The earthquakes earlier this year inflicted both physical and social damages. So people are facing big obstacles to resume their normal lives. The government, too, has failed to take necessary steps to normalize the lives of earthquake victims. The government had formed the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) to oversee post-earthquake reconstruction, through an ordinance. But this important body came into existence only recently, eight months after the first earthquakes. Many people blame the government and politicians for this. But post-earthquake disaster management is challenging anywhere in the world.The severity of damages depends on socio-economic vulnerability of affected people. Natural events are not the only obstacles impeding their return to normal life.
The earthquake area is spread over 10,000 square kilometres and is mostly in rugged high altitude. It is so spread out that, in some cases, it takes over a day by road to travel from one end of the affected district to the other. To reach many high-altitude villages, it takes another day from the nearest road. Many areas are completely cut off during monsoon due to high water flow in rivers. This makes transportation of construction material impossible.
Inefficiency of local nongovernmental organizations has left the government with the sole responsibility of reconstruction. In addition, in the absence of elected local governments, there is a 'downward' accountability deficit. After a disaster, local government needs to undertake many tasks quickly, often simultaneously. But there is at present no mechanism in place for the project's proper implementation, nor have the local communities been involved in decision-making. This situation has deprived people of even minimum goods and services.
Lack of awareness is also causing problems. Lack of advanced knowledge and skills to respond and recover from a disaster and people's low education levels impede their role in reconstruction. Although the area is seismically active, and there is a history of large earthquakes, there is also severe lack of awareness at all levels. The construction workforce, in general, lack knowledge of earthquake-resistant technology as it was never considered an integral part of engineering education in Nepal. Moreover, construction artisans in the area are not formally trained.
Social problems such as poverty, inequality and unemployment increase people's vulnerability and hinder their return to normal life. People who have physical, social and personal vulnerabilities have suffered the most, among them, Dalits, single women, children and people with disabilities.
One obstacle in rehabilitation is lack of comprehensive information about demographics of the people and the number of households. Due to this many have been denied timely relief. They will also be deprived from special funds to build earthquake resistant homes and many other government privileges.
In many cases, improper management of resources has resulted in wastage. Government, NGOs and INGOs focus only on reconstruction, with little attention to rehabilitation needs of people. No attention has been paid to livelihood issues such as agriculture and other employment opportunities. This will also lead to intensification of social uncertainty. The affected people also concentrated on reconstruction, ignoring other aspect of recovery.
Failure of timely reconstruction for political reasons contributes to the delay. Timely reconstruction would help people get back to their normal lives and gradually forget their bitter memories. But this is a far cry with a mass of rubble still witnessed at roadsides.
The inability to consider local cultural needs will lead to problems. An important aspect of post-disaster recovery is that survivors need to be its active participants. If people are not included, their sense of self-efficacy can be undermined. If people are not asked for their ideas and inputs, they are unlikely to own up reconstruction works. Most plans have a top-down paternalistic approach. It will lead to wide dissatisfaction and people will have no sense of ownership. This is also a big obstacle.
A kind of distrust has been built between the government and the people, and also between the donors and the government. This leads to confrontation, thus further impeding reconstruction/rehabilitation. Waste of assets is another factor that impedes recovery. People have been forced to sell their cattle at low prices after the earthquake as they didn't have adequate barns and shelters for their livestock. These assets are vitally important in post-disaster relief.
Moreover, immediately after the earthquake, people get foodstuff from the government or the donor, so they are reluctant to invest in agricultural. This in turn creates dependence.
Finally, given the mammoth challenge at hand, the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) should develop a comprehensive policy. NRA has to recognise that interventions in rural areas would not be those suitable for urban. Only a community-based approach that will share responsibility among all stakeholders will work.
The author is a PhD candidate in civil engineering at University of Alberta, Canada
kesehab@ualberta.ca
Related story
Stories of lives walking through the dark tunnel toward the lig...
