They don't have to go near the villages if the fear is they might bring down weak houses. They could land in valleys some distance from the villages. But these helicopters are the difference between no help at all and some help in most remote villages.
The authorities are saying no because (1) coordinating all the incoming help has been tough, but that is a bad excuse, the problem should be that not enough help is coming in, it can not be that too much help is seen coming in, there is a huge unmet need, (2) when you fly in relief materials from the Kathmandu airport, you are bypassing the Nepal government machinery - corrupt, inefficient, sub par - and that hurts a lot of feelings at many different levels, you are challenging many people's authorities, they don't fear collapsing houses, they fear what they see as a collapse in their authorities, they want all help to reach the poor through them, this helicopter feels too much like direct help, and (3) the bean counters in the Nepal Government think the money the UK government is going to spend on these Chinooks is money that the UK government might otherwise give directly to the Nepal government if the helicopters are not allowed, but if they allow the helicopters, there will be less money for them to play with.
The truth is, these helicopters are needed, badly so. The monsoon is at the doorsteps. The monsoon is the real earthquake. And it is on its way.
