment Committee Officials toensure the proper management ofprocess. The first phase of reliefdistribution is over now, and we arelooking forward towards the nextphase, which will primarily focus onproviding temporary shelters to theaffected households. The temporaryshelters will be strategically designedto support the affected householdduring upcoming monsoon season.The shelter is expected to be used fora period of 6 months upto 2 yearsdepending on the needs of community.These shelters will be economicallysustainable in the long run and thematerials used will be local withtraditional techniques. Furthermorethe designing of permanent shelterswill be taken up and conceptualizedusing locally available materials,sustainable approach andcontextualizing the design with localenvironment. – Aditya Jain


HERITAGE AND DRR

Nepal Earthquake and its impact on HeritageSitesThe rich history and culture of

Nepal are preserved in the formmany heritage sites. Scattered all overthe country, these heritage sites playa vital role in promoting tourism,which accounts for a great portion ofNepal's overall GDP. Architecturalmarvels like the Durbar Squares orRoyal Enclosures situated atBhaktapur, Patan (Lalitpur) andKathmandu (Basantpur) drawtourists from all over the world. Thesesites have given an iconic identity toNepal's heritage by attracting theinterest of tourists, historians andconservationists alike. All these threesites along with the famousPashupathinath temple and severalother temple complexes fall underseven heritage sites that constitute theentire Katmandu Valley CulturalHeritage Site.

During the earthquake on 25th April2015, all these heritage sites were

severely damaged. The places whichalways used to flooded withinternational tourists and localtravellers, are now crowded withrelief and rescue agencies. Manystructures have been completelydestroyed, leaving behind mounds ofdust and dirt. Many of these heritagebuildings are standing, but havedeveloped large cracks and sustainedirreparable damage which will haveto be assessed to get a precise measureof the extent of the damage. TheKathmandu Valley was inscribed asa World Heritage Site in the year 1979,and several follow-ups were done toimprove on minor points. These sitesunderwent extensive beautificationand upgradation of services to keepit up with UNESCO guidelines. But,seeing the present condition, one isbound to ask- was the external touchup totally ignorant of structuralstrengthening?

Ever since the 1934 Nepal-Biharearthquake, scientists have predictedabout a massive earthquake to hit theHimalayan region of Nepal again.This prophecy was grimly fulfilledby the Earthquake on 25th April.Historical documents show that anearthquake had previously hit Nepalin the year 1934, and during that timealso, there was massive damage toheritage sites. So most of theheritage structures we see today arecompletely or partially rebuilt. Thisbrings us to another serious question-Why was there ignorance of Seismicpreparedness during reconstructionof such valuable heritage monuments,and did the authorities completelyturn blind to the possibility of anothersuch event? Now we exactly knowwhat such a mistake can do.Assessments are in process toestimate the scale of damage, but tobe sure it is going to be long list oflost heritage. Not only the heritage

1 Langenbach R., 2010, 'Earthquake Resistant Traditional Construction' is Not an Oxymoron'

Phot

o: A

IDM

I.

Damaged heritage site at Bhaktapur Darbar square .


sites, but the settlements of Bhaktapurand Patan have also incurred massivedamage. In the aftermath of theearthquake, the socio-economic fabricof the country has been unravelledand its cultural identity jeopardisedin the face of mass migrations fromthe towns to villages. Mostimportantly, people are scared toreturn to their homes, which arebroken, tilted or gone out of plumb.

Nepal is again on the verge of largescale reconstruction andrehabilitation post the earthquake.This time the approach should bemade considering all theshortcomings of the previousreconstruction efforts.

It will require a careful approach toreconstruct, preserving the culturalidentity, and to introduce elements

for seismic resistance. Theseelements should be such that don'tinterfere with the integrity of thestructure, at the same time are able tokeep the structure prepared for anysuch future event. Every challengerepresents an opportunity, thisearthquake has offered a lot of lessons,we should imbibe them to preventany further loss of Nepal's cultureand heritage. – Aditya Jain

NEW DIMENSIONS IN DRR

Disaster Research: The Quest for the New Normal

Unlike the slow grinding travailsof a drought, earthquakes have

the diabolical quality of total surprise.These sudden tectonic heaves thoughoften times anticipated cannot bepredicted. We live, as the 'anticipatoryscience' of the seismologist tell us, onthe taut skin of the earth, which isprone to being torn, crumpled orwrinkled by unhurried and powerfulsubterranean forces.

What can disaster research possiblydo when nature, in this case, calls allthe shots? For the most part, thescience of anticipation can ablyinform policies for technologicalreadiness, social recovery andemergency triage. But as a collectionof essays edited in 1983 by KennethHewitt (Interpretations of Calamities)were able to convincingly suggest,nature's blind acts can be even morefatally amplified by culture. Putdifferently, hazards, calamities anddisasters are not exclusively naturalphenomena but are thickly inflectedand mediated by culture.

Given that all societies are intimatelywrapped up in their natural worlds,the entire spectrum of cause and effectin a disaster event cannot be neatlyuntangled. In the case of the 'GreatNepal earthquake' of 2015, forexample, many deaths resulted asmuch from faulty construction andthe politics of corruption as they werebrought on by trembling mountains

and a rattling earth. A history ofvulnerability and the turning contextsof social power, hence, are as vital tounderstanding the many plot lines ofdestruction in the Kathmandu valleyas much as we need to grasp theimpacts of unremitting seismicactivity.

But now that we know that nature andculture can be unequal partners in adisaster story, what do we make ofthe field of disaster studies? Shouldwe be exploring the fatal tangobetween a blind nature and anavaricious culture? Is disaster studiesonly to unpack long term socialvulnerabilities in which natureunexpectedly delivers an irrationalswipe? Or should disaster studiesessentially be about the technicaldetails involving preparedness andemergency response? Alternatively,should it be all the above plus themany twisted and curved accountsabout rehabilitation, recovery and thereturn to the old normal?

Bluntly put, are we at a point whenassembling a disaster studiesnarrative is akin to rehearsing afamiliar plot of an old movie butwith different actors in changedlocales. Are we repeating ourselvesad infinitum when it comes toexplaining disaster stories, whetherit be floods, volcanic eruptions,earthquakes and droughts? Have we,in a strange way, ended up exhausting

the element of academic and researchsurprise in disaster studies?

Not necessarily. Especially if wechoose to once again take a lesstravelled road. Naomi Klien'sstrikingly titled The Shock Doctrine; theRise of Disaster Capitalism (2007) leadsthe study of disaster into thetreacherous swamps of politics andpower. The Shock Doctrinecompellingly draws links betweenthe devastations of hurricaneKatrina, Milton Friedman's laissez-fareeconomics, the Chicago boys ofPinochet's brutal dictatorship, the USled invasions of Iraq, the IMF's'stabilization programmes', theWorld Bank's 'structural adjustments'and the monstrous smack of the gianttsunami of December 26 2004, thatwreaked havoc across coasts in Southand South East Asia. At heart, Kleinis telling us that the disaster-event cannow provide the desirous blank slatefor the making of a neo-liberal world.

Herein possibly lies a fresh turn fordisaster studies: the quest tounderstand the struggle for the newnormal. Will the debris and desultoryremains be swept aside by sustainabledevelopment, meaningful justice andparticipatory democracy or furtherinundated by the icy waters of theneo-liberal normal.

– Rohan D'Souza,Graduate School of Asian and AfricanArea Studies, Kyoto University, Japan


LESSONS LEARNT

Nepal Earthquake: Top Thirteen "Not to Do's"

Nepal saw a devastatingearthquake of 7.8 Richter scale

on 25 April 2015. The country was hitby other two powerful aftershocksmeasuring 6.6 Richter scale on April26, and 6.8 Richter scale on 12 May. Atotal of 270 aftershocks over 4 Richterscale were recorded in a period of amonth, according to NationalSeismological Centre (NSC). Over20,000 tremors including mild oneswere felt in this period. Thesealtogether affected over 40 districts,while 14 districts1 experienced theworst impact of the earthquake.

According to Nepal Police, until 25May, a month after the devastatingearthquake, altogether 8,673 peoplelost their lives, while 21,944 wereinjured with 4,877 still in differenthospitals. Likewise, a total of 470, 991houses recorded to have sustainedpartial and complete damage in thequake, while Kathmandu Valleyalone saw 67,188 damaged houses.Hundreds of temples and monumentsof historical importance including theones enlisted in the World HeritageSites also sustained significantdamages; while the historical tower,Dharahara, has been reduced to rubble.

According to the Home Ministry,more than 4,000 military personneland medics from 34 differentcountries were mobilized in thesearch, rescue and relief operation insupport of Nepal Army, ArmedPolice Force and Nepal Policeincluding representatives of severalorganisations and volunteersfollowing the tragic earthquake.

Although Practical Action is not arelief organisation, it was necessaryto get engaged when the country wascrawling through the hardest periodof modern times. Practical Actionimmediately mobilised funds toinitiate necessary response and

recovery works. We decided to focusourselves in Gorkha and Dhadingdistricts due to our long engagementwith people in these districts andcoordinated with District EmergencyOperation Centre (DEOC) andDistrict Disaster Relief Committee(DDRC) of both the districts.

There are a lot of lessons to be learnedfrom this earthquake. Being vigilantof initiatives and the works of thegovernment, relief organisations,media and social networks and ourown working experiences, I havecome up with following thoughts.1. A designated National Authority

to handle disasters like theNational Disaster ManagementAuthority (NDMA) in Indiawould have better managed andcoordinated disastermanagement including the rescueand relief. Due to multiple rolesacross the ministries anddepartments, the coordinationaspect in Nepal had noticeableshortcomings. Countries proneto disasters should have adedicated disaster managementauthority to be better preparedand manage similar situations,and disaster management as awhole.

2. Almost 17 years have elapsedsince the last local elections wereheld in 1997. The five-year termof the elected body expired in2002 but the government failedto hold local elections thereafterowing to violence and otherpolitical problems. Had therebeen local bodies, the rescue andrelief operations would havebeen better coordinated. Therewere many instances ofoverlapping and lack of statisticsthat resulted powerfulcommunities getting repeatedreliefs, while the needy onesfailing to get relief even once.

3. There has been no uniformity ofapproach and relief packageacross the relief organisations too.The World Food Programme(WFP) is under severe criticismby media and National HumanRights Commission fordistributing poor quality ricewhile many relief organisationsprovided unusable clothingitems. This created severecriticism of relief organisationsincluding the Red Cross Society.

4. In many villages, food wasavailable since the houses did notfully collapse. Shelter was themain issue as the houses weredamaged and unsafe to live in.Many relief organisations hadshortcomings in addressingpeople's needs.

5. All relief organisations distributedtarpaulins for shelters. However,distributing tarps is an adhocmeasure – the tarps havinglimited durability in view of thesoon approaching monsoon. Thisshortcoming was realised bysome organisations and instead,they decided to supply corrugatedgalvanised iron (CGI) sheets. TheCGI sheets are useful for buildingtemporary shelters with bambooand wood available in villages,and can be reused once theaffected people are able to builda permanent house.

6. People developed a dependencysyndrome. They were wastingtheir time queueing up for reliefmaterials although that was notan absolute necessity for many ofthem. Rather they were expectedto be in the maize fields forweeding to ensure food securityfor the winter.

7. Inappropriate constructionpractices have been one of themain reasons for the destructionof houses. Often in the villages, thecommon practice of constructing

1 Kathmandu , Bhaktapur, Lalitpur, Sindhupalchowk, Dolakha, Gorkha, Dhading, Makawanpur, Sindhuli, Rasuwa, Ramechhap,Okhaldhunga, Kavre and Nuwakot.


house is by using random rubblemasonry with mud mortar whichis highly vulnerable in case ofearthquakes, even of moderatemagnitude. There is dire need ofdeveloping resilient constructiontechnology and practices.

8. Because of massive quakes andaftershocks, numerous cracks areformed across the hills makingthem highly vulnerable towardslandslides. The recent biglandslide in Baisari of Myagdiwhich blocked Kaligandaki Riverfor 16 hours even before themonsoon was an alarm to takeprotective measures well on time.

9. Media should act responsiblyduring such hard and tryingtimes. The irresponsible act ofsome Indian media triggered thehash tag # Go Back Indian Mediaand it became a rapidly populartrend across twitter. Likewise, thelocal media provided space toastrologers which demoralisedpeople's confidence to get backhome.

10. It was widely accepted that "Drop,Cover, and Hold On (DCH)" is theappropriate action to reduceinjury and death duringearthquakes. However, thisconcept does not work in case offailing of structures. Most of thedead bodies were found in DCHposition under the tables. Massiveawareness is required to identifythe best location a person shouldtry to occupy during an earthquake.

11. There was strong indication to thegovernment that a devastatingearthquake in Nepal was alreadyoverdue following the 1934earthquake. But this signal wasnot seriously respected to reflectin preparedness activities. Thepreparedness works were limitedto celebration of earthquake days.As a result, the protectionmeasures for the cultural,historical and governmentinfrastructure were overlooked.

12. The government asked tochannelise the relief worksthrough government system

using one door system. However,this was not possible and also wasnot an appropriate mechanismgiven the bureaucratic process ofthe government that takes timeand undermines the urgency ofthe relief works on the ground.There is still a need to discuss anddraw lessons on how the reliefworks can be expedited in thequickest possible manner to reachthe most needed ones at the timeof such large disasters bymobilising all stakeholders andindividuals

13. The government asked the rescueteams coming from India, Chinaand from other countries to leaveas soon as the rescue operationwas thought to be over. But in factby extending the stay, they couldhave also been mobilised todeliver relief materials to theremote areas since they camewith helicopters that helpreaching out to the remotecommunities.

– Achyut Luitel, Regional Director,Practical Action South Asia

The SAARC DisasterManagement Centre (SDMC)

was set up in October 2006 at thepremises of National Institute ofDisaster Management in NewDelhi. The Centre has the mandateto serve eight Member Countriesof South Asia Association ofRegional Cooperation (SAARC) –Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan,India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistanand Sri Lanka – by providing policyadvice and facilitating capacitybuilding services including strategiclearning, research, training, systemdevelopment and exchange ofinformation for effective disasterrisk reduction and management inSouth Asia. In the aftermath of theNepal earthquake, SDMC is a keystakeholder in ensuring a robustrecovery as its previousachievements place it in a uniqueposition to help the disaster affectedcommunities of the country. Thefollowing is a list of SDMC's

achievements over the past nineyears:1. One of the most unique initiatives

of SDMC are its capacity buildingprograms which includeconducting regional trainingprograms on GIS, droughtmanagement and waterconservation, school safety, rivererosion and embankment,earthquake resistant structures etc.

2. Helped in identifying thepriorities for South Asia in post-2015 framework for DRR.

3. Helped in the establishment ofSouth Asian Disaster KnowledgeNetwork and South Asia DigitalVulnerability Atlas.

4. Robust knowledge managementpractices through regularlyupdated web portals; daily andweekly disaster news uploadedon website and publications.

5. Has launched compilation ofurban risk management practiceand has followed up with a

strategy to address urban riskand also launched 'MakingCities Resilient' campaign.

6. Set up the Natural Disaster RapidResponse Mechanism (NDRRM).The SDMC had organized anExpert Group Meetingcomprising of representativesfrom the Ministries of ForeignAffairs, Defence and NationalFocal Points on disastermanagement in January 2009 inNew Delhi to discuss thedetailed modalities for settingup the NDRRM in SDMC.

7. Sharing of Data Products fromEarth Observation Satellites forDRR in South Asia.

8. Various strategies developed tofacilitate adaptation to climatechange through technologytransfer, finance and investment,education and awareness,management of Impact and Risksdue to climate change, etc.

– AIDMI Team

Achievements of SAARC Disaster Management Centre (SDMC)


Action Aid (AA) started workingin Nepal in 1982 and supports

Local Rights Programmes (LRP) in 21Districts. The LRPs have usually beenorganized in a defined geographicalarea of varying size and scale. HumanRights–Based Approach (HRBA)defines all Action Aid Nepal (AAN)work. AAN core commitment is towork with people living in povertyand exclusion, particularly women.It builds and strengthens the agencyof women and the people living inpoverty, which drives the rights andjustice work from local to globallevel. AAN has built alliances withCommunity Self–Reliance Centre(CSRC) which works in over 50districts of Nepal, EducationNetwork Nepal (ENN) which worksin 40, and Mahila Adhikar Manch (MAM)which works in 24 Districts.

In the aftermath of the earthquakewhich took place on April 25th 2015,we joined forces with these networksand launched its emergencyResponse and Recovery programmein Kavre, Sindupalchowk, Rusuwa,Dholkaha, Kathmandu Valley andMakwanpura. As on 8th May 2015,

Action Aid has been able to reach outto 48,520 affected persons. Immediaterelief items provided by ourorganisation included food items,hygiene kits, mattresses, tarpaulinsheets and nutritional food topregnant and breast–feedingmothers. But our work is notrestricted to this.

Action Aid's approach and response toemergencies such as the NepalEarthquake

1. Human Right base approach inDisaster Response: AAN believesthat poverty is a violation ofhuman rights. The underlyingcause of poverty exacerbatespeople's vulnerability and theirability to cope with shocks andhazards. In emergencies, it ispeople living in poverty andexclusion who suffer the most.With its long years of experiencewith the people living in povertyin the EQ affected areas AANcould identify the vulnerablepeople who urgently need thesupport and by day three, it couldreach out to 2500 the mostvulnerable women, girls, boys

Phot

o: A

ctio

nAid

.

and men with emergencysupport like food and dignitykits in Kathmandu Valley.

2. Putting the disaster Affectedcommunities and the women atthe centre of Response: Thedisaster response was led by thewomen in Sidhupalchowk,Kavre, Kathmandu valley andRuswa. The women Rightsorganisations – Mahila AdhikarManch led the rapid assessment,identified the vulnerablefamilies and organized the reliefdistribution in their wards. Thestrength of the AAN Emergencyresponse is to organize a quickresponse with quality andquantity. It is because of allianceof local organisastions, AANcould target the most needyareas and reach out the mostvulnerable families with lifesaving emergency support.

3. Accountability to the affectedCommunities: In the life cycle ofEmergency Response andRecovery Programme – fromRapid assessment to theMonitoring and evaluation of theproject, the Accountability to theAffected Population is deeplyembedded. The fundamental ofthe emergency Response andrecovery Programme is theparticipation of the affectedcommunities in the decisionmaking process. It is widelybelieve and accepted by manythat the during the relief phasethe participation of thecommunities is not possible asthe communities areoverwhelmed by loss of life andproperties. This is myth and it ischallenged when we see in BabarVDCs in Dholkha in Panga andKokhana in Kathmandu valley

RESPONSE AND RELIEF

Emergency Response and Relief Work in Nepal:Reaching the Last


PREPAREDNESS

Dhaka Prepared for Earthquake that DamagedKathmanduAccording to the seismic hazard

maps of Asia, Bangladesh ishighly vulnerable to the risks posedby earthquakes. The United StatesGeological Survey (USGS) hasprovided the latest hazard maps ofBangladesh, where Chittagongdivision and Sylhet division havebeen highlighted as being located inhigh risk zone. This is perturbingnews for Bangladesh because if anearthquake of similar intensity to thatof recent Nepal quake were to hitdensely-populated Bangladesh, itwould cause much more damage anddeaths. Moreover, there appears to bea clear lack of drills, both to createpopular awareness on how to reactwhen an earthquake strikes and alsoamong agencies on how to go aboutafter the earthquake has struck.

The Dhaka Community HospitalTrust (DCH Trust) is a trust-owned

private, non-profit making and selffinanced organization providinghealth care for low-incomeunderprivileged people. Besidesbasic health care services, thisorganization is also working fordisaster management, arsenicmitigation, safe water supply andcommunity based developmentprograms. DCH Trust has establisheda functional and professionalcollaboration with several reputednational and internationalorganizations and academicinstitutions and has been able tomobilize human and materialresources for a challenging program.Some of the collaborating institutionsare Harvard School of Public Health(HSPH) Harvard University, OregonState University-USA, BostonChildren Hospital-USA, Asia PacificAlliance (A-PAD), Asian Disaster RiskReduction Network (ADRRN), Mercy

Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia(USM), Jadavpur University, India,South Australia University-Australia,CRC CARE-Australia and UNDP-Bangladesh.

The DCH Trust has worked tomitigate the suffering of affectedpeople during extreme events likeflood, cyclone and tidal bores,tornado and famine. DCH Trust hasalso worked on earthquake inPakistan in 2005. DCH has a wideexperience of working in disaster riskreduction and management bothnationally and internationally. DCHTrust successfully responded to the2007 Cyclone Sidr by providinghealth, shelter, safe water andSanitation support to the affectedpeople. A trained emergency healthcare team of DCH participated to helpthe affected people of Rana Plaza andprovide emergency health care

that most of the affectedcommunities are organizing theimmediate support like food andshelter, rescuing the persons andarranging the basic medical carelong before external supportcame in. This strength and theresilience of the communities isrecognised by AAN and from theday one of the emergencyresponse, it has instituted thetransparency and accountabilitysystem like women led rapidassessment, proactive disclosureon relief through transparencyboard, complaint mechanismand women led distribution ofrelief.

4. Building Local Partnership:AAN recognises the strength,capacity, knowledge of the localpartners like Women RightsGroup, Land Rights Movement

and other CSO organisastions,who have been actively pursuingthe Human Rights and JusticeAgenda at local and global level.In the Emergency Response andRecovery Programmes, AANjoined forces with them not onlyto build up urgent reliefdistribution system but alsomobilizes public opinion onrelief for long termreconstructions, where theprocess will be accountable to theaffected communities and it willbe owner driven, not top downand donor driven. AAN havelearnt these lessons from thegood practices from Gujarat EQand Tsunami Reconstructionsand deeply aware of thelimitations in global response inHaiti EQ.

As the immediate relief will soontransit into recovery phase, AANwould build up on this experience toadvocate for more participatory,accountable and transparent recoveryand reconstruction plans that takesinto account the local knowledge inharmony with advanced scientificinformation. For example, theEarthquake recovery process is goingto witness massive reconstructions ofshelters, public buildings like schoolsand Health centers. AAN isfacilitating the process of building aplatform of experts and communityleaders and women to jointly explorethe idea of Earthquake proof,sustainable housing and co–create theprototypes for adaptation in differentgeographical context of Nepal.

– Amar Nayak,Senior Member, Action Aid Emergency

Response Team and Parvati Tampi,Consultant, Action Aid India


services for Disaster Risk Reductionand also provide food, safe water andmedicine etc.

DCHT, SEEDS and NSET have jointlyorganized a training workshop on"Campaign on Increasing Awarenessand Capacity Building of FactoryWorkers for Disaster Management"on 27 February 2014 at DhakaCommunity Hospital Trust. DCHTrust has also created a center on DRRnamed "Centre for Environment andOccupational Safety". Under thiscenter, DCHT will organize trainingfor industrial workers, owners andother related person for disaster riskreduction and also provideawareness program for theirOccupational Health andEnvironment health safety.

Nepal Earthquake 2015: DCH TrustResponseAfter a 7.8 magnitude earthquakestruck the Central and WesternRegions of Nepal, aftershockscontinue to affect the daily lives ofpeople. Many people continue tosleep outdoors. Over the past fewdays, the number of deaths as wellthe number of injured haveconsistently risen.

DCH Trust is providing medicalsupport with free medicine through

mobile hospital in the earthquakeaffected areas. We have registeredwith Nepal Government list ofresponse team as well as withHumanitarian ID and UN. DCH TrustMedical Team has orthopedicprofessor, senior consultant andmedical staff to work in village levelto provide surgical, plaster andmedicine support. Also DCH Trustpublic health and water sanitationexperts are working to improve waterquality at the sources in affected areas.About 95% households are now closeto being completely homeless.Although incredibly resilient, theyneed help to make sure they are ableto survive through the monsoon.

DCH Team is providing hygiene kitsand training to villagers regardingHand Wash to prevent the spread ofepidemics. All the villagers dependon common mountain springs anddiarrhea may spread out in theaffected villages, the areas with anongoing risk of epidemic disease.

Villagers urgently requested tosupply tents and hygiene kits in theirarea. DCH Trust has been counselingvillagers to return to their normal lifeas well as providing waterpurification tablet for safe water. Atleast the next 3 months medicalsupport will be needed in the affected

Nepal Earthquake Affected Village in Karve District.

areas. Though DCH Trust resourcesare very limited, yet it is still tryingto established rural health center inaffected areas to improve healthfacilities of villagers in near future.

Bangladesh really not prepared forearthquakeIn Bangladesh, we are still at anelementary stage when it comes tohandling earthquakes. We are notready to handle a major earthquake.The United Nations DevelopmentProgramme (UNDP) has beenworking for long with thegovernment and other agencies onBangladesh's preparedness to faceearthquakes and issues related to it.

According to a 2009 UNDP study, the120 km2 Dhaka City Corporation'spopulation was more than 7.2 millionthen—an average of 61,000 people perkm2. It found that the number ofbuildings in the capital was thenaround 325,000 and half of them wereat least 30 years old. Forty percent ofthe buildings were 'risky' and 35percent were 'fair', read the report.These statistics indicate the possibleextent of damage if a majorearthquake hits the city. And the onlygovernment agency that wouldrespond is the Fire Service and CivilDefense, which are pretty muchvulnerable themselves. Out of the 13fire stations in Dhaka and its outskirts,11 of them are housed in buildings,which might collapse during a majorearthquake. Moreover, there's a lackof necessary manpower and otherequipment. The rapid growth ofDhaka's population has forcedhaphazard & unplanneddevelopment and speedyconstruction of new buildings in anyand every available space. Due to this,the capital city is now in a seriousthreat of upcoming massive disasterslike an earthquake.

– Md. Golam Mostofa,Director, Project & Research

Member, Central Co-OrdinationCommittee, Dhaka Community

Hospital Trust, Bangladesh


WORLD HUMANITARIAN SUMMIT

UNOCHA: South Asian Voices Shape FutureHumanitarian Action

The global humanitarian aidsystem is undergoing close

scrutiny to seek ways to improve onits delivery to people affected byconflict and disasters. Listening to theactors, traditional and non–traditional is part of the process thatwill culminate in the WorldHumanitarian Summit (WHS) inIstanbul in 2016. Tajikistan ispreparing to host the South andCentral Asia World HumanitarianSummit regional consultation whichtakes place at the end of July 2015.

Under leadership of UN Secretary–General Ban Ki–moon, the summitwill set out a future agenda to makehumanitarian action more effective,inclusive, accountable, and overall, abetter fit for a changing world.

To be a success, WHS must representperspectives and experiences fromaround the world. The UNOCHA hassteered eight regional consultationswith a wide range of stakeholders:academia, affected people, nationalgovernments, humanitarianorganizations, community responders,private sector and others. The regionalconsultation in Dushanbe, Tajikistanis the last in the series of consultationsleading up to WHS in Istanbul. Theregional consultations have the

ambitious goal of developing aconcrete set of recommendations forthe WHS. The aim is to move beyondthe rhetoric of stronger collaborationand develop actionable, specific goalsand targets that will set in motion aprocess of real transformation.

The South and Central Asia regioncovers an enormous geographicalarea, ranging from the Arctic regionsof Northern Russia to the tropicalislands of the Maldives. South Asia ishome to well over one fifth of theworld's population, making it boththe most populous and the mostdensely populated geographicalregion in the world. Comparatively,Central Asia is one of the world's leastpopulated regions. This juxtapositionmakes the consultation process bothcomplex and interesting as sharedissues and contrasting needs areexplored.

A number of preparatoryconsultations and meetings in eachcountry of the region are taking placebetween now and 28 July when theregional consultation in Tajikistantakes place. This allows for a widerengagement of key organisations atlocal, sub–national, national andregional levels. The outcomes of thispreparatory stage will form the basis

of the regional consultation meetingin Dushanbe.

India provides a great example of thechanging nature of the humanitariansystem and there are many lessonsand best practices to be shared. Fromeffectively coordinating disasterresponse to ensuring proper disasterpreparedness levels –India has firmlyestablished itself as a new leader inSouth–South cooperation. Thecountry also faces challenges inmaintaining the legitimacy of nationaldisaster management organizations.These are the opportunities andchallenges that make these WHSdiscussions very timely.

Transforming the humanitariansystem is an ambitious goal and theWHS is only the beginning of thisprocess. To find out more or toparticipate in the preparatoryconsultation process please e-mail theUNOCHA project officer [email protected].

– Jeremy Wellard,Director of Strategy & Growth Gram

Training Employability Training Serviceand Zarina Nurmukhambetova,

Public Information and ReportingAssociate, Regional Office for

Caucasus, Central Asia & Ukraine,UNOCHA

"The powerful earthquake that hit Nepal on 25 April 2015 is a painful reminder of the region's vulnerability to devastatingdisasters. Lessons from this tragedy will be used through the World Humanitarian Summit South and Central Asia regionalconsultation to improve future humanitarian action." (Image Credit: OCHA. Nepal, April 2015)


Editorial Advisors:

Anshuman SaikiaRegional Programme Support CoordinatorARO, IUCN (International Union for Conservation ofNature), Thailand

Denis NkalaRegional Coordinator, South-South Cooperation andCountry Support (Asia-Pacific), United NationsDevelopment Programme, New York

Ian DavisVisiting Professor in Disaster Risk Management inCopenhagen, Lund, Kyoto and Oxford BrookesUniversities

Madhavi Malalgoda AriyabanduInternational Strategy for Risk Reduction (ISDR) –South Asia, Sri Lanka

Mihir R. BhattAll India Disaster Mitigation Institute, India

Dr. Satchit Balsari, MD, MPHThe University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell,New York, USA

T. Nanda KumarChairman, National Dairy Development Board(NDDB), Anand, Gujarat, India

ALL INDIA DISASTER MITIGATION INSTITUTE411 Sakar Five, Near Old Natraj Cinema, Mithakhadi Railway Crossing, Ashram Road,Ahmedabad–380 009 India. Tele/Fax: +91-79-2658 2962E-mail: [email protected], Website: http://www.aidmi.org, www.southasiadisasters.net

Do you wish to receive this publication regularly? Write to AIDMI ([email protected]). The publication will be sent byE-mail. Your comments help southasiadisasters.net remain an effective and informative resource for regional issues of disasterrisk management. Please contribute comments, features, reports, discussion points, and essays about your work. Today!

Distribution in Bhumli Chowk VDC.Unloading & sorting of material at Fisling before distribution.

A family in temporary shelter at Sudal village.Small boy removing debris inBhaktapur town.

AIDMI SUPPORTING RELIEF ACTIVITIES IN NEPAL

An-R&R 25 9 04 - PreventionWeb.net · noted, 'SAARC DMC, on its own merits, has never been...

Documents

Transcript of An-R&R 25 9 04 - PreventionWeb.net · noted, 'SAARC DMC, on its own merits, has never been...