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Page 5
“...in Tarai escalated and became increasingly violent. The
fuel blockade eviscerated Nepal’s energy supply, further
impacting earthquake victims who could not get essen-
tial necessities, such as medical supplies and fuel. Nepal’s
economy was also badly hit by the earthquake and later by
the fuel crisis; tourism took a massive hit because of this
double crisis. High transportation costs also limited recon-
struction progress as much reconstruction work had to be
suspended. Facing the increasing social turmoil and politi-
cal uncertainty, many NGOs decided to finish their disaster
relief work in Nepal earlier by December 2015 and gave up
the long-term recovery and reconstruction projects.
Little Gets Done Without a Reconstruction Policy
Effective reconstruction policy must go hand in hand with
good governance, which has been clearly discussed in the
literature on disaster governance. Empirical examples
indicate that effective coordination between the State and
NGOs helps to overcome the relief...”
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Page 8
“...beneficiaries did not know the support
they received originated from the NGO, not the State.
The senior officer further explained that to increase the
level of accountability, the NGO would carry out some
social communication campaigns to inform villagers
of their right to appeal if they encountered any unfair-
ness in receiving the housing grant. The NGO had hoped
that through its training programs, more villagers could
develop enough knowledge to rebuild their houses. The
senior officer admitted that although the first housing
grant installment was released, at least 30% of beneficia-
ries, such as female heads of households, the elderly and
extremely poor families would not be able to rebuild their
homes. He commented that in the past NGOs had the inde-
pendence to implement more holistic social development
projects, but after the earthquake, they lost this power.
For example, they felt the housing grant was inadequate
for villagers to rebuild their houses, and thus proposed
giving an extra...”
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Page 12
“...predict, especially if no action is
taken. Then the poor are subjected to suffer more. While
earthquakes are natural phenomena, their effects are not.
Houses collapse because they are not seismic-resistant. We
need to build them so that they will survive well into the
future. We talk about equality in rebuilding, but not about
justice for the most vulnerable. These man-made aspects
of the disaster that hinder revitalization of communities
after natural calamities can only be resolved when all
social institutions work together cohesively to create a
better human society. By mobilizing earthquake victims,
it is possible to rebuild houses and revitalize communities;
conversely, little progress to rebuild Nepal can be made so
long as both poor governance, and poor or no coordination
between major reconstruction actors, prevail.
Postscript
After two years, the reconstruction process remains
onerous. Out of the 750 affected national heritage sites,
the NRA has completed the reconstruction of 20...”
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Page 13
“...situation, their small family size, or the location of their
land, the steel frame structure is not suitable. In such
cases, a traditional home can be built using stone, clay
and cement using simple architectural techniques to
make it safer in the event of an earthquake. Our initiative
presented these alternative structure designs to the local
community.
References
Aldrich, Daniel. 2010. Separate and Unequal: Post-Tsunami
Aid Distribution in Southern India. Social Science Quarterly
91(4): 1369-1389.
------. 2011. The Externalities of Social Capital: Post-
Tsunami Recovery in Southeast India. Journal of Civil Society
8(1): 81-99.
Amnesty International. 2017. Building Inequality.
(Accessed on May 14, 2017).
Basu, Moni. 2016. Nepal, A Year After the Earthquake:
‘Help us’. CNN (Accessed on
November 2, 2016).
HIMALAYA Volume37Number2 85...”
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