Immediately after the flood, with the support of international, national and local organizations, the government managed to rescue citizens from the initial risk. The local government and the Chief District Officer as the head of District Disaster Relief Committee took the lead and a system for management and coordination of rescue and relief activities was put in place. The response was divided into the relief/rescue phase, which is nearly over and the reconstruction/recovery phase, which is yet to begin.
A longer-term danger of delays in return package distribution is that people will try to meet their daily needs with the cash compensation they have received for land recovery and housing.
The government has designed a return package (Rs. 50,000 per household) for the affected families, which approximately 3402 families have received. Until the middle of April (end of Chaitra 2065), a total of NRs. 1,226,054,720 was released by the government to different agencies for immediate relief work. As of May 27, 387 families are still living in the camps, most of whom are landless. Out of the 7043 families who returned to their place of origin, almost 4000 of them are living in highly-affected areas where living conditions have become extremely difficult and livelihood options limited.
The distribution of the return package has taken much longer than planned. Immediately after completing the return package distribution, the government plans to begin distributing the reconstruction and compensation package which is about NRs. 1.6 billion in total. However, the reconstruction phase has also been delayed, which will lead to a six to nine month gap before the reconstruction phase.
Of more than 85 national and international agencies involved in the rescue phase, most have withdrawn their activities, in recovery and reconstruction phase. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is the major donor for recovery phase, which is supporting government’s programs in different sectors. It covers construction of a new bridge in Chatra over Koshi. It also provides 1.8 million dollars for agriculture, 5.8 million for irrigation and 2.3 million for water supply and sanitation. It includes reconstruction of irrigation canals (large, link and swallow tube wells), agriculture extension works, animal husbandry, drinking water and sanitation works. However, the reconstruction work will only begin after signing of the grant agreement between ADB and the government. Therefore, full-fledged implementation of ADB projects in the site will take at least six to nine months, depending on the nature of work.
With the arrival of monsoon as well as upcoming festivals, people will need additional new support to cover the needs of this period. Delays in return package distribution have prevented people from cultivating land in critical time, resulting in loss of food and income the following season. Moreover, there are longer-term dangers as people will try to meet their daily needs with the cash compensation they have received for land recovery and housing. This will affect their ability to invest in sustainable livelihood improvement.
IMMEDIATE ACTION
While the affected people are waiting for major reconstruction programs to begin, there are four immediate and medium-term needs that need to be addressed simultaneously. First, there is a need to make people feel that the relief phase is over and that they have to participate in the recovery process; second, the returnees in the most affected areas have to be rehabilitated; third the landless who are still in the camps have to be rehabilitated and; fourth, a plan for managing future disaster risk in the area has to be formulated.
Since the government and international agencies are gradually cutting down on humanitarian assistance work and starting recovery work, there are several gaps in this transition that have to be met immediately. Humanitarian assistance, relief and protection are still needed for people who continue to live in the camps. Reconstruction of schools, health facilities, public places and farm roads is also needed immediately. Furthermore, administrative support is also needed. The local level government, especially the District Administration and District Development Committee, is over burdened with the responsibility of managing Koshi-related works while regular administrative and development works are being overshadowed.
BETTER MANAGEMENT & COORDINATION
There are some visible management and coordination problems that affect the smooth completion of the relief phase. First, there hasn’t yet been an assessment of the impact on families of programs conducted by various government line agencies and international agencies during the relief process and early phases of recovery. Second, more careful and comprehensive planning has to be undertaken as the conditions and potentials of livelihood activities, reconstruction and rehabilitation work varies greatly within the same flood area.
Although a coordination mechanism based on a cluster system was effectively used during the relief phase, a better coordination mechanism is now needed at the national level. The flow of information between government or international agencies and the families affected by the flood is not adequate. Similarly, communication between central ministries and local offices is uncoordinated and often lacking. There is a difference in the perception of problems by the local level and the decisions made at the central level. Similarly, communication amongst the central ministries, local offices and international agencies should be improved.
NEED FOR PLANNED IMPLEMENTATIONS
The government has to do two things. First, it should help the DDC to prepare a transitional recovery plan (six months to 1 year) and second, it should prepare a medium-term recovery plan (2-3 years) based on the recommendations of the High Level Commission that the government had formed to suggest recovery activities and the updated information and knowledge. For planning and implementation, the government should establish a secretariat directly under the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
The transition plan should support the people in the most-affected areas so that some visible change can be made even in this short period. The support should help generate hope in the people in the front end and give priority to programs that can be linked with the ADB-funded package and other longer-term plans of the government in the back end. The plan and programs should focus on tangible outcomes such as physical improvements and sectoral programs that help people improve livelihood such as employment. Intangibles such as changing mindset of beneficiaries and support providers, confidence and community building should also be kept in mind. This will help people realize that they are active participants in the recovery and that it is their lives that they are rebuilding as they want.
The programs should focus on employment and labor-intensive infrastructure development, which bring in immediate cash; livelihood improvement mainly through agriculture, animal husbandry and small enterprise that help build sustainable livelihood in the community; health and habitat improvement through housing, drinking water, sanitation and community health improvement programs; community mobilization programs to reintegrate the community and develop sense of normalization and belonging; normalization of children’s education through school building and regular school classes; and social security for children, women, old and the weak. While designing these programs, it is important to ensure participation of the beneficiaries, to empower them and to clearly communicate to the people that the relief phase is complete and recovery has begun. Wherever possible, local NGOs should be mobilized.
The Koshi disaster is a unique case of catastrophe of this scale. The experience that the nation has gathered in rescue and recovery should be placed high in the national agenda and must keep receiving attention at the national political and executive level. This is an opportunity for the nation to learn to deal with major disaster relief and reconstruction. The leadership taken by the DDC is appropriate at the local level but needs additional logistic and technical support to deliver the services. Since the plan implementation involves several ministries, there is a need for raising the agenda higher than the domain of sectoral ministries and design effective coordination at the national level. A senior official or commissioner designated for the purpose of Koshi should be authorized to implement the recovery plan. This commissioner should be placed directly under the PMO, be accountable to the prime minister and be given a set timeline within which the task should be completed. Only with a concerted and coordinated effort by the highest levels will the Koshi recovery be successful. The most important phase is only beginning now.
(Writer is former vice-chairman of National Planning Commission.)
jagadishcpokharel@gmail.com
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