This Research was conducted to assess the progress in reconstruction work after Nepal was struck by earthquake of magnitude 7.8 measured in richter scale.This research was conducted in 2019 by Er. Mukul Bhattarai and was supported by Picasso Consultancy.
2. ABSTRACT
In April 25, 2015 Nepal suffered one of the greatest devastating earthquake in its
history. It had a magnitude of 7.8 and the epicenter was located at Barpak, Gorkha. This
mega-earthquake has taken almost 9000 lives and has incurred financial burden to the
nation. After the earthquake many government bodies and agencies as well as donor
agencies and foreign governments got involved in the reconstruction projects. National
Reconstruction Authority (NRA) was founded on December 25, 2015 and it is the sole
body responsible the reconstruction activities in Nepal. NRA has a legal term of 5 years
for reconstruction activities but the progress is slow and delayed due to various reasons.
2020 A.D. regarded as the tourism year for Nepal with slogan “Visit Nepal 2020”. Its
success is clearly going to be decided by the pace and effectiveness of reconstruction
of old heritages and new infrastructures for hosting an estimated 2 million tourists
worldwide.
Since the government has successfully conducted election of newly structured local
government in all parts of Nepal including all the earthquake devastated area, there is
hope that the reconstruction activities will speed up and get completed in time.
3. TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................1
TABLE OF CONTENTS...............................................................................................2
LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................4
1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................5
1.1. Background .....................................................................................................5
1.2. Scale of Devastation........................................................................................6
1.3. Objectives........................................................................................................7
2. LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................8
2.1. Research Papers...............................................................................................8
3. PROGRESS OF RESIDENTIAL HOUSING RECONSTRUCTION .................10
4. PROGRESS OF HEALTH, SCHOOL AND ARCHEOLOGICAL
RECONSTRUCTION..................................................................................................11
5. BUILD BACK BETTER......................................................................................13
6. CHALLENGES AND INFLUENCING FACTORS............................................14
6.1. Political Transition........................................................................................14
6.2. Corruption .....................................................................................................14
6.3. NRA spending...............................................................................................14
6.4. Lack of Experience........................................................................................14
6.5. Lack of Comprehensive Information ............................................................15
6.6. Negligence of Local Culture .........................................................................15
6.7. Accessibility..................................................................................................16
4. 6.8. Rehabilitation and Retrofitting......................................................................16
7. CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................17
8. Bibliography .........................................................................................................18
5. LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1-1 NRA Structure (National Reconstruction Authority) ..................................6
Figure 1-2 Affected districts (National Reconstruction Authority) ...............................7
Figure 3-1 Graph showing no of beneficiaries in agreement and three phase of
installments (Lohani, Hokugo and Aota).....................................................................10
Figure 3-2 District-wise progress of residential building reconstruction in; the most
affected 14 districts (top) and, the less affected 17 districts (bottom) (Lohani, Hokugo
and Aota)......................................................................................................................11
Figure 4-1 Progress of reconstruction related to the health, school and archeological
facilities (Lohani, Hokugo and Aota) ..........................................................................12
6. 1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background
In April 25, 2015 Nepal suffered one of the greatest devastating earthquake in its
history. It had a magnitude of 7.8 and the epicenter was located at Barpak, Gorkha
which is approximately 79 km away North-West from the capital. This mega-
earthquake has taken almost 9000 lives and has incurred financial burden to the nation.
Immediately after the earthquake relief works and other humanitarian supports were
provided by Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) through district disaster relief
committees (DDRs) formed at each affected district. But it was only 8 months after the
establishment of National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) that the planned
reconstruction and rehabilitation started. NRA was founded on December 25, 2015 and
has a legal term for 5 years. It is running at its final year while conducting this research.
NRA’s organizational structure consists of various units at the central office and district
offices which are set at the affected districts. The central level project implementation
units (CLPIUs) are set at various line ministries, their district units (DLPIUs) and local
municipal or village development councils are the additional wings for work
implementation (Lohani, Hokugo and Aota) .
7. Figure 1-1 NRA Structure (National Reconstruction Authority)
1.2. Scale of Devastation
On April 25, 2015 Nepal was struck by 7.8 magnitude earthquake and it was followed
by 7.3 magnitude earthquake on May 12, 2015. Both the earthquakes together killed
about 9,000 people and injured about 22,400. More than 800,000 houses were damaged
or destroyed. Out of 75 districts at the time of earthquake, 31 were affected. 14 among
the 31 districts were severely affected.
Government directed Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) for the damage
assessment. PDNA research estimated that Nepal suffered a financial loss of about 7.06
billion USD. It is more than one-third of the national GDP as of 2014. Different
government and non-government agencies estimated about 7 billion USD was required
for the reconstruction activities. Among that 7 billion, 49% was needed for the housing
sector alone. In case of destruction the most heavily affected sector was social sector
(61% of total destruction), productive sector suffered 17% destruction and both
8. infrastructure sector and cross cutting issues suffer 10-12% damage. (Sharma, KC and
Subedi)
Figure 1-2 Affected districts (National Reconstruction Authority)
1.3. Objectives
The main objective of this research is:-
to look at the current state of reconstruction in Nepal.
to check the progress of reconstruction of residential houses, schools, hospitals
and other archeological structures.
to look at the challenges and influencing factors affecting the reconstruction
process.
to know about earthquake relief programs and its beneficiaries.
9. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Research Papers
For going into the research on the topic “Reconstruction in Nepal after 2015
earthquake” I encountered few research papers. These research papers have data about
the earthquake, its impact on the people and economy of Nepal, reconstruction activities
and current state of reconstruction.
Overlook on Current State of Reconstruction in Nepal (Lohani, Hokugo and Aota)
conducted study in Nepal 3 years after the occurrence of the mega-earthquake of 7.8
magnitude having epicenter at Barpak, Gorkha in 2015. They found out that NRA is
the sole agency looking after the reconstruction activities in Nepal. They also concluded
that slow progress of NRA in reconstruction and rehabilitation work is due to frequent
change of NRA’s CEO (until March, 2018), unstable national politics and political
influence on NRA affairs.
Post-Earthquake Urban Reconstruction (Thapa) published by NRA has written
about the “Build Back Better” principle of reconstruction. It talks about improvement
in the construction technology to build better houses with the use of salvage materials.
It also talks about invention of new materials and techniques and also the preservation
of indigenous materials and technologies.
Post Disaster Reconstruction after 2015 Gorkha Earthquake: Challenges and
influencing factors (Sharma, KC and Subedi) focuses on the challenges and
influencing factors causing delay in the reconstruction process. It hopes that the election
of local government, implementation of constitution, increasing number of trained
manpower, engineers from NRA and regulations being forwarded by the government
in the process will increase the pace of reconstruction process.
10. Post-Earthquake Urban Reconstruction (Thapa) writes about the “Build Back
Better” principle of reconstruction. It talks about the use of salvaged materials for
reconstruction but with better construction techniques. It also writes about the handing
over of indigenous materials and technologies in rural areas to preserve those practice
because use of industrial material is not long lasting and feasible in rural areas.
11. 3. PROGRESS OF RESIDENTIAL HOUSING RECONSTRUCTION
NRA has prepared the database of all the 31 affected districts and identified 767705
beneficiaries. (Lohani, Hokugo and Aota) Found that number of people coming for
agreements and getting the first installment are almost close to the beneficiary number.
But, there is huge gap in the number who has received second and third installment as
shown in the figure below. (National Reconstruction Authority)
They also found out that about 87% of beneficiaries belong to the most affected 14
districts and the rest belonged to remaining 17 districts. In figure 3-1 it can be clearly
observed that considerable number of beneficiaries who have already applied for
second and third installment have not yet received the grant amount. Delay in
construction progress is the result of delayed start of activities in the affected districts.
However, beneficiary identification and agreement phase seems to be going smoothly.
Figure 3-2 shows district wise progress of residential building reconstruction and
clearly indicates the considerable amount of drop in the number of beneficiaries who
have already applied for 2nd and 3rd installment but have not yet received the grant
amount.
Figure 3-1 Graph showing no of beneficiaries in
agreement and three phase of installments (Lohani,
Hokugo and Aota)
12. 4. PROGRESS OF HEALTH, SCHOOL AND ARCHEOLOGICAL
RECONSTRUCTION
Among many culturally important archeological structures some of the major
archeological reconstruction projects include reconstruction of Dharahara, Rani
Pokhari, Kastamandap, Durbar High School and Bagdurbar. Rebuilding of Dharahara
is carried out by NRA and construction is going on till date. (Lohani, Hokugo and Aota)
The case of Rani Pokhari is different as there was some dispute going on with the use
of modern materials. Also, people were divided between two types of architectural
styles namely Granthakut architecture and Gumba architecture. The construction team
later decided to construct in Granthakut style. (Upadhyay)
Similarly, reconstruction of Durbar High School, Basantapur Durbar Square is done
with the help of China AID.
Figure 3-2 District-wise progress of residential building
reconstruction in; the most affected 14 districts (top) and, the less
affected 17 districts (bottom) (Lohani, Hokugo and Aota)
13. Figure 4-1 Progress of reconstruction related to the health, school and archeological facilities (Lohani, Hokugo and
Aota)
Figure 4-1 shows the completed and under construction health, school and
archeological facilities from 2016 to 2018. As of 2018, chart shows that completed
health and school facilities are more than under construction but there is less number
completed archeological facilities as compared to under construction.
14. 5. BUILD BACK BETTER
“Build Back Better” is the main principle of post disaster reconstruction. In rural areas,
the houses constructed with stone, timber and mud can be made more disaster resilient
by improving the construction technology. It may include making horizontal ties on the
masonry wall, vertical reinforcement and better anchorage between walls and roof. It
also includes inventing new building materials and techniques. While building better
during reconstruction, indigenous materials and technologies should be given priority
as they are handed over from one generation to another and keeps the community well
aware of the issues involved. It also ensures the preservation of local infrastructures.
(Thapa)
15. 6. CHALLENGES AND INFLUENCING FACTORS
6.1. Political Transition
Decade long political transition has weakened governance and corruption of Nepal. The
politicization of the reconstruction process has always been the foremost obstacle to the
provision of timely, effective and sustainable solutions. Due to various political and
social reasons, there is distrust between the government and the people and also
between donor and the government. This leads to the confrontation between the
stakeholders, thus reconstruction and rehabilitation plan cannot implement properly.
6.2. Corruption
Amount of budget involved in reconstruction projects is huge. It is likely to fall prey to
fraud and corruption and cause huge losses in project funding. Prolongation of the
process and its lack of control mechanisms allowed both local and national politicians
to use it for personal gain.
6.3. NRA spending
As of September 2016, NRA has lagged well behind budget. It managed to spend only
three-quarters of the capital expenditure budget for roads, dams and other
infrastructures. Out of 91 billion rupees for 2015-2016 fiscal year, only 21 billion
rupees was spent by NRA. One of the main reason for delayed spending is due to Nepal
government’s commitment to careful details and accurate household damage survey in
affected districts including Kathmandu valley damaged by earthquake for the second
time.
6.4. Lack of Experience
Another main factor for delayed reconstruction is the lack of experience. Even at the
first period of the reconstruction planning work, many planners were confused at what
16. to do. More than 1500 engineers and architects have been employed by the government
and were deployed in the disaster affected districts and VDC’s. But the task of the
engineers were not well defined which completely aids to the loss of resources and
delays in reconstruction.
6.5. Lack of Comprehensive Information
Comprehensive planning is an integrated approach of bringing different planning that
is done with a town from different planners. One of the hurdle obstructing the process
of rehabilitation is the lack of comprehensive information about the demographics of
the people and the number of households of each district. The lack of this information
was significantly noted during the rescue and distribution of relief materials and fund.
Preliminary rapid assessment was conducted immediately after the disaster to obtain an
early but full assessment of the geographical extent of damage, the number, categories,
location and circumstances of the disaster-affected population took months to
acknowledge, even those statistics are not widely accepted. Due to the lack of statistical
system, some people residing as a temporary resident could not get any relief materials
and fund. NRA still struggled to distribute second installment of grants even two years
after the devastating quakes and detailed damage assessment of Kathmandu valley is
yet to be completed.
6.6. Negligence of Local Culture
Nepal Government has proposed 17 different building models for residential housing
to be constructed as a reconstruction after earthquake. Out of 800,000 collapsed houses,
more than 80% of houses were traditional built up with mud mortar. Only two models
were proposed for buildings using mud mortar. One is stone masonry and another is
brick masonry. These model houses do not represent house of any caste or religious
people. So, people hesitate to adopt the government designed houses.
17. 6.7. Accessibility
Earthquake was spread over 10,000 square kilometers. Most of the affected places are
difficult to access due to high altitude and remoteness. In some cases, it takes over 1
day by road to travel from one end of the affected district to the other. To reach high
altitude villages it takes a day or two from the nearest road. Most areas are cutoff during
monsoon season due to high flow in river.
6.8. Rehabilitation and Retrofitting
Many earthquake affected existing structures are in adequate based on current seismic
design codes. The demolition and reconstruction of houses is not feasible in some cases
due to historical, cultural, social and economic constraints. Retrofitting is a very
effective technique of strengthening the damaged buildings without demolition, but
there is lack of awareness in general public about the strengthening of built structure.
As Nepal is highly vulnerable to earthquake, knowledge and resources developed for
retrofitting during reconstruction should be spread to other parts of Nepal which is
likely to be hit by big earthquake in future. (Sharma, KC and Subedi)
18. 7. CONCLUSION
The reconstruction progress is slower than expected.
The first installment for the earthquake victims is not properly used in
reconstruction and is not inspected properly. As a result of which, the number
of people obtaining 2nd and 3rd installments is very low as compared to 1st
installment.
Due to lack of comprehensive information of the demography of the affected
districts all the earthquake victims could not be covered. As a result of which,
some of the victims are deprived of the benefits gained by the earthquake
victims.
Due to lack of awareness, local people hesitate to retrofit their houses and rather
choose to demolish and rebuild their houses.
Corruption and negligence of local culture are affecting the progress of
reconstruction.
19. 8. Bibliography
Lohani, Tara Nidhi, Akihiko Hokugo and Ryousuke Aota. "AN OVERLOOK
ON THE CURRENT STATE OF RECONSTRUCTION IN NEPAL." Chinese
Journal (2018): 45-50. Pdf document.
National Reconstruction Authority. Government of Nepal : National
Reconstruction Authority. 25 12 2015. Document. 31 1 2020.
Sharma, Keshab, et al. "Post Disaster Reconstruction after 2015 Gorkha
Earthquake: Challenges and Influencing Factors." Journal of the Institute of
Engineering (2018): 52-63. Journal.
Thapa, Kishore. "Post-Earthquake Urban Reconstruction." Thapa, Kishore.
Reconstruction after Earthquake 2015. Kathmandu: National Reconstruction
Authority, 2018. 1-24. Document.
Upadhyay, Anweiti. my Republica. 5 7 2019. Article. 31 1 2020.
