Tuesday, December 13, 2011

DISASTERS MANAGEMENTCAPABILITIES IN NEPAL


            K.P. Kaphle1 A.M. Dixit2 and M. Nakarmi2
1 Department of Mines and Geology, Lainchaur, Kathmandu
2 National Society of Earthquake Technology Nepal, Kathmandu

 

ABSTRACT


The Himalayan Range is a young mountain chain, which was formed as a result of collision of Indian plate with the Eurasian (Tibetan) plate since early Tertiary period. It stretches almost 2500 km in east-west direction. Nepal lies in the central part and occupies almost one-third part of the Range. Northern part (almost 83%) of the Nepalese territory is mountainous, whereas the southern marginal part (about 17%) is a flat land of Indo-Gangetic Plain (Terai). Because of her location in the Himalayas, rugged topography, very high relief, high angle of slopes, deep gorges, variable climatic conditions, complex geology with sharp linear geological structures and active tectonic processes and continue seismic activities therein, the country as a whole is vulnerable to various types of natural disasters.

Nepal as a whole is prone to earthquake hazard. The Mountain and hilly areas are vulnerable to soil erosion, landslide and debris flow hazards. Quite a few glacial lakes in the Higher Himalayan region of Nepal are prone to Glacier Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF). Similarly, the flat piedmont plains of the Terai, and the low valleys in the midlands are susceptible to flood hazards. Some parts of the valley fill sediments in Pokhara Valley are susceptible to sinkhole and subsidence hazards. Additionally, many parts of the country are struck by one or more types of disaster such as drought, cloudburst, storm, hailstorm, epidemic, fire etc. Urban inhabitants are facing acute problem of pollution causing health hazards, while the people in the rural areas are frequently suffered from epidemics. The country has suffered many times from such disasters in the past. The earthquake of 1934, 1980, 1988 and the flood of July 1993 are the examples of the natural disaster that caused huge loss of lives, damage of properties and infrastructures. Such events have caused considerable setback to the overall developments of the country as a whole.

Natural Disasters like volcanic eruption, earthquakes cannot be prevented whereas most of the man–induced disasters can be prevented or modified by proper use of the available technology. However, now it is understood that the impact of all types of disaster can surely be reduced significantly with the application of mitigation measures and preparedness in time.

Over the years, Nepal has accumulated considerable experience in disaster management. In the past, the government and the people at large have given more emphasis on the post-disaster activities, but only since last few years considerable efforts have been put to pre-disaster actions such as mitigation and preparedness. Government and non-government organizations have put considerable efforts in generating data on hazards and disaster management. All these valuable data and information in the form of maps, reports, published literatures are scattered in different agencies. As a result, any effective use of these data is difficult for a preparedness and response planning precluding the formulation and implementation of any disaster management program. Therefore, it is extremely important to prepare an inventory of all the data (maps, reports, literatures, programs etc.) on disaster management capabilities that are available with the different organizations. Government must enforce National Building Code prepared in 1994 in all types of construction.

The paper provides the basic information and all pertinent data related to every aspect of natural disaster and overview of various types of disaster and present management capabilities in Nepal.  The work scope was limited to collection and compilation of existing data as much as possible but not generating the data. However, a document like this requires a continual upgrading. The paper also presents the concept and some findings of works done for the compilation of the available data on disaster management capabilities in Nepal.


1 comment:

  1. This is nice and good to see that many more countries are helping and providing help for Nepal. Patanjali yogpeeth Nepal trust is also working with his team to help those victims and giving as much as help for make them recovered from it. For more information Please visit site: - nepal earthquake

    ReplyDelete