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First Anniversary Of Devastating Quakes
First Anniversary Of Devastating Quakes
Siddhi B Ranjitkar
Initiating reconstruction at different places on April 24, 2016 (Baishak 12, 2073), the coalition government led by Prime Minister KP Oli, and also other political leaders including of the NC marked the first anniversary of the devastating quakes that hit the Barpak of the Gorkha district and sent the shocking waves all around causing unimaginable destruction to the people and the property on April 25, 2016 (Baishak 12, 2072). Deploying the president, prime minister and ministers in various activities at different places, the coalition government held a number of colorful events to mark the first anniversary of the quakes. The opposition leaders particularly of the NC had been expressing disappointment to the government lackluster activities of the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the quake-damaged cultural heritage, schools, health posts, and other public buildings and providing requisite resources to rebuild the fallen private houses during the quakes. Prime Minister Oli and his ministers had been countering the charges of the opposition leaders, and had been giving examples of what they had done during the last six months of their administration despite the Indian blockade imposed for supporting the Madheshi leaders for meeting their demands. Current ministers including the prime minister had totally ignored the so commendable jobs the police, the armed police, and the Nepal Army had done in rescuing the quake victims, and the medical teams and physicians that had risked their own lives to provide the quake victims with medical services, Radio Nepal and other media that had promptly aired the news about the quake events, Nepal Telecom that had provided free telephone services for five minutes at a time, and the neighboring countries and the far away countries sending the search and rescue teams within a few hours of the deadly quakes.
On April 24, 2016, President Bidhya Bhandari flew on a helicopter of the Nepal Airlines Corporation to the Barpak village in the Gorkha district to initiate three different rebuilding and reconstruction activities. First, she went to lay a foundation stone for rebuilding a private house with the grant assistance provided by the government. Then, she went on to lay another foundation stone for building a memorial park with a tower with the names of those killed in the quakes in Barpak, and finally she laid a foundation stone for initiating an integrated settlement project in the neighboring village called Laprak in the Gorkha district the Non-resident Nepalese Association was to build for the quake victims, according to the news in “gorkhapatra’ of April 25, 2016. National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) had approved this settlement project in Laprak.
This was not the first time President Bhandari and her Prime Minister KP Oli launched the reconstruction initiative with such fanfare. In the mid January 2016 (Magh 2, 2072), the president initiated the restoration of the quake-damaged heritage at Ranipokhari in Kathmandu and the prime minister at Bungamati in Lalitpur with such publicity it looked that they would rush to rebuild the heritage from the ruins without delay. However, after about four months, the same guys: the president and the prime minister were repeating the same public events forgetting what they had done in the immediate past without consequences. This time they had been doing even more elaborately spending millions of rupees on the helicopter rides to the respective field.
Speaking to the interviewer, the civil society leader Dr Sundar Mani Dixit said that these public figures had been enjoying helicopter rides and celebrating the first anniversary of the devastating quakes doing nothing for the common folks. They simply had been enjoying the festivities in the names of the quake victims.
On the morning of April 24, 2016, the home ministry held a memorial event at the ruins of the view tower called Dharahara in Kathmandu. On behalf of the people in general, Prime Minister KP Oli laid a wreath on the ruins of Dharahara where a number of people going up and down and watching the view of the Kathmandu city from the balcony lost their beautiful lives when the quake broke it up into three pieces. Prime Minister Oli stood for a minute of silence in the memory of the deceased. Finance Minister Vishnu Poudel and Home Minister Shakti Bahadur Basnet also paid homage to those people died in this area, according to “gorkhapatra” of April 25, 2016.
The Himalayan Times reported that while the Government officials, diplomats and ordinary people assembled at the remains of a fallen view tower to mark the anniversary of a devastating earthquake and Prime Minister Oli laid a wreath at the ruins of the Dharahara tower: the structure collapsed on April 25 last year killing 132 people; a small group of about 20 protesters dressed in black took to the streets with banners protesting against the delay in rebuilding and reconstruction of the quake-damaged public and private structures. They chanted slogans against the slow pace of rebuilding. Police quickly confiscated the banners but let them continue the chanting of the anti-government slogans.
http://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/nepal-marks-anniversary-devastating-earthquake/
Jointly laying foundation stones for the reconstruction of the Lyaku Dwaka (the main gate to Durbar Square) and Silu Mahadev temple (Fasidega) in Bhaktapur on April 25, 2016, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Ananda Pokharel, and Nepal Workers and Peasants' Party (NWPP) Chairman Narayanman Bijukchhe launched the reconstruction work. It was part of the National Program on heritage reconstruction the government had started off on this day. The estimated cost of Fasidega and Lyaku Dwaka was NPR 55 millions and NPR 3.398 millions respectively. Minister Pokharel said that the government was expediting the heritage reconstruction work. NWPP Chair Bijukchhe said that the government needed to rebuilt the heritage through the beneficiary committees rather than simply turning over the jobs to the contractors, according to the news in ‘The Rising Nepal” of April 26, 2016.
http://therisingnepal.org.np/news/10779
Speaking at a press conference the Nepal Press Union Lamjung chapter held in Lamjung on April 24, 2016, NC leader Prakash Man Singh said that the current government even failed to use the funds for the reconstruction projects mobilized by the previous government and accused the government of failing to advance reconstruction projects even after a year of the devastating quake, according to the news in “The Rising Nepal’ of April 25, 2016. The previous government was of the collation of NC, CPN-UML and other small parties; the NC president Sushil Koirala was the prime minister. The current government is the coalition of all parties except for the NC and the protesting Madheshi parties busy with the street movement.
http://therisingnepal.org.np/news/10750
Out of the $4.1 billion pledged at the International Conference on Nepal's Reconstruction (ICNR) in June 2015, Nepal has so far received just $1.28 billion. The delay in getting the money has been blamed the government for taking months to set up the National Reconstruction Authority done only in December. Explaining about the delay in reconstruction, Finance Minister Vishnu Prasad Paudel said, "Nepal had signed a written commitment in black and white that there would not be any reconstruction without the detailed beneficiary survey during the donor's meeting (means ICNR). So, until the detailed beneficiary survey was completed, there was no way we could go ahead with the actual reconstruction." Now, that work had been completed in 11 of the 14 districts the quakes had hit; reconstruction work would move ahead at a full speed, Paudel said.
http://therisingnepal.org.np/news/10733
Speaking to the anchor of the morning program called ‘antar-sambad’ of the Radio Nepal on April 24, 2016, former Finance Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat said that the previous government of which he was the finance minister had held the ICNR, and had mobilized NPR 400 billions but the current government has failed even in using that money. He also said that the previous government had mobilized the police, armed police, and army to rescue the quake victims, and distributed grant money to the quake victims promptly.
Probably, countering such criticism of the NC leaders, Prime Minister Oli had been saying in his public speeches that the previous government had even failed in setting up a NRA not to mention the initiation of reconstruction; his government had been formed only after six months of the quakes; and he had to take on the challenges of the blockade (apparently the dissident Madheshi leaders had imposed but obviously the Indian prime minister did it in support of the Madheshi leaders); despite such an adversary, his government had set up the NRA, sent 1,600 engineers to survey the damages done to the private houses, and made everything possible in preparation for the expeditious reconstruction of the structures the quakes had damaged. He went on saying if anybody were to hold his leg trying to pull him down, he simply would kick his feet free of such holding and would go ahead in reconstruction work, the news in ‘gorkhapatra” of April 25, 2016 stated. He also said that he would take the order only of the Nepalese people if any foreign leaders were to send orders he simply would return those orders back to the senders.
Prime Minister KP Oli witnessed the representative of NRA and a quake victim signing off an agreement on providing the victim a grant amount for rebuilding a quake-damaged private house in Chautara of the Sindhupalchok district on April 24, 2016, also on the same day, Prime Minister Oli witnessed the initiation of rebuilding a private house in Rumjatar of the Okhaldhnga district, according to the news in “gorkhapatra” of April 25, 2016.
“The Rising Nepal” reported that the reconstruction campaign has been initiated at all three electoral constituencies in Nuwakot on the first anniversary of the destructive earthquake on Sunday, April 24, 2016. NC Lawmaker Arjun Narsingh KC initiated the campaign for reconstruction of private houses at an event held at Ratmate of constituency no. 1 of Nuwakot handing out a house-construction-grant agreement the government had provided to the quake survivor Thulo Krishna Lama of Ratmate VDC-1. Leader KC said that the relief distribution had been in limbo after a single family split into four to claim the grant money the government provided. He urged all to shun selfish motives not to affect the genuine victims. Speaking at the same event, Chief District Officer of Nuwakot Vishnu Prasad Pokharel expressed his confidence in the government speeding up the rebuilding campaign from now onward though it was already delayed to provide grants for the construction of the quake-devastated houses. Likewise, NC Lawmaker Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat and another Lawmaker Bahadur Singh Lama handed out the house-construction-grant-agreement forms to the house owners at Sundaradevi of constituency no. 2 and Charghare of constituency no. 3, respectively.
http://therisingnepal.org.np/news/10761
Secretary at the Ministry of Finance Lok Darshan Regmi and Ambassador of EU Delegation in Nepal Ms Rensje Teerink signed off the agreement on providing the Government of Nepal with the grant assistance of Euro 105 million for the post-earthquake rehabilitation and reconstruction on the first anniversary of the quakes of 2015. The grant assistance included a budget support of Euro 100 million (equivalent to approximately NPR 11.95 billion) for a state building contract and Technical Assistance of Euro 5 million (equivalent to approximately NPR 11.95 billion).
The state building contract was for improving the financial management capacity and the project implementation capacity of the government to accelerate the development spending money on the inclusive recovery and reconstruction that would enhance disaster preparedness and resilience following the Building Back Better principles. The technical assistance associated with the state building contract would strengthen the Public Financial Management (PFM), accountability and transparency.
This assistance was pledged at the ICNR held in June 2015, according to the Ministry of Finance. The total execution period of this financing agreement would be 84 months.
http://therisingnepal.org.np/news/10747
An international non-governmental organization called International Medical Core (IMC) had rebuilt a number of quake-damaged health posts including one at Dharma-sthali in the Kathmandu district the Chief Secretary Dr Somlal Subedi opened on Monday, April 25, 2016. On this occasion, Chief Secretary Dr Somlal Subedi said what IMC had done must be the example for other INGOs to follow. At the same event, Secretary to the Health Ministry Santbahadur Shrestha said that after the destructive quakes, physicians and medics had been providing health services even working in the tents; now after the reconstruction of health posts, regular health services would be available. Program Director of IMC Charles Sylva said that his organization had the good opportunity of assisting the Government of Nepal and the local community in rebuilding 22 health posts. In cooperation with the Government of Nepal, IMC has been rebuilding quake-destroyed 22 health posts in Gorkha, Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, and Nuwakot, according to the news in “gorkhapatra’ of April 26, 2016.
Initiating the reconstruction of the Bangshagopal Temple at Basantapur: the world heritage center in Kathmandu, Senior Leader of NC Ram Chandra Poudel launched the reconstruction of the quake-damaged cultural and religious heritage on April 25, 2016. Speaking at the reconstruction-initiation event NC Leader Poudel said that the government did not show the necessary enthusiasm to rebuild the cultural heritage and the houses of common folks. He also said that the government delaying the reconstruction for a year has put the donors’ grant money at the risk of going back; the government could not move the reconstruction ahead disappointing one and all, the news in “gorkhapatra” of April 26, 2016 stated.
The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) published the list of the names of the quake victims eligible for receiving the quake grants for rebuilding their houses in the worst quake-hit 11 districts. The list contained the names of 300,961 householders in 393 VDCs of those districts.
Spokesperson for NRA Ram Prasad Thapaliya said that NRA sent the list to the respective District Development Committee Office through the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development. He also said that the eligible householders for receiving grants were 15,005 in Okhaldhunga, 21,114 in Sindhuli, 30,519 in Ramechhap, 49,751 in Dolakha, 35,308 in Sindhupalchowk, 40,264 in Kavrepalanchowk, 38,235 in Nuwakot, 5,417 in Rasuwa, 23,440 in Dhading, 7,412 in Makawanpur and 34,496 in Gorkha.
After signing grant agreements, the quake victims would receive grants in three installments of NPR 50,000, NPR 80,000 and NPR 70,000 respectively, NRA said. The eligible recipients of grants were the quake victims whose houses the devastating quakes had totally damaged last year, the RSS news in the republica.com stated on April 26, 2016.
NC leaders had demanded to provide quake victims with the house-reconstruction grants in one installment rather than the three installments the government had decided. To this demand, Prime Minster KP Oli sarcastically said that the demand NC made for giving the house-reconstruction grant in one installment was seasonal one.
“It’s a joke to think we can build a house with 200,000 rupees,” said Phatta-lal Shrestha from Tamche in Sindhupalchowk, the hardest-hit district, where 95% of houses, according to local authorities, are uninhabitable. He said a house costs at least three times that. To get the remaining 150,000 rupees, families have to start constructing a house following a seven-step building code. While meant to ensure new houses are earthquake resistant, the regulations drawn up with the advice from foreign donors are difficult and costly to adhere to. Another compounding public discontent is the mistrust of international charities. A widely shared article in a local newspaper Himal Khabar claimed that only about 30% of international aid reaches beneficiaries while 40% disappears into administration costs such as consultant fees, salaries and logistics. However, three of the criticized NGOs such as the World Food Program, Save the Children and Handicap International said the criticism was baseless and founded on flawed calculations. (Source: theguardian.com)
A community perception survey an INGO called “Save the Children (US or UK?)” conducted in July 2015 showed that 74 percent of the respondents thought that their problems were not addressed; 65 percent said that they were dissatisfied with what the government was doing; 59 percent were dissatisfied with what the NGOs were doing; 60 percent said they did not have information they needed to get relief and 61 percent thought that aid was not being provided fairly. The study was conducted among 585,058 respondents including 352,951 children through its emergency response efforts in Ramechhap, Gorkha, Dolakha, Rasuwa and Bhaktapur districts the quakes had severely affected.
The cabinet ministers including the prime minister, and some opposition leaders kept themselves busy with attending various lively festive events held to mark the first anniversary of the quakes of 2015 but they had totally failed in appreciating the police, armed police, army that had spontaneously acted on the rescue operation (even not thinking of their families), physicians, medical officials that had treated the injured people twenty hours a day in tents and in buildings (A surgeon continued to operate on a patient even when the quake was shaking the building not worrying about his personal safety but totally dedicated to saving the life of a patient at any cost.), the Radio Nepal for airing the news and views as they came up in the midst of quakes, and the Nepal Telecom that had provided the telephones services gratis for five minutes at a time for several weeks during the quakes.
Similarly, a number of individuals, local and international organizations, and a number of search and rescue teams the friendly government had sent at the time of disaster had done remarkable jobs and save hundreds if not thousands of lives reaching the damaged areas and rescuing the victims and treating the injured immediately and saving them from being physically and mental handicaps if not from dying. Even having the immediate rescue teams, and the medical teams at the quake-hit areas, a number of people had lost arms, legs and so on.
Such an overlooking of the heroic deeds of the different actors during the national disaster clearly indicated that the ministers and the prime minister and political leaders were more interested in the publicity that helped them to create their political reputation and credits for the future elections than anything else. They did not care about others’ contribution to ease the wounds of the quake victims. Those were the Nepalese ministers and prime minister and politicians.
None of the two governments within the year of the quakes in 2015 had thought of awarding those volunteers and the State employees, and the members of the international community for their contribution to saving the lives of so many quake victims. The current government needed to create (national disaster or quake) awards and medals to immediately confer those awards and medals on the so courageous people that did not care of their families and of themselves too for giving an immediate attention to the quake victims that would possible die if not immediately saved.
April 28, 2016
