The second earthquake reminded us of the vulnerability of our eco-system—the hilly terrains which had been so judiciously turned into fertile terraces by our laborious farmers and our Himalayan range which had inspired awe among international visitors and had been a source of livelihood for many. With the landslides not stopping,fear continues to lurk.These past three weeks have taught ussomething about the role of government and donor agencies in disaster management. First and foremost duty of the state was provide rescue and relief to minimize casualties and ensure vital support for unfortunate victims.
As was expected—and as is international practice in such emergencies—many friendly governments, international humanitarian organizations and INGOs started flying in with relief supplies even before the host government had found the time to 'appeal' for assistance. The response was so rapid and enormous that the government had no time to make decisions on customs exemption for relief materials, ease immigration services at airport, or to offer cargo handling and storage facilities. The government is held responsible for all these lapses. It's not.
First, the government tried to control aid inflow by asking relief providing organizations and governments to submit the list of materials they had brought, but to no avail. Instead, they started accusing the government of incompetence by requiring needless paperwork even at such critical hour. Later, it became clear that most missions had not been carrying enough tents or pure water or even food for themselves. India had flown one extra flight only with water. Soon the tents became a kind of 'political' issue because of huge demand. After initial fiasco the government not only requested donors to supply additional tents but also asked various governments to sell it tents. More tents started coming but, it seems, the government could not send them to affected areas.
Second, Tribhuvan International Airport, which not so long ago had acquired notoriety for developing frequent cracks on its sole runway, was being subjected to landings and take-offs of huge cargo planes and commercial and rescue flights. The staffs of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) were working almost round the clock to handle these flights (at the peak it was 419 flights a day,in my guess).
At this point no one had time to think what would have happened if TIA had failed and if CAAN staff had not adeptly handled airport operations. Have the government or donor countries or relief agencies expressed even few words of appreciation for CAAN?
Third, our media played a 'biased' role in fuelling anti-India sentiments. Sometimes the media were comparing the way China was handling its efforts with India's, or highlighting that India has been evacuating its citizens in large numbers. Our media and common people conveniently ignored that every other country flying in relief material into the country had also been evacuating their citizens. Even more hypocritical was the fact that very recently Indian Navy helped evacuate 18 Nepali nationals stranded in Yemen.
Fourth, in the initial days after the first earthquake, there was an exodus of people from quake-affected districts to their respective home districts to look after their near and dear ones. The challenge for government as well as transport companies was to make enough buses available. Transport companies were charging exorbitant fares, despite government warnings.
Finally, most I/NGOs buying food and medical stuffs did not face problems since these material seemed to be available in required quantities and there were no complaints about sudden increase in the price of basic food items.
Though our over-enthusiastic civil society, NGO community and the donors called the incumbent government incompetent and criticized its 'one-window policy', our security organs—Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and Nepal Army—received wholehearted praise from the people for helping Nepalis by risking their own lives.
Nepal Telecom also received accolades for providing free services for almost one week. Similarly, Viber and Skype had also provided free services for Nepal. Radio and TV stations ran their services uninterrupted.
The government had also been successful in ensuring smooth supply of petrol, diesel, kerosene, aviation fuel and cooking gas without interruption. Transport companies and utilities such as Nepal Electricity Authority and Kathmandu Water Supply were operating satisfactorily. In the initial days, the municipal services had, however, come under severe criticism for failing to manage solid waste around hospitals and temporary shelters. The absence of elected local government was badly felt.
But the services that must be praised are health services. These personnel had to work tirelessly for many days but there were no complaints. All hospitals were equally busy in providing health services and they seemed to have indeed managed beautifully. The government must also be praised for bearing all the costs in treatment of the injured. This gesture, I am sure, has been widely appreciated by the people.
Nepal hasn't faced a disaster of this magnitude in the last 80 years. So no amount of warning would have helped; whoever had attended preparatory training may also have forgotten their lesson out of fear. Earthquake is unpredictable. But the current destruction and devastation will makepeople take future warnings seriously.
Rampant practice of violating building codes and not hiring qualified architects and engineers during construction, let us hope,will be done away with. Seeing is believing. The visual footage of the present disaster will definitely serve as a reminder of what could happen in case another earthquake strikes.
The author was with the Department of Housing, Building and Physical Planning under the Ministry of Urban Development
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