स्थानिय तह: समस्या, चुनौति र समाधान

- सुमन चापागाई (सिभिल ईन्जिनियर)

गणतन्त्र र संविधान निर्माणसँगै देश संघियतामा प्रवेश गरेको छ । विकासक्षेत्रहरु खारेज भएका छन् अनि ७ वटा प्रदेश गठन गरिएको छ । गा.वि.सहरु गाउँपालिकामा परिणत भएका छन् र जम्मा ७४४ वटा स्थानिय निकायहरु निर्माण गरिएको छ, जस मध्ये ६ वटा महानगरपालिका, ११ वटा उपमहानगरपालिका, २४६ वटा नगरपालिका र ४८१ वटा गाउँपालिकाहरु छन् । केहीमा पुनः मतदान र प्रदेश २ बाहेक सबै प्रदेशका स्थानिय निकायहरुमा चुनाव सकिसकेका छन् । मत परिणाम आउने क्रम जारी छन् भने केहीले जनप्रतिनीधीहरु पाई सकेका छन् तथा केहीमा समन्वय समिति पनि गठन हुने क्रममा छन् । अनि केही जनप्रतिनिधीहरुले काम गर्न शुरु पनि गरिसकेका छन् । यसरी संघियता, गणतन्त्र र संविधान कार्यान्वय हुन शुरु भएका छन् ।
नेपाल एक भौगोलिक, सांस्कृतिक, धार्मिक र सामाजिक विविधताले भरिपुर्ण विकाशिल देश हो । स्थानिय प्रतिनिधीहरुमा अब यी यावत क्षेत्रका चुनौतीहरुका साथै विकासका पुर्वाधारहरुको आवश्यकताहरुले थप चुनौती पक्कै पनि दिने नै छन् । पहाडी जिल्लाहरु मध्येमा इलाम जिल्ला अरुभन्दा अलि विकशित तथा शिक्षित जिल्लाको रुपमा हेर्ने गरिन्छ, त्यही भएर अब यहाँका प्रमुख र प्रतिनिधीहरुको काम कार्यवाही जनताहरुले राम्ररी नियालिरहेका हुने नै छन् ।
सबै स्थानिय तहहरुमा विभिन्न क्षेत्रबाट अनुभव बटुलेर आउनु भएका प्रतिनिधीहरु हुनुहुन्छ तर उहाँहरुको क्षेत्रभन्दा अन्यत्र पनि समस्याहरु धेरै छन् । प्रमुख, उपप्रमुख तथा सदस्यहरुमात्रले ती समस्याहरु पहिचान गरेर समाधान गर्न धेरै समय लाग्छ । हुन त विकास निरन्तर चलिरहेने प्रक्रिया हो तर प्रतिनिधीहरुले जम्मा पाँच वर्षमा आफ्नो योग्यता र क्षमता देखाउनु पर्ने भएको छ । यसका लागि योजनात्मक रुपमा काम गर्नुपर्ने भएको छ ।

स्थानिय निकायका समस्याहरु
विभिन्न भौगोलिक क्षेत्रहरुमा आफ्नै समस्याहरु छन् । त्यस्तै पहाडी क्षेत्रहरुमा विकासका पुर्वाधारहरुको अभाव छ । ग्रामिण सडक, विद्युत, स्वच्छ पिउने पानी, शिक्षा र स्वास्थ्य लगायतका क्षेत्रहरुको अभाव त्यहाँका प्रमुख समस्याहरु हुन । त्यस्तै अब गाउँपालिकाहरु शहरीकरण तर्फ उन्मुख हुँदै जानेछन् र थप समस्याहरु सिर्जना हुनेछन् । अव्यवस्थित शहरीकरण, विश्व मै एक समस्याको रुपमा रहँदै आएको छ । अव्यवस्थित शहरीकरणले गर्दा सुविधाहरु पुर्याउन समय मात्र नभई अत्यधिक बजेट पनि आवश्यक पर्ने गरेको छ । फोहोर व्यवस्थापन, रोगव्याधीको प्रकोप, जोखिम न्युनिकरण तथा दिगो विकासमा चुनौती, शहरीकरणले निम्त्याउने थप समस्याहरु हुन । यी बाहेक समयसापेक्ष अरु समस्याहरु उत्पन्न हुँदै जान्छन् र तिनको व्यवस्थापन गर्दै राजनीतिक संक्रमणमा गुज्रिरहेको अवस्थामा सामाजिक सद्भाव कायम राख्नु स्थानिय निकायका प्रतिनिधीहरुलाई चुनौतीपुर्ण छ ।

समाधानका उपायहरु
सरकारले स्थानिय निकायहरुलाई स्वायतता प्रदान गरिसकेको अवस्थामा स्थानिय प्रतिनिधीहरु आफैले आवश्यक योजनाहरु बनाएर काम गर्न अधिकार प्राप्त छन् र यी सम्बन्धी ऐन नियमहरु पनि बन्ने क्रममा छन् । त्यसैगरि सरकारले २०७३ साल माघ ९ गते राष्ट्रिय शहरी विकास रणनीति समेत पारित गरिसकेको छ । यस रणनीति अनुरुप काम गरेमा केही समस्याहरु समाधान हुने देखिन्छ । त्यसैगरी विश्वमा भएका शहरीकरण विषयक विभिन्न कार्यक्रमहरुले केही समस्याहरु समाधान गर्न विभिन्न उपायहरु समेत निकालेका छन् । दिगो विकासका लक्ष्य (Sustainable Development Goal), सहस्राब्दी विकासका लक्ष्य (Millennium Development Goal), विपद् जोखिम न्युनिकरणका लागि सेन्डाईको कार्यसंरचनाहरु जस्ता बहुवर्षिय योजनाहरुको अध्ययनले स्थानिय निकायका प्रतिनिधीहरुलाई थप सहायता गर्ने देखिन्छ । त्यस्तै, प्रतिनिधी, कर्मचारी, सामाजिक परिचालक, राजनीतिक दल तथा आम नागरिकहरुमाझ शिक्षा र तालिमहरुको व्यवस्था, मानव स्रोत र साधनको सही प्रयोग, सामुदायिक प्रतिनिधित्वको माध्यमले न्युनतम बजेटले अत्यधिक विकास, स्वास्थ्य र शिक्षा क्षेत्रको विकास तथा आवश्यक नीति निर्माण गरेर चुनौतीहरुको सामना गर्न सकिन्छ । त्यस्तै गाउँपालिका, नगरपालिकाहरुमा आयआर्जनको स्रोत सिर्जना गर्नसक्नु पनि एक राम्रो उपाय हुन सक्छ ।
समस्याहरुसँगै समाधानहरुपनि सँगै आएका हुन्छन् । जति धेरै समस्याहरु छन्, समाधान गर्न त्यति नै धेरै समय लाग्छन् । सिमित स्रोत, साधन, जनशक्ति र विकटताका कारण ती समस्याहरु समाधान गर्न चुनौतीपुर्ण त अवस्य छ, तर कामहरुलाई प्राथमिकता र उपलब्ध बजेटका आधारमा योजना बनाएर काम गर्ने हो भने समस्याहरु समाधान गर्न त्यति चुनौतिपुर्ण नहुने देखिन्छ ।

अन्तत: सम्पुर्ण विजयी जनप्रतिनिधीज्युहरुलाई बधाई तथा कार्य सफलताको शुभकामना व्यक्त गर्न चाहान्छु ।

DURING AND AFTER GORKHA EARTHQUAKE: RESPONSE IN DOLAKHA DISTRICT

- Suman Chapagain

Dolakha District and Gorkha Earthquake: An Introduction

Dolakha district is situated in Janakpur zone, Central Development Region, currently located in Province No. 3 and is a mountainous district. It covers an area of 2,191 sq.km and has a population of 186,557 within 45,658 households (CBS, 2011). Over 89% houses are adobe construction and only least number of houses is concrete built (ACTED, 2015).

On 25^th April, 2015, the country was hit by an earthquake measuring 7.6 in magnitudes, epicenter at Barpak of Gorkha district about 81km northwest of the capital (MOHA, 2015). The same earthquake was measured as 7.8 M_w, Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent) at 11:56 am, epicenter at Barpak of Gorkha district at a depth about 8.2 km (USGS, 2015). The numbers of aftershocks thereafter made people more terrified. The hundreds of aftershocks were followed by the magnitude of 6.9 M_w on the very next day at 12:54 pm, epicenter at Dolakha district, damaging most of the houses. On 12^th May, 2015, another aftershock measuring 6.8 M_w (7.3 magnitudes as per USGS), epicenter near same surrounding of Dolakha district, toppled the already weakened buildings, triggered landslide, disturbed the relief efforts and killed hundreds of people (MOHA, 2015). Furthermore, hundreds of minor aftershocks of magnitude greater than 4.0 were recorded by the National Seismological Center, Nepal.

Figure 1: Major hit and minor aftershocks originated on Dolakha district

Consequences of the earthquake and aftershocks

The continuous aftershocks, occurring several times a day has hit harder to Dolakha district and the people.

Key Figures (UN, 2015)

280,874     Total population

170            People death

87 %         Houses fully or partially damaged

50,284       Houses fully damaged

305            Houses partially damaged

27              Health facility completely damaged

23              Health facility partially damaged

69              Schools completely damaged

Figure 2: Earthquake Induced Landslides in Dolakha District

 

Earthquake Induced Landslide in Figures (ICIMOD, 2015)

54              Landslides directly affecting the infrastructures

3                Houses damaged by landslide

3,427         Number of households affected by landslide

2                Schools affected by landslide

Mailung    affected 2.5 ha (50 ropani) of cultivated land, 8 tonnes of standing crops, 300m trails and

Landslide 300m of irrigation canal, monetary loss value of US$ 101,372.

101 km      Affected road length

Economic Loss (PDNA, 2015)

717            Cottage industry affected

6,057         Total commercial center affected

465            million in NPR economic loss in services and infrastructures

171            million in NPR economic loss in industries and commercial centers

Response and relief works in the district

After the earthquake, lots of human resources involved in response, relief and humanitarian support programs. Shelter and immediate food assistance were the initial priorities. But the wide destruction in infrastructures resulted in the delay of communication as well as access. Several organizations were focused on quick response and recovery of the affected people. Meanwhile, Government of Nepal developed 'Post Disaster Need Assessment' report coordinating with various private sectors, NGOs, INGOs and international partners. Government set the recovery strategy through the report and the main principle was that the recovery should follow a people-based approach which encourages consultations with communities, utilization of social networks, and resilience on local skills and knowledge. Later on various organizations identified the priorities for humanitarian interventions as follows:

•   Shelter       Immediate and long term
•   Food          Hygienic raw foods and drinking water, seeds or cash assistance
•   Health       Sanitation facilities and hygiene kits
•   Water        Rehabilitation of water sources

There was no any response framework provided by the government and further there was a delay in preparation of such framework but most of the organizations had already started working on a community level. Government later deployed the local leaders to categorize the houses based on their damage and later government provided ten thousands rupees for each houses. Further government declared to provide 2 lakhs rupees for completely damaged houses which were further increased to 3 lakhs a year later. For that government in coordination with Central Bureau of Statistics conducted 'Data Collection of Earthquake Affected Houses for Housing Reconstruction Program' deploying hundreds of engineers in Dolakha district in a first phase of the program.

Other organizations were already distributing the basic need items such as: foods and cereals, health kits, clothing, CGI roofing sheets, tarpaulins, mats, etc. The government initiatives seems worthless to such initiatives. It was even found that the people were favoring the organizations instead of government programs.

Response works of various agencies

·         Earthquake Victim Identity Card distribution by the government through the VDC office after the field visit from local leaders and government representatives.

·         About 95% populations were identified to be displaced and not living on their own houses, the nearing monsoon followed by the winter was the major challenges among majority population of Dolakha district.

·         RRN, Tuki Sangh, Oselive, Ananta Dhan Center, Marwadi Samaj Nepal, Local NGOs, Red Cross, WFP, UNICEF, USAID, INGOs, Indian Government and Korean Government were mentioned to have worked in Dolakha district but still lot of affected had not received the relief materials. Later on further more organizations were involved in the work (OSOCC, 2015).

·         Dolakha Shelter Cluster had planned to distribute CGI or cash for shelter to about 39,700 HHs or 62% of the estimated HHs in need. Inaccessibility in hard to reach areas coupled with CGI sheets delayed by customs procedures for some aid agencies has resulted in delays in the response, and about 40% of the planned distributions were completed by the end of July (UN, 2015).

·         Nepalese Security Agencies The Nepalese Army has supported the evacuation of more than 1,300 people by aircraft. Nepal Police and Armed Police Force were also mobilized quickly after the earthquake for the search and rescue activities.

·         Plan International has been working on the response and relief, worked for child protection, differently able people and education sectors which facilitated over 3 lakhs populations, educated over 1 lakh populations, built 326 schools and supported over 35,000 children in education in affected districts, Dolakha is one among them (PLAN, 2016).

·         Concern Worldwide, an Irish fund, distributed temporary shelter kits, relief kits and solar lights in several districts including Dolakha (CONCERN, 2016).

·         Lutheran World Federation including its partners Dan Church Aid (DCA), Finn Church Aid (FCA), ICOO Cooperation, LWF, LWR, Christian Aid (CA), FELM, DKH focused their intervention on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH), temporary shelter, transitional disaster risk reduction (DRR) emergency preparedness, psychosocial support, temporary learning centers, early recovery and livelihood support and construction of permanent shelter (LWF, 2016).

·         Mercy Corps has been distributing solar lights to the affected people since earthquake (Mercy_Corps, 2015).

·         ASF International has been working on 'Relief Phase: Revive Nepal Project' and have been providing technical assistance to NGOs and CBOs. It has also constructed temporary community toilets for disabled people, building assessment and safety marks, debris management as well as distributed the safety kits (ASF_Nepal, 2015).

·         HELVETAS Nepal responded immediately with relief activities and its engagement for rehabilitation and reconstruction has resulted into six projects so far. The major work and achievements of the projects are as follows (HELVETAS, 2015):

§  Employment Fund’s Skills for Reconstruction

§  Rehabilitation of facilities of Earthquake Affected People

§  Economic Recovery of Earthquake Affected Population

§  Rehabilitation of Earthquake affected Schools

§  Rehabilitation of Trail Bridges damaged during earthquake

§  Rehabilitation of facilities of Earthquake Affected People (REAP)

§  Recovery of Agricultural Livelihoods (ReAL)

·         USAID supported with the medical supplies, emergency shelter and food assistance during the earthquake and has been working assisting various agencies to develop human resources through education and training. In coordination with the U.S. military, the DART leader and USAR personnel conducted aerial assessments of Dolakha, observing substantial damage and numerous landslides as a result of the aftershock. USAR personnel have conducted one live rescue, multiple evacuations, and provided emergency medical care to more than 20 people in Dolakha’s hard-hit Charikot and Singati villages.  (USAID, 2015).

·         ActionAid managed and the distributed the relief materials in Dolakha in coordination with two local partners (ECARDS Dolakha and HURADEC Nepal), local government agencies and the political parties. The distribution of the relief materials was done only in two VDCs i.e. Jhyakhu and Lamidada which covered 2,741 households in total. The relief material consisted of both food as well as the non-food items (ActionAid, 2015).

·         Save the Children worked for emergency food assistance, agricultural support, multi-purpose cash grant and health safety (Save_the_Children, 2016).

References

ACTED. (2015). Dolakha Detailled Needs Assessment. Paris: ACTED.

ActionAid. (2015). ActionAid Nepal in Relief for Community Reconstruction. ActionAid.

ASF_Nepal. (2015). ASF Nepal: Building Back Better. Retrieved July 10, 2017, from ASF International: http://www.asfint.org/blogs/ASF-Nepal-Building-Back-Better

CBS. (2011). National Population and Housing Census. Kathmandu: Central Bureau of Statistics.

CONCERN. (2016). Our Work in Nepal. Retrieved July 7, 2017, from Concern Worldwide: https://www.concern.net/where-we-work/asia/nepal

HELVETAS. (2015). Response to Gorkha Earthquake. Retrieved July 10, 2017, from HELVETAS Nepal: https://nepal.helvetas.org/en/nepal_earthquake.cfm

ICIMOD. (2015). The Impact of Nepal's 2015 Gorkha Earthquake- induced geohazards. ICIMOD.

LWF. (2016, August 30). Press Room | Nepal. Retrieved July 10, 2017, from Lutheran World Federation: https://nepal.lutheranworld.org/content/press-room-101

Mercy_Corps. (2015). Solar lantern distribution. Retrieved July 7, 2017, from Mercy Corps: http://www.safefuelandenergy.org/where-we-work/project.cfm?p=138

MOHA. (2015). National Disaster Report. Kathmandu: Ministry of Home Affair.

OSOCC. (2015). Nepal Earthquake: District Profile - Dolakha. OSOCC.

PDNA. (2015). PDNA Vol-B: Sector Reports. National Planning Commission.

PLAN. (2016). Nepal Earthquake Response. Retrieved July 7, 2017, from Plan International:
 https://plan-international.org/nepal/nepal-earthquake-response#

Save_the_Children. (2016). Save the Children’s Earthquake Response in Nepal: A special one-year progress report. Save the Children.

UN. (2015). District Profile: Dolakha. UN, Nepal Earthquake Assessment Unit.

USAID. (2015). Nepal | Disaster Assistance. Retrieved July 10, 2017, from USAID: https://www.usaid.gov/crisis/nepal

USGS. (2015, April 25). M 7.8 - 36km E of Khudi, Nepal. Retrieved July 8, 2017, from USGS, science for the changing world: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us20002926#executive

A SUMMARY OF NATIONAL DISASTER REPORT, 2015

Introduction

Nepal is geographically, ecologically and culturally diverse country. The disaster risk is also high in the country and people are at high vulnerability. Hence, Nepal is ranked at top 20^th most hazard prone country, 6^th in climate change, 11^th in earthquake and 30^th in flood risk. Floods, landslides, debris flow, thunderbolt and epidemics are some hazards recurring each year and high chance of occurring hazard like earthquake, glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs), drought, avalanche and snowstorm. Thriving urbanization makes Nepal further prone to such disasters.

Disaster scenario of Nepal

The earthquakes of 1934 A.D., 1980 A.D. 1988 A.D., 2015 A.D. and the flood of July, 1993 A.D., 2008 A.D., and 2014 A.D. are the most devastating disasters which not only caused heavy losses of human lives and physical properties but also adversely affected the development process of the country as a whole.

Being a developing country, Nepal lacks strong mechanism to widely share the knowledge and the information to the poor communities. More importantly, the vulnerable communities and poor people have not been able to mitigate, prepare for, effectively respond and overcome the impact of multiple hazards in various parts of the country.

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, since 2000, each year, an average of 329 people lost their lives due to various disasters and property loss of more than 1 billion rupees.

Types of Hazard	Prevalence
Natural Hazards
Earthquake	All of Nepal is a high-hazard earthquake zone
Flood	Terai (sheet flood), Middle Hills
Landslide and landslide dam breaks	Hills, Mountains
Debris flow	Hills and Mountain, severe in areas of elevations greater than 1700 m that are covered by glacial deposits of previous ice-age
Glacial Lakes Outburst Floods	Origin at the tongue of glaciers in Higher Himalayas, Higher Mountains, flow reach down to middle Hill regions
Avalanche	Higher Himalayas
Fire (forest)	Hills and Tarai (forest belt at foot of southern-most Hills)
Drought	All over the country
Windstorms	All over the country
Hailstorms	Hills
Lightening	All over the country
Human Induced Hazards
Epedemics	Tarai and Hills, also in lower parts of Mountain region
Fire (Settlements)	Mostly in Tarai, also in mid-Hill region
Accidents	Urban areas, along road network
Industrial/ Technological Hazards	Urban / industrial areas
Soil erosion	Hills
Social disruptions	Follows disaster-affected areas and politically disturbed areas

Disaster risk reduction initiatives

The national and international legislative and institutional initiatives taken by Nepal to reduce the disaster vulnerability are as follows:

1.  Hyogo Framework of Action (2005-2015)
2.  Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030)
3.  Draft Disaster Management Bill and Policy of Nepal
4.  National Strategy for Disaster Risk Management in Nepal
5.  National Building Code (NBC)
6.  National Adaptation Plan of Action (NAPA)
7.  National Disaster Response Framework (NDRF)
8.  Local Adaptation Plan of Action (LAPA)
9.  Disaster Preparedness and Response Plan (DPRP)
10.  Local Disaster Risk Management Planning Guideline, 2011
11.  Nepal Risk Reduction Consortium
12.  National Emergency Operation Centre (NEOC)
13.  National Platform for DRR
14.  Additional Initiatives

Disaster Management system should commensurate with the following components:

• A standardized approach to incident/crisis management that is scalable and flexible;
• Well-organized cooperation and interoperability among responders;
• Inclusive multi-hazards preparedness at all levels;
• Efficient resource coordination among the stakeholders and authorities;
• Integration of best practices and lessons learned for continuous improvement.

Key Messages

• Focus towards cost effective DRR
• Build aware, prepared and empowered community
• Build trained, equipped and connected state disaster response force
• Enhance cooperation among DRR stakeholders
• Adopt sustainable development by recognizing the interrelationship between disaster and development
• Learn lessons from huge disasters such as: 2015 Gorkha Earthquake and Build Back Better (BBB)
• Maintain DRR momentum after the immediate disaster response

Data, facts and figures: 2013 and 2014

·         Major disaster in 2013

§  Landslide  in Jumla, Badaki killed 8 people.

§  Fire of April affected 172 families in Parsa district.

§  Another fire of April affected 250 families in Bardia district.

§  Floods and landslides of June killed 1 person and affected 317 families in Khalange, Darchula.

§  Another landslide of June killed 8 people and affected 114 families in Malika,  Dailekh.

In this year thunderbolt claimed highest number of human deaths. A total of 146 people lost their lives due to thunderbolt in 2013 followed by the floods that claimed 132 lives. Landslide killed 87 people, fire killed 59 and various other disasters killed 36 people. Other disasters e.g. cold wave, epidemics, heat wave, air crash, boat capsize, windstorm, heavy rainfall, drowning, avalanches etc. killed 36 people. In this way, a total of 460 people were killed by various types of natural disasters in the year 2013.

·         Major disaster in 2014

§  The ‘Jure Landslide’ of Sindhupalchowk killed 33 people, 123 have been missing and affected 478 families.

§  Floods and landslides of August killed 211 people and affected 35,989 families in Banke , Bardia, Surkhet and Dang districts.

Floods alone killed 128 people in 2014 and most of them were killed in Mid-Western Region of Nepal. This year thunderbolt stood at third position which killed 96 people while it was number one killer in the year 2013. Landslide killed 113 people; fire claimed the death of 62 people, snowstorm (Hudhud) killed 28 people and all other remaining disasters such as: heat weave, cold weave, animal attack etc. killed 60 people. A total of 487 people lost their lives due to the above mentioned disasters in the year 2014. This year, more people were killed than in the previous year.

Comparison of 2013 and 2014

Human death by major disasters
Disaster	Fire	Flood	Thunderbolt	Landslide	Snowstorm	Other	Total
2013	59	132	146	87	0	36	460
2014	62	128	96	113	28	60	487

Human death by minor disasters				Human death, missing and injury
Disaster	2013	2014			2013	2014
Drowning	7	8		Death	460	487
Windstorm	3	3		Missing	165	357
Heavy Rainfall	5	5		Injured	517	473
High Altitude	0	1
Air Crash	1	14
Boat Capsize	7	8
Avalanche	7	10
Epidemic	4	11
Cold Wave	2	0
Total	36	60

Human death, missing and injured by months
Months	Human death		Human missing		Human injured
	2013	2014	2013	2014	2013	2014
January	20	14	0	0	37	25
February	22	19	0	0	19	32
March	34	12	1	3	89	29
April	37	35	2	3	99	52
May	21	45	7	3	62	55
June	95	46	40	0	50	77
July	77	35	55	14	34	36
August	73	150	35	250	49	119
September	57	60	20	20	45	39
October	10	68	4	64	18	7
November	4	3	1	0	3	2
December	10	0	0	0	12	0
Total	460	487	165	357	517	473

Reference

National Disaster Report, 2015