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![](http://digital.soas.ac.uk/content/UB/C0/00/01/13/00001/00005thm.jpg) |
“...locations, vi) Training and facilitation and vii) Urban Planning including heritage settlement planning. Housing and settlements have been reviewed with a comprehensive view to ensure disaster resilience of the whole community, taking into consideration vulnerability due to location. The data for relocation of settlements in all affected districts was not verified at the time of preparation of the PDNA. Relocation cases require careful and detailed analysis of landslide risks and socio-economic impacts along with close consultation with impacted communities.
Estimated damage and losses are presented in Table 1. The figures consider physical damage and loss of housing. Similarly, total reconstruction and recovery needs are presented in Table 2.
Table 1: Total Damage and Loss
Details Number of Houses Damage and Loss (NPR million)
Damage Collapsed houses Low Strength Masonry 474,025 199,091 258,442
Cement based Masonry 18,214 19,671
RC Frame 6,613 39,680
Damaged houses Low Strength Masonry...”
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![](http://digital.soas.ac.uk/content/UB/C0/00/01/13/00001/00009thm.jpg) |
“...decades. Nepal is predominantly rural, with an urbanization level of about 38%. The decadal urban growth rate between 2001 and 2011 was 6.4%. However, Kathmandu with 61% decadal growth has witnessed a disproportionate influx from rural areas. The disaster risk to cities is of particular concern, as they are concentrations of people and serve as engines for economic growth. The 2015 earthquake has affected a total of 41 municipalities and many market areas.
2.3.2. Urban Planning and Development: A Case of Kathmandu Valley (KV)
The case of Kathmandu city is important to understand urban risk scenario as it impacts a large population. Land use change modelling and analysis has shown that the urban morphology of Kathmandu valley has changed drastically in the past two decades, with a 211% increase in built up area between 1992 and 2012. This has occurred through an equivalent loss of cultivated land and significant encroachment of open spaces. The loss of open spaces coupled with significantly...”
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“...the response activities will be focused to mitigate such needs. The access to care if affected and thus effect will be seen in programs for regular follow up for antenatal, post-natal care, neonatal care, DOTS and ART services which can result in high morbidity and mortality of the disease status. The negative affect on health is also expected due to effect on the nutritional status of the vulnerable population in these districts. However, estimates of life years lost and other social impacts of the earthquake in the health sector have not been estimated in money value due to the complicated methodologies involved.
Recovery Needs and strategy
Ministry of Health and Population formed a coordination committee for the assessment of needs and planning for recovery and reconstruction of the health sector under the chair of Chief of Policy, Planning and International Cooperation Division. Based on the information available from the districts an initial set of necessary activities was defined, cost...”
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![](http://digital.soas.ac.uk/content/UB/C0/00/01/13/00001/00125thm.jpg) |
“...culture and heritage. In the aftermath of the 2015 earthquake, Nepal suffered its worst loss of heritage since the earthquake of 1934. Major monuments in Kathmandu's seven World Monument Zones were severely affected and many collapsed completely. In addition, in more than 20 districts, thousands of private traditional homes and historic public buildings, as well as ancient temples and monasteries, were damaged or collapsed completely. Bringing the country's heritage back to its former glory will result in a range of economic benefits, in particular for Nepal's world class craftsmen, artists, architects, conservators, historians and engineers. The estimated damage to heritage structures cultural institutions is about USD 169 million and related losses from damage and impact on livelihoods totals around USD 23 million.
The long-term recovery plan envisages complete restoration of all destroyed structures and to substantially reduce negative impacts from possible future earthquakes. Benefits of...”
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![](http://digital.soas.ac.uk/content/UB/C0/00/01/13/00001/00149thm.jpg) |
“...and a clear need of operational flexibility was realized to cope with the emergency situation.
Figure 4: Damaged rural agriculture service centre
Effects on Risk and Vulnerabilities
The earthquake increased fragility of food production systems making the poor and marginal farmers, including the elderly and women more vulnerable to other possible future disasters. The earthquake has seriously impacted on the agriculture-based livelihood in the affected districts increasing their vulnerability to hunger and food insecurity. The loss of farmland and other productive assets, and the risk of having land uncultivated in hill slopes of the most affected districts further increases the risks of decreased production and food insecurity in coming months and next couple of years with far reaching negative impacts. Currently provided basic food and nutrition package as humanitarian relief materials is neither enough to feed the family over longer run nor sustainable. Furthermore, some of the vulnerable...”
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![](http://digital.soas.ac.uk/content/UB/C0/00/01/13/00001/00167thm.jpg) |
“...in trade flows due to damage to trade-related infrastructure.
Based on the outcomes of the PDNA-research, damages resulting from the earthquake amount to NRP 15,613 million in the 14 affected districts (and NRP 17,408 million in the country overall), while losses are estimated to amount to NRP 16,874 million (and NRP 18,815 million in the country overall).
Beyond immediate effects in terms of damage and losses, the earthquake is likely to generate negative impacts in the sectors overall in terms of business survival and performance, with the exception of the construction subsector, which is likely to be strengthened. Among other impacts, the lower business performance in these sectors is likely to translate into decreased government revenue as well as employment losses, and, as a result thereof, increased individual and household poverty.
Table 1:
Earthquake Effects Recovery and Reconstruction Needs
Damages (NRP, millions) Losses (NRP, millions) Recovery Needs (NRP, millions) Reconstruction...”
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![](http://digital.soas.ac.uk/content/UB/C0/00/01/13/00001/00176thm.jpg) |
“...Liquidity crunch in banks due to requests for loans from enterprises X X
Decrease in investment overall X X X
Negative impact on stock exchange X X X
To mitigate the risks in terms of impact outlined above, it is critical that needs-based support is channeled to the sectors and enterprises within them in both the immediate future as well as medium-and long term.
Recovery Needs and Strategy
Recovery and Reconstruction Initiatives and Costs
Policy Measures:
Part of the response to the impacts of the earthquake and needs of the enterprises that make up the sector relates to national policy-level issues.
During the PDNA consultation process, stakeholders from the Commerce, Industry and Supplies sector recommended the following policy measures, some of which could be integrated into the sector strategy following discussion and validation by Government and other stakeholders:
• Increased government budget to the sector for recovery and revival, in order to cover direct losses and to channel additional...”
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![](http://digital.soas.ac.uk/content/UB/C0/00/01/13/00001/00225thm.jpg) |
“...communities 4,405.0 4,405.0 -
Government Royalty 97.0 97.0
Transmission
NEA 347.0 347.0
Distribution
NEA 1,315.0 1,315. 0
Consumers 1,497.0 1,497.0
Civil Structures
NEA 514.0 514.0
Contingencies 2,000.0 2,000.0
Total Damages 17,807.0 5,575.0 12,232. 0 3,435.0 97.0 3,338.0
Disaster Effects and Impact
Major impacts: About 600,000 households are directly affected by the earthquake with loss of access to electricity services. This impact is either through damage of electricity facilities, on-grid and off-grid, or loss of houses. Loss of access to electricity impacts on people's ability to derive their livelihoods and generate income, particularly for rural communities engaged in medium and small-scale enterprises. Loss of power has also had a negative impact on women who use electricity for productive as well as reproductive work. Women interviewed in Kavre indicated that there has been increase in wok burden as they are now allocating...”
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![](http://digital.soas.ac.uk/content/UB/C0/00/01/13/00001/00244thm.jpg) |
“...in the mountains and higher hills rely on streams and springs for domestic water supply. However, those at lower altitudes use local storage tanks that are replenished water pumped from streams or wells. Generally, a high proportion (60-80%), theoretically, has access to a drinking water but many schemes are in poor condition even prior to the earthquake. The earthquake has damaged tanks, pipes, pumps and the associated supply structures. In some cases changes in the geological structures have resulted in some streams and springs running dry. In addition to physical damages, effects on drinking water infrastructure have particularly negative impacts on women and young girls who are responsible for fetching the drinking water for the entire household. The damage estimates for drinking water and sanitation, as well as the quantification of losses, are provided in the PDNA's WASH Cluster report.
5) Community Buildings: There are a number of buildings at village level that are used by communities...”
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![](http://digital.soas.ac.uk/content/UB/C0/00/01/13/00001/00245thm.jpg) |
“...District wise breakdown of the damage estimate can be found in Annex III of the report.
The damage to local infrastructure caused by the earthquakes have caused negative economic, social and qua I ity-of-life impacts as discussed above - reducing productivity, as well as access to key services such as electricity and drinking water. In addition, it is increasing isolation in many areas of mountains and hills where communities are not increasingly cut from trade, commerce, education and medical facilities which can have severe cultural and social impacts. In addition, in many cases the loss of community facilities has reduced the interaction of people for cooperative economic and social activities which could, if not addressed rapidly, significantly erode social capital.
The earthquake has also left some of the community infrastructure in a precarious state - cracks in irrigation structures, cuts in roads and trails, damaged foundations for bridges, and unsafe community buildings. With the...”
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![](http://digital.soas.ac.uk/content/UB/C0/00/01/13/00001/00257thm.jpg) |
“...The obstructions were mainly due to landslides. Some road sections were completely destabilised and damaged. DTOs have received reports of persisting instability in fragile areas with visible cracks and fissures noted above the road sections. However, the impacts and the severity vary widely between districts. For example, the damages in LRN in Dolakha and Sindhupalchowk districts have been observed throughout the districts, while the damages are mostly concentrated in the northern sections of Gorkha and Dhading districts. The damage cost is the cost of specific repair and reconstruction cost. The loss is the cost of road opening plus 30% for additional cost due to increase in price and additional risk in monsoon triggered by the earthquake. The recovery cost is the damage cost plus 50%. The estimated damage and loss on LRN are NRsl2,485 million ($ 124.85 million) and NRs 4,274 million ($42.74 million), respectively.
In the LRN, loss in transportation cost due to road closure has been estimated...”
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![](http://digital.soas.ac.uk/content/UB/C0/00/01/13/00001/00259thm.jpg) |
“...or evacuation routes (ii) repairing the minor damages of the affected structures to the original standards, including retrofitting of undamaged structures, where necessary, based on risk assessments, to a reasonable degree depending upon the importance of the structure (iii) rehabilitating the fully damaged elements of the main structures with improved standards to make it resilient to monsoon and future earthquake disasters, and (iv) reconstructing the fully damaged sections of the linear infrastructures such as roads and airports to design standards that can withstand the impacts of rainfall, flood and future earthquakes of reasonable degree.
The recovery strategies involve short term (ST), medium term (MT), and long term (LT) works. Short term works should be completed within 6 months, which include immediate works for opening the traffic in the landslide blocked and washed out sections of the road; repair of damages such as clearing remaining landslides debris,
259...”
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![](http://digital.soas.ac.uk/content/UB/C0/00/01/13/00001/00269thm.jpg) |
“...mainly because urban schemes are fewer in number and serve larger populations. The earthquake caused multiple impacts to the water supply schemes. There are many reports of water sources either drying up completely or re-emerging at lower elevations. In a few cases it has been reported that the source flow has increased. Problems with water quality have mostly been due to increased turbidity as a result of damage to intake works or transmission pipelines. Landslides have caused much of the damage leading to blockage of intake works, and carrying away sections of pipeline - including buried pipeline in some cases. Structural damage to reservoirs and break-pressure tanks has resulted in leakage; overhead reservoirs and tap stands have also been damaged and are no longer structurally sound. The nature of damage to both rural and urban systems is similar.
Access to sanitation has been severely affected by the earthquake. In urban areas most households have toilets located within the house, and thus...”
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![](http://digital.soas.ac.uk/content/UB/C0/00/01/13/00001/00270thm.jpg) |
“...livestock, incurring a time, energy and child care cost. Additionally, women in focus group discussions observed that disruption to water supply and loss of sanitation facilities has compromised personal hygiene including menstrual hygiene management. The impact to women's dignity through loss of access to sanitation is not yet measurable. Neither is it feasible to quantify the quality of life impacts on children, the elderly, infirm and disabled population through the disruption to water supply and sanitation services.
Effects on sector governance functions and systems
As mentioned above, the earthquake led to significant damage to DWSS and WSUC offices, furnishings and equipment. In some cases staff have had to move into temporary office space or operate from tents. System records, work plans, and other essential documents have been lost in some districts. In order to support the assessment and recovery process, DWSS has temporarily moved staff from non-affected districts resulting in reduced...”
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![](http://digital.soas.ac.uk/content/UB/C0/00/01/13/00001/00293thm.jpg) |
“...community-based natural resource management institutions. The largest loss in terms of value in the sector is from that of loss of ecosystem services. Other losses comprise increased costs of managing solid and hazard waste, reducing pollution from brick manufacture to meet the post-earthquake demand for reconstruction. One of the major impacts include reduced the capacity of the government and local communities in the affected districts, for forest and environment governance. Beyond that the earthquake enhanced the magnitude of several existing environmental hazards such as avalanches, floods especially G LOFs, and landslides. The total damage and loss in the forestry sector as a result of the recent earthquake is NPR 32,960.3 million and NPR 1,061.0 million respectively (excluding loss of the ecosystem value of NPR 34,021.3 million).
The total recovery cost was estimated at NPR 25,197 million. Of this the total estimated reconstruction cost is NPR 6,773 million and the total recovery costs...”
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![](http://digital.soas.ac.uk/content/UB/C0/00/01/13/00001/00296thm.jpg) |
“...conservation, ecotourism etc.) values of forests per ha for different forest types. Forest areas damaged by the earthquake were mainly of two types: pine forests (30%) and sub-temperate forest (70%). These values were adjusted to present values with an interest rate of 6%. The direct use values were taken as damage. No differentiation was made between government managed and community forests. A total value of damage of NPR 29,258.7 (US$ 29,258.7 million).
Effect on Biodiversity and Protected Areas
Seven protected areas were affected by the earthquake. Among these, were the sacred landscape and world heritage site (Sagarmantha NP) as well as two Ramsar sites (Gosaikunda and Gokyo). These PAs provide refuge to several endangered fauna of global significance such as red panda, snow leopard and musk deer. Damage to the habitats of these key species' are expected. In addition, earthquakes impacts in adjacent areas and on local communities will have a significant bearing on management of PAs. Pressures...”
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“...t reductions of GHG emissions, indoor pollution and deforestation. A rapid assessment by AEPC and its partner network revealed that 146,767 units of ICS, 16,721 domestic biogas installations and 70,000 solar installations have been destroyed. The damage value of NPR 1,573.3 (US$ 15.73 million) will be incorporated under the housing sector. The loss to environment and forests as a result was estimated at NPR 181.4 million (US$ 1.81 million). These need to be replaced to prevent environmental impacts including CO2 emissions.
Effects on production of goods and services and access to services
Loss of ecosystem goods and services
Natural forest ecosystems including wetlands provide several important ecosystem services - simply the benefits people receive from ecosystems. In addition to timber and firewood, non-timber forest products (NTFPs) such as fruits, flowers, bark, dyes, fibers, gums and resins, and also medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) are important products. Most NTFPs including...”
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![](http://digital.soas.ac.uk/content/UB/C0/00/01/13/00001/00299thm.jpg) |
“...to health impacts. Mercury emission from burning coal in brick kilns will also impact human health and the environment. In addition, production of a large number of bricks without adequate pollution control mechanisms such as chimneys will lead to additional pollution.
Effects on sector governance functions and systems
Forest and Environmental Governance Performance and Issues
The earthquake greatly reduced the capacity of the government and local communities in the affected districts, affecting monitoring and stewardship of protected areas, wildlife, forests and natural resources. A large number of CFUG members and executive members were directly affected by the disaster. Tragically, at least 1,536 CFUG members (731 male, 805 female) and around 150 CFUG executive members 69 male, 81 female) died in the earthquake.
Box 1: The case of Langtang Village
Langtang Village, Before and after the earthquake
Langtang village in the Langtang National Park was hit hard by the earthquake of 25 April...”
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![](http://digital.soas.ac.uk/content/UB/C0/00/01/13/00001/00300thm.jpg) |
“...following the earthquake was also reported in one of the supra glacial lakes located above the Imja lake causing temporary increase in water flow in the river. These indicate serious risks of GLOF in future. This risk may further be exacerbated by the impacts of climate change. Close monitoring of these lakes including further study on the effect of the earthquake on the stability of the moraine dam is required. In addition, equipment and infrastructure such as gauge readers (at Tsho Rolpa), the meteorological station at Langtang and Beding and also the base house at Kyangjing were destroyed. More than 25 hydro-meteorological stations under the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology have also been damaged. Likewise, field reports and analysis of postearthquake GIS/Remote Sensing imagery reveal that there were numerous landslides. There were also numerous cracks formed in the hillsides. In the sloping hillsides, disturbances to the soil structure and stability post-earthquake will increase...”
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![](http://digital.soas.ac.uk/content/UB/C0/00/01/13/00001/00303thm.jpg) |
“...reconstruction phase is managed using environmentally sound practices, including the introduction of new systems.
5) Design water and sanitation interventions to reflect post-earthquake changes in water resources, future climate change scenarios, and awareness of integrated water resource management (IWRM).
6) Conduct land use planning, including zoning, before finalizing the locations of resettlement areas to minimize risks from landslides and floods, ensure adequate land and natural resources to meet community needs while minimizing environmental impacts.
7) Ensure that reconstruction of roads and hydropower take the opportunity to build back safer and greener and take account of climate variability.
8) Prioritize support for rapidly restoring livelihoods in order to take pressure off forests and biodiversity after the earthquake; in the longer term ensure livelihood restoration projects reflect principles of resilient development.
9) Build capacity for green recovery and reconstruction, and ensure...”
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