In April and May, the Facebook community donated over $15 million to support Nepal Earthquake survivors. We'd like to share an update on how your donations are helping International Medical Corps and the people of Nepal rebuild.
Posted by Facebook on Monday, September 28, 2015
Most Nepalis here have sidestepped the major international humanitarian organizations, which many view as slow or inefficient. Nearly all have avoided the Nepali government, calling it ineffective and corrupt. They have instead sent money and goods to their homeland through grass-roots Nepali groups, or directly to relatives and friends...... the largest enclaves in the Queens neighborhoods of Corona, Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, Ridgewood, Sunnyside and Woodside, as well as in Midwood in Brooklyn ..... In recent days, Western aid organizations and governments complained that Nepali bureaucratic procedures were holding up relief supplies at the Kathmandu airport. Representatives of Heartbeat have sent a request through their social media networks that travelers bound for Nepal consider using part of their luggage allotment to carry relief supplies.Nepal’s Young Men, Lost to Migration, Then a Quake
When the dense pillar of smoke from cremations by the Bagmati River was thinning late last week, the bodies were all coming from Gongabu, a common stopover for Nepali migrant workers headed overseas, and they were all of young men. ...... The countryside was largely stripped of its healthy young men even before the quake, as they migrated in great waves — 1,500 a day by some estimates — to work as laborers in India, Malaysia or one of the gulf nations, leaving many small communities populated only by elderly parents, women and children. Economists say that at some times of the year, one-quarter of Nepal’s population is working outside the country. ...... unless the government acts swiftly to create work opportunities at home, the exodus of young people will accelerate after the relief operation ends, permanently handicapping the country’s ability to rebuild. ..... The Gongabu neighborhood was one of the deadliest places in Kathmandu. It is an area where recruiting agencies housed young village men awaiting work overseas, with several thousand budget hotels and guesthouses crammed in lanes near the long-distance bus station. ..... The scale of the economic migration from Nepal has amazed development economists for many years. ..... Today, manufacturing contributes only 6 percent of the country’s gross domestic product ...... The earthquake will make things much harder for the country’s poorest people, especially in rural areas where most Nepalis live. ..... The tourism industry, which had been growing and contributing about 9 percent of the country’s output, is now expected to drop off sharply. ..... many will decide that they can best help their families by going abroad and sending their earnings homeWith Monsoon Nigh, Tent Shortage After Nepal Earthquake Prompts a D.I.Y. Response
The monsoon is expected in about three days. ...... An entire Toyota dealership is now assembling tents — one every minute....... The estimated need is for 500,000 tents by the end of the week. The government thinks that with current supplies they can obtain 300,000 rectangles of canvas, and are uncertain where the rest will come from. ...... There is no immediate solution for permanent structures that will be needed for the coming winterAmid Katmandu’s Earthquake Wreckage, Hints of a Shift to Safer Construction
Progress would be a good thing, because this earthquake is not nearly Katmandu’s “big one.” A closer quake of similar magnitude is inevitable, although seismologists cannot say how soon...... In 1960, a 9.5-magnitude earthquake struck Chile, after which the country embarked on a massive earthquake-safety program and enforcing new building codes. By contrast, Haiti did nothing during this period, lulled into complacency by a lack of seismic activity and hampered by constant political unrest and extreme poverty. ..... “only about 10 percent of the country’s buildings are designed by engineers – and they typically aren’t even at the construction site as their building rises.” ...... “In an environment of poverty and corruption, rigorous building codes do more harm than good.”
The accounts hint at the trauma of seeing an environment mostly taken for granted as stable and secure suddenly disintegrate. There was the house that fell on a little girl who had just walked inside to fetch water. There was the nursing mother who looked up and saw the unthinkable: “The hills all came down.” ...... scientists project that this residual shaking could continue for years.Indian media criticized for 'insensitive' coverage on Nepal quake
Hours after Nepal was shaken by its biggest quake in decades, India rushed to the rescue -- its army, air force, and rescue teams were applauded for their nimble and generous response. ..... Local news channels have been proudly trumpeting that they were the first ones to reach "Ground Zero" and to bring "exclusive" reports to households in India and across the world. ...... Indian journalist Indrani Bagchi argued that it's unfair to criticize India's media with one brushstroke -- if it wasn't for India's media, many of the stories of what's happening in Nepal would go untold ...... "Indian media coverage has been largely responsible for how the rest of the world sees the Nepal tragedy. Even driven global response. Even if it is slightly over the top sometimes"India's TV journalists have damaged our relations with Nepal
For years, Indian journalists reported stories about “big brother India” in Nepal, and how Delhi’s policies towards its northern neighbour often resembled the third degree being meted out to a recalcitrant, moody, stubborn child who simply refused to listen. ....... This patronising treatment was primarily the prerogative of Indian diplomats posted in that Himalayan nation, and it was no coincidence that the ambassador was often called the “Viceroy”. ..... God forbid you were seen in public with an Indian diplomat; it was as if your credibility was already suspect. ...... Some of the Nepali reaction was certainly justified — remember the time, a few years ago, when the Indian ambassador applied enough pressure on Indian companies to pull advertisements from Nepali newspapers because he didn’t like the line they were toeing? ..... Certainly, the visiting Indian tourist, who behaved abominably in the bars and restaurants of Thamel or in casinos elsewhere in the city, reconfirmed the ‘Ugly Indian’ epithet that the poorer Nepalis applied to them. ...... There was an intimate dislike between Indians and Nepalis — precisely because both citizenry shared language and religion and colour of skin. ...... Having gone there to cover the earthquake and show solidarity with the pain and trauma of those who had suffered, several Indian TV journalists instead behaved like callous and insensitive jerks, one of them repeatedly asking a woman who had lost her young son: “How do you feel?” ...... It’s enough to make you throw up. The exact same thing happened in the Kashmir floods in September last year. Some TV journalists got into boats that the National Disaster & Rescue Force (NDRF) had employed to rescue residents of Srinagar, and, thrusting their mics in the face of traumatised people, asked: “Are you grateful that the Indian army/air force/NDRF are rescuing you?” ...... When some Srinagar residents shouted back into the cameras: “We are Indians too, we don’t need to be grateful,” the TV journalists replied by reporting that Kashmiris had divided loyalties towards Pakistan. ..... Several Nepalis have caustically pointed out how several Indian journalists reporting the Nepal earthquake behaved as if the people’s trauma was only a sideshow to the “amazing” help that the Indian government in general, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in particular, displayed towards Nepal. ...... No wonder Doval and Jaishankar — and joint secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, Javed Ashraf — flew into Kathmandu a few days ago to reiterate the message, that Nepal was leading the entire operation and India would only help Nepal as long as Nepal wanted help. The fact of the matter is that the NDRF has specially exhibited such sterling service that it has left every other country far behind. India is the only country that doesn’t have the name “India” emblazoned on every tent, every all-weather jacket, every milk tin, every grain bag that is being flown into Nepal. Every other country — whether China, the US, Israel, Britain as well as every two-bit Scandinavian do-gooding nation as well as NGO — is behaving like they’re there to “save the people”.
60% of all heritage buildings were “badly damaged” in the quake. With them, a whole way of life has finally vanished. ..... The Kathmandu valley lies at an ethereal altitude of 4,600 ft. (1,400 m), and, besides the natural beauty of the encircling Himalayas, boasts some 130 monuments, including several Hindu and Buddhist pilgrimage sites, and seven UNESCO World Heritage sites. Or perhaps we should say “boasted.” ...... The 1975 Bob Seger classic “Katmandu” immortalized the escapist allure of Kathmandu. “I’m tired of looking at the TV news,” sang Seger. “I’m tired of driving hard and paying dues/ I figure, baby, I’ve got nothing to lose/ I’m tired of being blue/ That’s why I’m going to Kathmandu.” ...... Goodman, a 67-year-old Ohio native, describes his time in the ancient Newar city of Bhaktapur, just 8 miles (13 km) outside Kathmandu, and where at least 270 people were killed in the most recent quake, as like “living in medieval Europe in the 13th century.” ....... “I used to wake up around 7 a.m. to the sound of birds at the window, distant temple bells and giggling girls at the water tap by my house,” says Goodman. “I’ve never woken to a nicer sound in my life.” ...... Those halcyon days began to fade towards the end of the 1980s. The government made visas harder to obtain, and many long-term expatriates, like Goodman, were strong-armed into departing. The Iranian Revolution and civil war in Lebanon made the old overland route to Nepal far more difficult. New arrivals had to come by air, and thus needed deeper pockets. Later, Nepal’s own civil war, which raged from 1996 to 2006, deterred many visitors. ...... Today, income inequality has soared and land values within the Kathmandu ring road rival those of New York City ...... While the trickle down of tourist dollars has helped some, particularly the Sherpas, “marginalized groups who are not in the trekking areas do not receive any of the benefits” ........ And once all the rubble has been cleared (or looted), there seems almost no chance that the traditional but vulnerable red brick and timber structures will return. The old city will be rebuilt in reinforced concrete and hippie Kathmandu will become merely a memory. The Kathmandu of an even earlier era may not return either.Recovery In Nepal
One view holds that no government could have dealt with a crisis of this magnitude, let alone Nepal’s ....... Nepal is in a seismically vulnerable zone, the government should have been better prepared. No one disputes the contributions of foot soldiers in the rescue effort, but there is obvious frustration with the government response. Reaching out to all locations immediately may not have been possible, but there is emerging criticism of the government’s actions in the first three days, when rescue needs were most acute; its neglect of rural regions; its failure to have stockpiled basic supplies; the inertia of political parties that have not been on the ground helping citizens; and the government’s confusing and contradictory directives on requirements for receiving international assistance. ........ There have already been protests of Prime Minister Sushil Koirala’s management of the crisis. Koirala, who was in Bangkok when the earthquake struck, reportedly received the news from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tweets. Delhi, meanwhile, has been a remarkably energetic first international responder. By the Thursday after the earthquake, India had sent five hundred and twenty tons of relief materials, eighteen medical teams, eighteen engineering teams, and sixteen disaster-relief teams. India also sent National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar for a ground-level field assessment. An editorial in the Kathmandu Post, Nepal’s leading English-language daily, noted that the hashtag #ThankPM was trending on Twitter, and caustically commented that it was, in fact, to thank Modi. ........ The debate about the Nepalese government’s capacity and effectiveness has real policy implications: it will help determine the balance of power between the state and other actors when it comes to determining relief priorities, distributing aid, and working on a long-term reconstruction plan. Nepal’s finance minister, Ram Sharan Mahat, has said that the country will need at least two billion dollars to rebuild, and has issued an international appeal for help. The United States has pledged almost twenty-six million dollars; the U.K., 7.5 million; and the E.U., 3.2 million; there have also been pledges from individual European countries, and aid has been channelled through international N.G.O.s and private charities. These numbers are constantly changing as actors scale up their assistance. But the question is whether Nepal’s government is in a position to effectively coördinate the aid that is coming in and deliver it to those who need it. ......... Young people of Nepalese origin all over the world have been quick to start fund-raising initiatives. ...... the earthquake has brought Nepalese society together in ways that were difficult to imagine until last week, when a polarized political climate and deep social cleavages had almost eroded the ethos we shared and the sense of belonging we hadUse Data, Not Nepotism, to Deliver Aid in Nepal
On the day the earthquake hit, after finding out that relatives and friends in Kathmandu Valley were alive, I worked to connect volunteers and people affected by the quake, using low-tech solutions including a Google Doc and social media. As I helped crowdsource resources and needs, and read reports from the ground, it became apparent that there was little relief available for villages outside of Kathmandu Valley. When we look at the data coming out of the disaster so far, it’s clear that these villages need relief, too. ....... The data show that villages outside the Kathmandu Valley need aid the most, not just based on the lives lost and houses destroyed by this disaster, but also because historically people in the villages had less to start with. ..... For instance, in Nuwakot, a district about 60 miles northwest of Kathmandu, about 45,000 houses have reportedly been destroyed or damaged. According to Nepal’s 2011 census, there are about 59,000 households in that district. That means that potentially only one in four houses are left intact in Nuwakot. Yet only about 1,300 people in the district have been reported injured by the earthquake—a figure that’s likely underreported. ....... we have been regularly updating an interactive map of the effects of Nepal’s earthquake. It uses district-level data to show injury tolls, death counts, and houses damaged to determine where aid is needed the most.Nepal’s Only Billionaire Begins His Own Earthquake Aid Program
Nepal’s richest man–noodle king Binod Chaudhary–said his group has already handed out hundreds of thousands of packets of Wai Wai noodles ...... His Chaudhary Group is Nepal’s largest conglomerate with revenues of more than $800 million. It has interests in everything from cement to hotels to supermarkets but its best known brand is Wai Wai. ..... The group sells about two billion packets of the instant noodles worldwide every year. ..... While many of the group’s 6,000 employees had to sleep outdoors for a few days, none were killed by the quake and its production facilities in the district of Nawalparasi, more than 100 miles west of the capital, were undamaged. ...... If Nepal doesn’t get back on its feet quickly, he said, there is a real danger that a lack of opportunities could trigger a new exodus of workers from Nepal. ...... More than two million Nepalis already work overseas—most of them in India and Persian Gulf countries—sending home the equivalent of close to 30% of the country’s gross domestic product comes in remittances.NASA's Radar Found 4 Men Trapped in Rubble in Nepal By Their Heartbeats
After the earthquake hit, rescuers in the village of Chautara got two prototype units of the device called FINDER, or Finding Individuals for Disaster and Emergency Response. The core of the device is a system that bounces microwaves around to “see.” Crucially, it can discern faint heartbeats and breaths in people buried under several feet of rubble....... In this case, FINDER was apparently able to detect the heartbeats of two men each in two different collapsed buildings. The men had been trapped for days, under as much as 10 feet of rubble.Rolling Stones' Jagger, Wood record Nepal quake charity single
Just over a week after the devastating earthquake, only 2 per cent of the $415M (U.S.) flash appeal has been pledged. ...... the problem is that there is only a limited amount of money available for humanitarian relief in the world, and an endless supply of crises. ...... when a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti in 2010, aid flooded in from around the world...... the turmoil in the Middle East and Ebola in West Africa have taken their toll on the world’s coffers, and may have tilted the balance of available donors — mostly governments — away from Nepal. .... “The world’s kind of tapped out,” he said. .... global humanitarian expenses rose almost 30 per cent to US$22 billion in 2013. ...... Compounding the issue is that even when governments do pledge aid, it can take a long time to deliver. As of Monday, about 85 per cent of the money that has been raised for the flash appeal is still outstanding. ...And while countries across the world wait to send their checks, Nepal is running out of time... “Rapidly deteriorating weather conditions, as the monsoon season approaches, is likely to become an added logistical challenge to the provision of humanitarian assistance,” Doyle said.....“Funding is needed immediately to continue the relief operations.”
भन्सार विभागका अनुसार चालू आर्थिक वर्षमा भुकम्प आउने अघिल्लो दिनसम्म १ लाख ५५ हजार त्रिपाल आयात भएको थियो। ...... सोमबार साँझ सम्म २ लाख ४४ हजार त्रिपाल भित्रिएको देखिन्छ ‘भूकम्पपछि व्यवसायीले ६८ हजार ८ सय त्रिपाल आयात गरिसकेका छन्,’ विभागका प्रवक्ता सूर्यप्रसाद सेढाईले भने, ‘पहिले आयात भएका पनि धेरैजसो भूकम्पपछि बिक्री वितरण भएको हुनुपर्छ।’ यसमध्ये पश्चिम बंगाल सरकारले सोमबार पठाएको त्रिपाल पनि पर्छन्। उक्त त्रिपाल मंगलबार काठमाडौं ल्याइँदै छ। यो समेत जोड्ने हो भने मंगलबार साँझसम्म ५ लाख त्रिपाल हुन्छ। ....... सरकारले पनि करिब ३० हजार वटा त्रिपाल खरिद गरिसकेको छ। योसहित राहतका नाममा विभिन्न देश तथा दातृ निकायले भूकम्प अघि र पछि भित्र्याएको, खरकारले खरिद गरेको र व्यावसायिक प्रयोजनका लागि ल्याइएका सहित गरेर मुलुकभित्र ५ लाख त्रिपाल रहेको तथ्यांकले देखाउँछ। ....... सबै प्रकारका गरेर साढे ३ लाख घर क्षतिग्रस्त भएका छन्। ..... आयात भएको त्रिपाल कम्तीमा एक परिवारलाई एकवटा पुग्ने देखिन्छ। तर विवरण भएको तथ्यांक र आयात भएको त्रिपालबीच तुलना गर्दा झन्डै १ लाख त्रिपालको लेखाजोखा छैन। ..... ‘भूकम्प आएको दिन उपत्यका सबैजसो परिवार घरबाहिर थिए। पहुँचवालाले लिए। .... केही त्रिपाल यस्तो घटना पुन: घट्न सक्ने सम्भावनाको आँकलन गर्दै मौज्दात पनि हुन सक्छ। विभिन्न व्यक्तिदेखि लिएर व्यबसायीले मौज्दात राखेको हुन सक्ने अनुमान उनीहरूको हो। ...... ‘केहीले पहुँच भिडाएर २/३ वटासमेत लग्ने गरेकाले सबैलाई त्रिपाल नपुगेको हुन सक्छ,’ एक सरकारी अधिकारीको अनुमान छ। त्रिपाल नपुगेकै कारणले १ लाख २५ हजार खरिदको प्रक्रिया अघि बढाइएको ....... अहिलेसम्म त्रिपाल बढी मात्रामा हवाई मार्गमार्फत त्रिभुवन अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय विमानास्थल भन्सार नाकाबाट भित्रिएको देखिन्छ। अधिकांश मुलुकले अन्य राहत सामग्रीसहित त्रिपाल पठाएका छन्। अहिलेसम्म राहत पठाउने मुलुकको संख्या ३४ नाघिसक्यो। बढीमात्रामा भारतबाट त्रिपाल आयात भएको देखिन्छ। ....... सरकारले त्रिपाल वितरणमा सहजता अपनाउनका लागि भन्सार छुटको व्यवस्था गरेको छ। विभागका अनुसार वैशाख १९ बाट जेठ २० गतेसम्म जुन कुनै प्रयोजनका लागि ल्याइने त्रिपालमा भन्सार नलाग्ने व्यवस्था गरिएको छ। एक त्रिपालमा करिब ४७ प्रतिशत भन्सार लाग्ने गरेको थियो। एक हजार रुपैयाँ त्रिपालको मूल्य हुँदा ४ सय ४७ रुपैयाँ भन्सार महसुल लाग्थ्यो।आकाशमा मानवरहित यन्त्र घुमेपछि सरकार गम्भीर
मुलुक भुकम्पको विनाशकारी चपेटामा परेका बेला कतिपय शक्ति र व्यक्तिहरुले मुलुकको गोपनीयता र संवेदनशीलतालाई चुनौति दिदै मानवरहित यन्त्र आकाशमा घुमाउने गरेका छन् । मुलुक यस्तो गम्भीर संकटमा परेका बेला आकाशबाट अनधिकृत तस्वीर खिच्ने को हुन् भनेर सरकारले अनुसन्धान गरिरहेको छ । गृह र पर्यटन मन्त्रालयले यसलाई मौका छोपेर गरिएको ठूलो अपराधका रुपमा लिएका छन् ।२३ सय रूपैयाँमा त्रिपाल र चामल पुर्याउँदै बुढानीलकण्ठका विद्यार्थी
महाभूकम्पपछिको खोजी तथा उद्धार कार्य सकेको नेपाली सेनाले अतिप्रभावित मानिसका लागि राहत पुर्याउने कार्यलाई प्राथमिकता दिएको छ। छिमेकी तथा मित्र राष्ट्रका सरकार या सैनिक सहायतामा आएको राहत द्रुत गतिमा भूकम्प प्रभावित क्षेत्रमा पठाउन थालिएको पनि सेनाले जनाएको छ। ..... काठमाडौं वेस भएका भारतीय वायू सेनाका ६ हेलिकोप्टरलाई भने मकवानपुर, धादिङ र गोरखा जिल्लामा राहत पुर्याउने जिम्मेवारी दिइएको छ। भारतले पठाएका १३ हेलिकोप्टर मध्ये ७ वटाले भने पोखरालाई बेस बनाएर उद्धार तथा राहत सामाग्री ओसार्ने काम गरिरहेका छन्। ..... प्रत्येक हेलिकोप्टरमा एक–एक जना नेपाली सैनिक अधिकृतलाई सम्पर्क अधिकृत राखेरमात्र उडान गर्न दिने नीति बनाइएको छ। सेनाले भनेको छ, ‘त्यस नीति अनुसार विदेशी हेलिकोप्टरमा नेपाली सैनिकलाई सम्पर्क अधिकृतका रुपमा खटाइएको छ।’When A Nation Didn't Want To Know
A few years ago when i had gone to Kathmandu in the aftermath of King Gyanendra's declaration of a state of emergency in the Himalayan nation, an Indian diplomat posted at our embassy there told me how the first thing he advises new joinees is to remember that Nepal is a sovereign, independent country and not New Delhi's colony in the mountains. ........ Someone should have shared this very simple, very basic pearl of wisdom last week with the Indian TV crews and other members of the press as they went about barging into relief camps in Nepal that had no food or water, pointing cameras at battered faces and thrusting mics into mouths too numb to give a byte. ........ They did in a foreign land exactly what they do here elbow people, shout each other down, intrude and aggravate.Just that everyone in this part of the world is used to it, even encouraging it at times. There are places, though, where such show of belligerence is alien to the local ethos. ....... At the heart of Nepal's frustration with the Indian media, voiced eloquently and strongly on Twitter through the trending hashtag #GoHomeIndianMedia, lies a more fundamental issue. A clash of cultures i would go so far as to say civilisations and a tendency to disrespect populations not living in the white powerhouses of Europe and America. ........ A polite, humble society where everybody elder to you is didi or dai and younger is bahini or bhai, Nepal doesn't understand the aggression of Indians.Its people think violence is best suited only to the battlefield. Road rage cases in the capital city of Kathmandu are rare, so is eve-teasing and molestation all illicit manifestations of a misplaced sense of might. ........ When someone tells you something in Nepalese homes and streets, you acknowledge it with a `hajur'. The `tu' of Hindi, which translates into `ta,' is almost always reserved for the junior lot, sons, daughters, children, never elders. ....... What compounds the relationship India has had with Nepal is the condescension for a people who have always been fiercely independent, repulsing British attacks in the early 1800s with such determination that in a rare acknowledgement of courage in the face of adversity they erected a memorial at Kalunga, present day Nalapani, that honours the `gallant adversary'. So impressed and awestruck were the Brits at the valour of the Gorkhas that they would soon go on to recruit the hardy soldiers into their own armies, a tradition that continues to this day . ......... A friend from Kathmandu who studied in India St Paul's in Darjeeling, St Stephen's in Delhi and later Jawaharlal Nehru University would always tell me Indians do not realise, or refuse to, that not all Nepalese are Gorkhas, and not all Gorkhas durwans. ...... “It's only the most deprived, most needy that come to India to guard people's home,“ he would explain to fellow students at JNU. “It's like the poor Bihari, UP-wallah and Punjabi come in search of work to Mumbai as taxi and auto drivers.“ ....... It is this insensitivity and suffocating patronising that goes with it that had Nepal erupt in anger at the Indian media even as hundreds and thousands from this country opened their hearts and wallets to the suffering millions next door. ...... One of the close to 1,30,000 tweets that complained about our handling of the crisis in Nepal, already shell-shocked with devastation and distraught with grief in the wake of a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that left more than 7,000 dead and innumerable others homeless, said Dharahara has fallen, not their pride and dignity ...... There is a similar show of tastelessness that marks the `mainstream' Indian's attitude towards the country's north-easterners. Everyone is a `chinky'. In fact, in the eyes of many , the whole of NE, Sikkim, Darjeeling, Bhutan and Nepal form one contiguous, homogenous Mongoloid swathe, where everyone speaks Nepali, eats momos for breakfast and plays the guitar at night....... Going beyond, there is a boorishness being associated with us that is increasingly making the Indian a target of hatred and vilification across the world. The most reflective of this is our online world. There was a time when the slightest hint of criticism against Narendra Modi would awake hydra-headed defenders leaping from Pilibhit to the Paraganas, ready to chop your anti-national, unworthy and un-Indian head off........ They are still there, lurking, albeit a little less prickly after the great electoral triumph of last year. Not that you can say much against Sachin Tendulkar either....... There are many lessons for us in the Nepal fiasco. The biggest is that we need to respect people from the smaller countries and states. It's the same hurt we feel when America frisks our presidents.
सहायता घोषणा गरेका केही मुलुक र अन्तराष्ट्रिय दातृ संस्थाले सरकारको संयन्त्रलाई ‘बाइपास’ गर्ने संकेत गरेका छन् । ति आफ्नै संयन्त्र वा उनले छानेका नेपाली एनजिओ मार्फत कार्यक्रम लैजान इच्छुक छन् । थुप्रै प्रवासी संस्था र व्यक्ति समेतले आफ्नै ढंगले राहत वितरण र पुन निर्माणका योजना घोषणा गरेका छन् । ....... सरकारलाई बाइपास गरेर जान खोज्नुको कारण के छ ? कि त यिनले सरकारलाई विश्वास गर्न सकेका छैनन् कि सरकार मार्फत जाँदा आफ्नो प्रभाव र पकट कम हुने राजनीतिक लगायत स्वार्थ राख्छन् । अनि हामी चाँहि सरकार र राज्य प्रणाली ‘कमजोर’ र ‘भ्रष्ट’ ठान्ने अनि यस्ता विदेशी संस्था र निकायलाई अत्यन्तै प्रभावकारी र पारदर्शी ठहराउने हो भने कता पुगौला ? ....... सरकार कमजोर छ, यसमा कुनै शंका छैन । यो आजको दिनमा आएर अनुभूत भएको पनि हैन । हामीसँग यस्ता अनुभवका खात छन् । ‘अभिभावक’ सरकारको निन्याउरो अनुहार हामीले धेरै पटक देखेकै हो । अस्ति जाजरकोटको महामारी, गत वर्ष सिन्धुपाल्चोक-जुरेको पहिरो, महाकालीमा आएको बाढी, यस्तै यस्तै । ........ उही कमजोर सरकार र यसका संयन्त्रले यसपालीको महाविपद्मा एक्कासि चमत्कार गर्न सक्ने कुरै भएन । उद्धार र राहतमा भएको सरकारी ढिला-सुस्ती प्रति चर्कै असन्तुष्टी छरपस्ट छ । यो असन्तुष्टी अस्वाभविक हैन । तर यसपाली हामी सामान्य जीवनमा फर्किन ज्यादै कठिन बाटो हिड्नु छ, फलामका चिउरा चपाउनु छ । विगतका ‘साना तिना’ विपत् जसरी टरे, यसपाली त्यति सजिलो छैन । यसो भन्दैमा सरकारको विकल्प खोज्ने बेला आएको हो त? ........ क्षतिको विवरण, तत्काल र दिर्घकालिन राहतको आवश्यकता निर्धारण, कहाँ कति पुग्यो, कहाँ बाँकी छ ? पुन: स्थापना र पुन: निर्माणको मापदन्ड के हो? यस्ता विषयको एकीकृत संयोजन नगरी राहत र पुन: निर्माण प्रभावकारी हुनै सक्दैन । यो जिम्मेवारी सरकार र यसका संयन्त्रले नै पुरा गर्ने हो । अरूले गर्न पनि सक्दैन । गर्न दिनु पनि हुँदैन । ....... सन २०१० मा २ लाख भन्दा बढि मानिसको ज्यान लिने गरी गएको भुकम्प पछि हाइटीमा विदेशी सहायताको यस्तै ओइरो लागेको थियो । जम्मा १ करोड जति जनसंख्याको हाइटीका लागि अन्तराष्ट्रिय समूदायले उपलब्ध गराएको १३ बिलियन डलर ज्यादै ठुलो रकम थियो । यसबाटै सारै ठुलो आशा राखिएको थियो । नेपाल जस्तै गरिब हाइटीको पुननिर्माण मात्र हैन यो सहायता रकमले आर्थिक वृद्दी र जीवनस्तरमा पनि झलाङ मार्ने गरिएको अनुमान स्वाभाविक नै थियो । ........ हाइटीमा भ्रष्टाचार र कमजोर संयन्त्रको निहुँ पारेर सरकारलाई सिधै राहत रकम हस्तान्तरण गरिएन । कुल सहायताको जम्मा ९.६ प्रतिशत मात्र सरकारी नियन्त्रणमा रह्यो । ०.६ प्रतिशत स्थानिय संस्था र बाँकी ८९.८ प्रतिशत रकम विदेशी संस्थाले सिधै चलाए । देशमा यति ठुलो विदेशी र एनजिओको चलखेल भयो कि विश्लेषकहरूले देशको नाम नै ‘रिपब्लिक अफ एनजिओज’ भन्दै व्यङ्ग गरे । ....... सरकार झन-झन कमजोर र निरिह बन्दै गयो ।
हाइटीका लागि घोषित सहायताको अधिकाशं रकम देश भित्र नआउँदै वासिंटन र न्युयोर्कमै प्रशासनिक खर्चका नाममा सकियो । ५ वर्षसम्म पनि हाइटीको परिस्थितिमा सुधार आउन सकेको छैन ।
अहिले धेरै नेपालीमा उद्धार र राहतका काममा सरकार पूर्ण असफल भएको भन्ने निराशा र नैराश्यता जताततै देखिन्छ। हुन पनि अमेरीका र अस्ट्रेलियादेखिका गैरआवासीय नेपालीहरू राहतका सामान बोकेर सिन्धुलीदेखि गोर्खासम्म पुग्नु तर काठमाडांैमै रहेका नेतागण, मन्त्री र उच्च पदस्थहरू त्यही ललितपुर, कीर्तिपुर र भक्तपुरमा केही राहत बाँडेजस्तो देखाउनु र दुर्गमका गाँउहरूमा भूकम्प गएको ८–१० दिन बित्न लाग्दा पनि राहत नजानुले सरकारप्रति जनताको आक्रोश जायज छ। ...... विपत्तिका बेला सरकारको उच्च नेतृत्वले सबैलाई एकजुट गर्ने, जनतालाई यो कठिन परिस्थितिबाट हामी अघि बढ्नेछौं भन्ने सन्देश दिने र सरकारले के गरिरहेको छ र चुनौतीहरू के–के छन् भनेर हेरक दिनजसो पत्रकार सम्मेलन गर्ने गर्नुपथ्र्यो। यो अवसर पत्रकारसँग साक्षात्कार वा प्रश्नोत्तर गर्नेमात्रै नभएर जनपरिचालन गर्ने र सबैलाई एक ठाउँमा उभ्याउने थलो बन्न सक्थ्यो। विश्वमा चाहे त्यो अमेरिीकाको क्याट्रिना आँधिबेहरी होस् वा जापानको सन् २०११ को सुनामी होस्, राहत र उद्धारको जिम्मा लिएका मुख्यालयले दिनहुँ पत्रकार सम्मेलन गरेका थिए। ..... अफबाहकै कुरा गर्ने हो भने विदेशी सेनाले राहत कम जासुसी बढी गरिरहेको भन्ने संवेदनशील कुरा पनि बाहिर आए तर सरकारले न त खण्डन गर्न सक्यो न यो हल्लालाई मत्थर नै पर्ने प्रयास गर्यो। ...... तेस्रो समस्या, ‘शोकलाई शक्तिमा बदलौं’ भन्ने नाराका साथ राष्ट्रियरूपमा राजनीतिक शक्तिहरूको परिचालन हुन सक्नुपथ्र्यो । सर्वदलीय बैठक गरेर हरेक दलका मुख्य नेताहरू र संविधान सभाका सदस्यहरूको जिम्मेवारी तोकेर जिल्ला–जिल्ला, गाउँ–टोल आदिमा राहत परिचालन गर्ने गर्नुपथ्र्यो। तर हामीकहाँ हरेक दलले आफ्नै तरकिाले छुट्टाछुट्टै बैठक गरेर प्रतिवेदन पेस गर्ने र आफ्नो पार्टीले यो गर्यो ऊ गर्यो भनेर देखाउन बढी समय खर्चिए भने केही नेताले त नेताको काम राजधानी बसेर नीति बनाउने हो, गाउँ–गाउँ घुम्ने होइन भन्नसम्म चुकेनन्। ...... कार्यवाहक प्रधानमन्त्री वामदेव गौतमले आफ्नो सल्लाहबिना नै संकटको घोषणा गरेकाले रुष्ट बनेका भनिएका राष्ट्रपति ..... उद्धार र राहतमा सरकारको समन्वय एकदम फितलो रहेको देखियो । सरकारले एउटा इन्टरनेटको वेबपेज बनाएर आँकडा राख्ने कोसिस गरे पनि अहिलेसम्म कतिले त्रिपाल र अन्य राहतका सामग्री पाए, कुन–कुन जिल्लामा के कस्तो राहत गयो, कुन–कुन राष्ट्रिय र अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय संस्थाले के गरिरहेका छन्, संयुक्त राष्ट्रसंघ लगायतका दाताहरूले के गरिरहेका छन्, कति रकम प्रधानमन्त्री कोषमा जम्मा भएको छ र कति हुन बाँकी छ, कति ज्यान गुमाएका परिवारले राहत पाए वा कति घाइतेले उपचार पाए आदि बारे सक्दो जति आँकडा राख्न र समन्वयन बढाउन जरुरी छ। ........ हाम्रो मुख्य दातृ मित्रराष्ट्र जापानले नेपालका ऐतिहासिक भवनको पुनर्निर्माण गर्न सहयोग गर्नेदेखि भूकम्पपछिको पुनर्निर्माणका लागि विश्वबाट आथिर्क स्रोत जुटाउन एउटा सम्मेलनको आयोजना गर्ने चाहना देखाइसकेको छ भने भारतीय प्रधानमन्त्री नरेन्द्र मोदीले पनि भत्केका सम्पदाको निर्माण गर्न चासो देखाएका छन्। ..... सरकारले आफूले गर्न सक्ने जति गर्न चुकेको छ। ......
आएको राहतलाई भन्सारबाट सहजरूपले छुटाउने प्रक्रिया (फास्ट ट्रयाक) को नीति अवलम्बन गर्नुपर्छ। वर्षायाम सुरु हुनुपूर्व पाल, खाना र औषधिको व्यवस्था गर्न नसके महामारी वा भोकमरीले गर्दा धेरैको ज्यान जाने सम्भावना छ।
.....विगतका जनआन्दोलनहरूले सिकाएको पाठ के हो भने एउटा हद नाघेपछि नेपालीको धैर्यको बाँध टुट्छ र यसले अक्सर राजनीतिक परिवर्तनको रूप धारणा गर्छ।
This party will function with full financial transparency. Every single rupee collected by donations to run this people's party will be publicly declared on the party's website and all expenditures will also be declared on the website.
Arvind Kejriwal’s approach mostly amounts to offering freebies now and figuring out how to pay for them later.In India, upstart Aam Aadmi Party is shaking up traditional politics
the massive 'Operation Maitri', with the deployment of 12 helicopters, NDRF teams, Army medical and engineering taskforces, will continue in full swing ...... Three flights each to Kathmandu and Pokhara from India, with food, medicines, blankets, tents, water and power equipment, were undertaken on Wednesday. "The first one of a C-130J Super Hercules, for instance, landed at the small airstrip at Pokhara with six tonnes of food and water. On Wednesday evening, a C-17 Globemaster-III and an IL-76 were awaiting clearance to fly to Nepal. ...... With relief pouring into Nepal from all over the world, the small Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu has become heavily congested over the last three days. After some Indian flights were forced to return from Kathmandu without landing, the IAF had even dispatched its director (transport) to Kathmandu and worked out a plan to send flights in "low density periods" ...... the "land route has become the primary route" now. ......Inside the Inflatable Hospital That’s Saving Lives in Nepal
With 48 to-and-fro sorties of its C-130J, C-17, IL-76 and AN-32 aircraft, the IAF has airlifted 315 tonnes of relief material and equipment to Nepal since Saturday. "They have also inducted 951 people into Nepal for relief work, which included doctors and paramedics for three Army field hospitals, one IAF rapid aeromedical team and a naval medical team. On their way back, they have carried 3,193 people"
.....The helicopters of IAF (8 Mi-17s) and Army (4 Dhruv advanced light helicopters), meanwhile, continue with their sorties within Nepal, operating mainly from Kathmandu and Pokhara. "Apart from airlifting relief supplies, the four Dhruvs have rescued over 110 people from Pokhara, while almost 1,000 have been ferried by the Mi-17s"
“There is nothing like an emergency when there is chaos for opportunities to … traffic more women. There is a great chance that everything that is bad happening in Nepal could scale up” ..... “People here are now desperate and will take any chance. There are spotters in the villages who convince family members and local brokers who do the deal. We know who they are.” ..... Sita, who was rescued last year, was taken by an uncle “for a job” in India. Her parents, who are subsistence farmers and illiterate, believed assurances she would have a good job and be able to send back her wages.... In the brothel in Siliguri, Sita was forced to have unprotected sex with up to 20 or 30 men a day, seven days a week for a year. ..... most of these criminal networks were based in India, which made identification of traffickers difficult. The gangs have representatives and agents looking for suitable women across Nepal, but particularly in deprived rural areas such as Sindhupalchowk. ..... Many local agents do not know the eventual destination of the women, with some genuinely believing they will find well-paid work in Kathmandu or India. Others are well aware of the real nature of their “jobs”. One ruse is to promise marriage to wealthy foreigners. ..... Kathmandu also has hundreds of bars and massage parlours where women work in poor conditions, with many compelled to have sex with clients. These women are recruited locally, again often in zones hit hard by the quake. “Now [after the earthquake] it is going to be easy for brokers” ....... The uncle who abducted Sita was murdered by a contract killer. Her parents remain unaware of exactly what happened to her, though her brothers have found out. They have now disowned her. ..... Sita lives in a secret shelter run by Shakti Samuha. She does not know what has happened to her parents in the earthquake. For many days, communications to her remote village were cut. When she managed to get a line through to a brother, he refused to acknowledge her. “He said he had no sister and I had called a wrong number,” Sita said.Nepal earthquake: Expert fears satellite mapping could point to more aftershocks
the stress that caused the initial earthquake may not have been fully released....... "There are a lot of concerns about what is to come in terms of aftershocks, because the ground displacement is much less than we expected. ...... the region would be safer if more seismic events were felt along the boundary of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates. ..... "Normally we expect a lot of aftershocks along the plate boundary, but in this case, there are none," he said....... "After Sichuan, there were hundreds...here, there aren't many at all, just a couple of dozen........."[When] we see some aftershocks along the boundary, we say the stress has been released and we'll feel a little more relaxed. ......... "At this stage, I can't see that yet."Why Is Israel Criticized for Helping Nepal Earthquake Victims?
more than 200,500 houses have been destroyed and 186,285 damaged. The government thinks the number of wrecked homes could rise to half a million ....... A key factor is explaining to people that building earthquake-resistant houses is not expensive .... For rural buildings, usually made with stone and mud, simple ways of tying the walls together with wood or concrete elements can make them around 80 percent safer and adds only 5 percent to the building cost ..... The extra cost of strengthening old buildings - known as retrofitting - may be too much for individuals, especially in a poor country like Nepal, but is still cost-effective for public buildings ..... Risk reduction experts say the best time to push for more investment of this kind is often in the wake of a major disaster, when the danger is still fresh in people's minds. ..... "The reason we have ... exposure to hazards is that there is something wrong with ... the way we are building our cities" ...... Disasters like the Nepal quake - which damaged rickety, close-packed buildings in the capital and elsewhere - expose these problems and offer a chance to build back better ..... "Don't wait several months, start immediately to think in this tragedy, how can we use what is now happening to improve some other things?" ...... She advised assembling a team of Nepali experts as soon as possible, with outside support if needed, to plan reconstruction and better urban design, before people begin rebuilding themselves in ways that would leave them at risk in the future. ...... Architecture Sans Frontieres (ASF) International, a network of professional groups including Engineers Without Borders Nepal, is setting up a network of built environment experts to assess the damage and help plan the rebuilding process. ...... ASF International chair Peter Newton warned against rushing to construct interim "pop-up" homes, which are not durable and are expensive compared with longer-term aid....A better approach is to assess existing buildings so that safe ones can be re-occupied quickly, providing temporary shelter for those made homeless ..... The challenge is how to provide relevant solutions for poorer social groups that have lost their livelihoods in the disaster, rather than just designing quake-resistant homes for them and raising money to get them built ...... "The aim is to have a bigger impact on people that are more vulnerable, which is a much trickier problem"Nepal, aid agencies trade blame as confusion mars earthquake relief
A row has broken out between Nepal and some international agencies over the handling of aid that poured into the country after last month's devastating earthquake, with each side blaming the other for confusion and delays in getting help to victims. ...... The 7.9-magnitude quake, which struck 10 days ago, has killed more than 7,500 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless. ...... Relief material initially piled up at the airport as Nepalese customs officials checked each crate that came in so commercial goods did not slip through. ........ Senior government officials said customs checks were necessary, because they did not know what was coming into the country....... Supplies included goods that Nepal did not need and many relief workers arrived without proper documents to enter the country, complicating efforts to move the aid effort along, officials said. ....... Some rescue workers, for their part, said they were frustrated by what they saw as bureaucratic delays and lack of coordination by the government. ...... Frustrated by delays and a lack of coordination, some donors are circumventing the government and sending aid directly through non-governmental organisations for distribution, adding to disagreements ........ Meetings about earthquake preparedness have been a regular feature in Kathmandu in recent years, and global donors have invested millions of dollars to help Nepal be better prepared for a major seismic event. ...... Chaos after a disaster of this magnitude is inevitable, experts said, and given that aid groups had estimated a major quake near Kathmandu could kill 100,000 people, they said things could have been worse. ...... the government had made an error by urgently requesting tents for Nepalis who had lost their homes....."When donors sent them, they were huge and heavy. What we really want are tarpaulins"'Why Wasn't Nitish Kumar Allowed to Visit Nepal?' His Party Asks in Parliament
Mr Kumar wanted to visit Janakpur near Bihar's border with Nepal, which is around a half-an-hour chopper ride from Patna..... Nitish Kumar has not reacted officially, but sources say he had commented to his party colleagues that he would have been more surprised, had he been allowed to make the trip. .... "He wanted to go to Janakpur to express solidarity with people there, most of them are from Bihar. But there seems to be politics in asking Nitish Kumar not to go to Nepal," Mr Tyagi said amid speculation that the PM Modi-Nitish Kumar rivalry had played a role.BJP slams Nitish Kumar for proposing to visit Nepal
