Nepal Earthquake | One Year After

Kaule village,  Nuwakot district,  May 2015

On 25^thApril 2015 at around 11- 56 am, I was standing inside a “tankha” painter’s studio in Lo Manthang, the capital of Mustang district in the rain shadow of the Himalayas.  All of a sudden, I noticed that the bowls of paint in little cups were vibrating and this began to increase rapidly.  As I watched in amazement the colours began to spill onto the floor which was also shaking and we then realized it was an earthquake. We ran out onto the street and looking up I found the walls of a nearby building shaking dangerously. Each time I thought it was going to collapse it miraculously straightened up again. At that time I had no idea of the enormity of the disaster which was unfolding in Nepal.

We cut short our trek and started our long journey back to Pokhara. The story of that journey has been told in http://sujoyrdas.blogspot.in/2015/09/mustang-and-lo-manthang-itinerary-part.html 

The earthquake of 25th April 2015 was followed by a second major earthquake on 12^thMay 2015 which further crippled Nepal. 

Since the two earthquakes and the numerous aftershocks which have rocked this mountain kingdom, Nepal has been on the world map for the last one year.

 The images  and videos are by  now all too familiar – rubble and shattered homes and buildings, cars smashed by rocks, large chunks of the hillside falling away into dust and ashes  in a video, avalanches the size of large tidal waves sweeping up a camp, those familiar orange and blue shelters adorning the hillside shot by cameramen in  helicopters,  women trying to find their  belongings in the rocks and bricks which were once their homes, and police and  soldiers on their constant patrol trying to keep order in the world heritage monuments many of which are now lying in ruins.

Durbar Square Kathmandu soon after the earthquake

It is now the first anniversary of this calamity. What has happened in Nepal since then?

Very little really.

The earthquake in Nepal was followed an agitation by the Madhesi parties against the new constitution which resulted in a border blockade with India for six months and brought the country to its feet.

Fuel and cooking gas were being black marketed, costs of all essential commodities spiralled out of control, flights were not refuelled at Kathmandu airport, long lines of buses, cars and motor bikes stood daily outside fuel pumps which were dry and foreign countries like USA, UK, Australia issued advisory warnings against travelling to Nepal.

Haze and pollution over Kathmandu as seen from Swayambhunath, April 2016

 Further, Kathmandu the capital is in a shambles. Very high pollution levels accompanied by a haze which sits over the valley has affected the health of many. Wearing a face mask while walking on the street is now the norm rather than the exception.  The Nepal capital has been rated as the third most polluted city in the world. Along with this, electricity shortages to the tune of 12 to 14 hours per day have brought the city to its feet. And it does not look like the situation will improve in a hurry and neither does the Government have a plan in place to tackle these issues.

Roland Hunter of The Mountain Company at Everest Base Camp, September 2015 on a recce visit to assess the earthquake damage on the trekking trails to Everest

Tourists and trekkers who had planned to come for the autumn 2015 season put their plans on hold and Nepal tourism received another setback with virtually no business for two consecutive seasons.

The blockade was lifted in early 2016 but by then the damage was already done. However the trek agencies and hoteliers are optimistic that autumn 2016 will bring back the tourists if there is stability on the political front and not further agitation by the Madhesis.

But what of the reconstruction process?

One year later the Nepal Reconstruction Authority (NRA) is sitting with $4 billion dollars of aid to distribute to the people but due to the lack of proper infrastructure and systems for distribution these funds remain locked. In fact, after the Government announced relief schemes,  the number of those claiming to have lost their homes shot up from about 5.70 lac houses to around 7.70 lac houses and the NRA was called upon to  verify the data once more, further setting back the recovery timeline.

The villagers had also been promised Rs 2 lacs each to rebuild their homes in earthquake proof designs – none of this money has reached them either as no design has been approved by the Government. But in actual fact the cost of an earthquake proof house would be to the tune of Rs 5 lac at least so where will the rest of the money come from?

The prototype at Kaule almost completed

Various aid agencies have been rebuilding earthquake proof prototypes in different villages and have been applying to the DUDBC (Department of Urban Development and Building) for approval of the designs.

Building the roof of the prototype at Kaule

 As a part of South Col Nepal Earthquake Support we have supported the building of one such prototype (www.thekauleprototype.blogspot.com) with indigenous materials in Kaule village, Nuwakot district and have also submitted the design for approval.

Detailed drawings submitted to DUDBC for approval

As typical for most of the people in Nepal, the villagers wait in hope for their Rs 2 lacs each for re-building their homes. 

Until then as they say in Nepal, ke garne?

Butter lamps, Bodhnath, March 2016

The Kaule Prototype Project in Nuwakot District Nepal

As many of you know South Col Expeditions Earthquake Support  has been working with a dedicated team on building a prototype house in Kaule  village in Nuwakot district Nepal using eco friendly materials and local labour. The idea is to train the villagers in using local materials and techniques so that they can build their own houses in future.

The upto date  details of this project can be found at  http://thekauleprototype.blogspot.in

Some recent photographs of the work going on in the village is below:

Rebuilding the Villages of Kaule and Bhangeri - III

The Kaule Prototype

April - May 2015 

Recce visit 

In May 2015 Sujoy Das, and Sharan Lal, both from Kolkata, visited Kaule and Bhangeri - villages in Nuwakot District and home to South Col’s friends, porters and guides – Santaman, Shyam, Sushil – among others. 

In this trip, corrugated Zinc Sheets donated by the trekking community from South Col Expeditions and Sujoy’s friends and contacts were distributed among the villagers. The sheets provided temporary relief to the villagers and has seen them through the monsoon season.

A report filed by Sujoy on the May 2015 recce visit can be found here: http://sujoyrdas.blogspot.in/2015/05/nepal-earthquake-support-report-on.htmland another one here: http://sujoyrdas.blogspot.in/2015/06/nepal-earthquake-rebuilding-villages.html 

June 2015

Design of a House

On their return from Kaule and Bhangeri, realizing the need for design intervention, Sharan Lal set up a small group of email friends and worked on a design of a prototype house with the intention of helping the villages to re-construct their village in a an appropriate manner. The design would seek to resist inappropriate construction materials and technologies - like Reinforced Concrete – that threaten to obliterate the invaluable vernacular building traditions and community wisdom that the villages of Kaule and Bhangeri possess, and have take generations to acquire, nurture, and preserve.  

The draft concept design (video) developed with this brief after the May 2015 recce visit can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggYpcH0APXk

July 2015

Prototype for re-construction 
The draft design received a good response, and we decided to:

a. build a prototype for a house in Kaule that is built using traditional building materials and techniques, and caters to requirements of a seismically secure structure as per the Nepal Building Codes. 

b. Conduct a Training Workshop for the villages' masons, carpenters, and other artisans to empower them with necessary skills for making the prototype, and by extension their own houses in the future under our guidance.

September 26 – Oct 5, 2015

Pre-training recce and village survey 

A pre-training recce trip was carried out in September 2015 – soon after the monsoon - when the villages of Kaule and Bhangeri were observed more closely, and some basic measurements. Apart from this, the villagers were photographed, and their basic family data studied. A report on the September trip can be viewed here: http://thekauleprototype.blogspot.in/

October 26 – November 3 ,2015

Skills training

A six day hands-on training and workshop for the villages of Kaule and Bhangeri is planned from Oct 26 onwards in the Kaule School compound. The training aims to make villagers aware of the properties of traditional materials and techniques used in construction - bamboo, stone, mud, and timber - and to empower them to use these in ways that would make their structures seismically less vulnerable. 

December 2015 Onwards

Construction of the Prototype

The prototype for a typical house will be constructed by the villagers under our supervision over a period of 2-3 months. The exact dates for these are yet to be finalized depending on availability of funds and resources for the same.

2016

Reconstruction and rehabilitation of Kaule and Bhangeri

The lessons learnt in the construction of the prototype will be used to prepare a detailed plan for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the villages of Kaule and Bhangeri.  The plan includes incorporation of concepts like Community Forestry, Solar Micro grids for electricity generation, ulitisation of Boi-mass for energy and long-term, sustainable income generation schemes utilizing the natural and tourism potential of the villages. A consortium of professionals will be formed as an SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) to take this stage forward. A report on the Prototype process and village planning and design is being prepared by Sharan and the same will be presented to an international agency for funding support. 

The Kaule Protoype Team

The people who have been working on the project till now are:

 Ashish Sharan Lal, Architect, Alleya and Associates, Kolkata, India 

Team leader

 Sujoy Das, South Col Expeditions, Kolkata, India

Group mentor

Santaman Tamang, Tour operator, Kaule, Nepal

Village Representative and Local Support

Ajmal Shoban, Retired edical professional, Virginia, U.S.A. 

Donor Representative

Hanif Barma, Finance Professional, London UK  

Donor Representative

  

Archana Hande, Artist, Mumbai, India

Photographic documentation, Administration and Accounts 

Vivek Rawal, Architect, Ahmedabad, india

Technical Mentor and resource person

Areen Attari, Architect, Mumbai, India

Training and Workshop resource person  Manu Narendran, Engineer, Ahmedabad  Training and Workshop resource person

 

Pradeep Humagain, Electrical Engineer, Gham Power, Kathmandu Nepal 

Rebuilding the villages of Kaule and Bhangeri in Nuwakot district Nepal- II

South Col Expeditions Earthquake support has been working with a team of architects to make a suitable prototype for the villages of Kaule and Bhangeri in Nuwakot district of Nepal.

Last week I had posted the progress made on this project and the links to a blog site which documents the work done so far.

http://www.kauleprototype.blogspot.in

The photos below give an idea of the new prototype to be constructed:

This is the site where it is proposed  to construct the new prototype with the building destroyed by the earthquake. The second photo (below) shows the same site with the new building:

We will update you further on the progress of the work very soon