KATHMANDU, June 25: After the great quake of April 25, Kathmandu Living Labs (KLL) soon worked to create a map, commonly known as open-source maps that charted affected areas.
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The map displayed road networks, camps of internally displaced people, blocked networks, landslides and debris which helped the rescue workers to reach the victims. The organization received help from over 5,000 national and international volunteers to draw the map. The volunteers took help from satellite images to locate the affected areas.
Rescue and relief workers such as Canadian Armed Force, USAID and Nepal Army among others also used the map to locate areas and provide relief.In an earlier interview with Republica, Dr Nama Raj Budathoki said, "National and foreign organizations including Nepal Army have made most of it during rescue and relief operations. Nepal Army has made good use of it through quakemap.org. This website contains reports that mention things the earthquake victims need most and also mention the location. Thus it would not be right to understand us merely as mappers. We are working as a bridge to connect the victims with rescue and relief organizations."
While mapping, KLL suffered from confusion regarding which area to be mapped first. They then communicated with national and international organizations like Nepal Army and Red Cross asking them which areas needed to be mapped desperately. Slowly the organizations provided them with genuine requests and their own knowledge which helped make a clearer map.
KLL also has good resource of professionals who have proper knowledge of mapping. Dr Nama Raj Budathoki said, "Lots of people working in KLL are professionals. There are people from American Red Cross, including its head of mapping unit. There are also those who are not professionals. But there are senior, professional and experienced mappers who oversee their work. Therefore, only reliable maps get uploaded."
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