When a deadly debris flow on the night of 12 July swept two intercity buses into the Trisuli River along the Mugling highway, it took more than an hour for rescue to arrive as shocked survivors groped in the darkness. One bus had left Kathmandu for Gaur with 36 passengers the previous evening. The other was heading to the capital from Birganj, carrying 26 passengers.&nbsp; Three passengers managed to escape from broken windows and climb back up to the road in pouring rain. They then sought help from vehicles stuck on either side of the landslide to get themselves to the hospital.&nbsp; Security forces and the Chitwan District Administration Office reached the site soon after they were notified. A team from the Armed Police Force’s Disaster Management Training School (DMTS) in Kurintar arrived soon after. The Nepal Army division in Bharatpur was notified at 4:30AM, and a Quick Response Team (QRT) was immediately dispatched. Nepal Army divers arrived in the morning. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/managing-the-monsoon">Managing the monsoon</a>, Ngamindra Dahal In the fortnight since the tragedy, up to 500 trained rescuers have been working to find the buses (pictured). So far, the bodies of 25 passengers have been recovered, two from downstream in India. A 12-member team from the Indian National Disaster Response Force also arrived to help in the search. “Search and rescue operations in an accident like this typically last for 10 days,” says Khimananda Bhushal of the District Administration Office in Chitwan. “But we have to keep going until we locate the buses.”&nbsp; Rescuers have used rafts, anchors, air and water drones, as well as magnets to search for the missing buses and the remaining passengers. The Indian team is said to have sonar for the underwater search.&nbsp; “We have dedicated units for disaster response in our security forces, we have enough trained manpower to respond to most disasters,” says Bharat Mani Pandey, former joint secretary of the NDRRMA (National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority).&nbsp; The Nepal Police has 1,250 personnel while the Nepal Army has more than 1,200 members assigned for disaster risk reduction and management. There are 2,500 others in the APF with disaster management training. All districts have District Disaster Management Committees.&nbsp; <h2>Water</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240725120744_85a258a01d47c487c753ca6433a3b168b2f45f0391c039252de7aef0cecc1c5f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20240725120744_85a258a01d47c487c753ca6433a3b168b2f45f0391c039252de7aef0cecc1c5f" data-rendition-name="original" width="3600" height="2410" loading="lazy" alt="101, 102, 103"> <figcaption>Photo: RSS(Photo: Shristi Karki)</figcaption> </figure>  So far this monsoon, 133 people have died in floods, landslides and drownings and 147 others people have sustained injuries. Seven people across the country are missing.&nbsp; Many of the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/highway-accidents-are-no-accident-in-nepal">highway fatalities</a> are a combination of bad roads that are not built to be safe during monsoon rains. The road network has expanded, there are more hospitals with trauma care and ambulances, but Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) are still not available in much of Nepal. Most ambulances are actually just ordinary vans to trasnport the injured to hospitals, with no specialised emergency care equipment. Much of Nepal’s pre-hospital emergency care is dependent on bystanders and passersby who self-mobilise to get injured people to hospital after accidents, especially on Nepal’s rural highways where ambulances and EMTs cannot reach on time. But even though well-intentioned, such first responders are rarely trained in emergency care and protocols. In many cases, improper handling of the injured does more harm than good.&nbsp; <h2>Roads</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240725120744_27952fa8765f1b0178c1b42e7968084bad8538d40d082e4af787408d9ecab6be.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240725120744_27952fa8765f1b0178c1b42e7968084bad8538d40d082e4af787408d9ecab6be" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="845" loading="lazy" alt="101, 102, 103"> <figcaption>Photo: RSS(Photo: sher bahadur shing)</figcaption> </figure>  <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/nepal-s-other-pandemic-road-fatalities">Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs) take more lives annually in Nepal than</a> floods, landslides, plane crashes, and other accidents and ‘natural’ disasters put together. There have been 21,287 road mishaps in Nepal so far in 2024, resulting in 2,198 fatalities and 5,713 serious injuries.&nbsp; The Nepal Ambulance Guidelines 2021 defines an ambulance as ‘a vehicle to transport patients that include ambulance equipment, sirens, GPS, a trained driver and an EMT’.&nbsp; But there are only 705 ambulances equipped with GPS across the country, and only 81 offically approved. Ambulances have to be certified as Type A Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulances, or Type B Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulances. There are 119 trained EMTs and 929 trained ambulance drivers certified by Nepal’s National Health Training Center. Meanwhile, there are 30 trained dispatchers who work out of 11 ambulance dispatch centres across the country. These dispatchers respond to 102, the emergency number for ambulance services in Nepal.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/roadkill">ROADKILL</a>, Sonia Awale The Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS) operates 242 Type A, 60 Type, and 182 Type C ambulances across Nepal. Type C is essentially a normal transport vehicle. And while accessibility, technology, and skilled human resources were always a challenge for Nepal and its relatively basic pre-hospital services, this was made glaringly obvious during the 2015 earthquake, says Bal Krishna Sedai, deputy director of the NRCS. “We realised that Nepal’s pre-hospital care system was in no way prepared to handle mass casualty events,” Sedai explains.&nbsp; Ambulances are a 24-hour service, but Nepal’s laws state that no individual can work for more than eight hours. This means each ambulance would need three EMTs and three drivers and that is near impossible because of budget constraints. “The government has been unable to allocate enough human resources to sustain pre-hospital care,” adds Sedai. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-air-ambulance-saves-mothers">Nepal's air ambulance save mothers</a> Nepal’s topography hinders first responders from getting to accident or disaster sites on time, even though they are ideally supposed to be there within 15 minutes in the Tarai, and within 30 minutes in the mountains.&nbsp; Says Sedai: “We urgently need to map where ambulances need to be stationed across the country in order to provide effective service, and this must take into account Nepal’s geography and population density.” <h2>Quakes</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240725120744_2159d1a80ac5d0310f5d69041ed8e341124e86b4487262b529549aed63ac9dd2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20240725120744_2159d1a80ac5d0310f5d69041ed8e341124e86b4487262b529549aed63ac9dd2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1125" loading="lazy" alt="101, 102, 103"> </figure>  Disaster response and management is perhaps most critical in times of mega-disasters like earthquakes that Nepal is prone to. Himalayan seismologists have warned that <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/learning-from-jajarkot-what-we-didnt-after-2015-695vpzle">2015 was not the Big One</a>, and neither was the Jajarkot earthquake last November. Yet, the country remains unprepared. Among others, it lacks modern equipment for <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Search-locate-%20rescue-in-collapsed-concrete-houses,3676">search and rescue from reinforced concrete buildings</a>. In the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/jajarkot-one-month-after-the-earthquake">aftermath of the Jajarkot earthquake</a>, 915 Nepal Army, 853 Nepal Police, and 35 APF personnel had been deployed for search, rescue, and relief by the 10th day after the disaster. “A mega quake in western Nepal will impact the whole country, including northern India. This is a level of disaster the whole country needs to be prepared for, not just western Nepal,” Surya Narayan Shrestha of the National Society for Earthquake Technology (NSET) <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/turkey-and-nepal-face-similar-seismic-risks">wrote in Nepali Times last year</a>. “Given how disaster-prone we know Nepal is, we must seriously put our efforts and money into reducing the risks.”&nbsp; While ambulance services have been integrated to operate under the 102-dispatch system across Nepal following the National Ambulance Guidelines 2021, experts say that Nepal needs an integrated emergency response system. At present, emergency numbers 100, 101, 102, and 103 puts people in touch with the police, fire services, ambulance services, and traffic police respectively. Former NDRRMA Joint Secretary Bharat Mani Pandey coordinated an 11-member task force earlier this year that included members from key ministries as well as security forces to develop an integrated emergency information system so they do not have to dial different numbers for police, ambulance, or fire. &nbsp; “We found that police is the most contacted agency even when people are in need of ambulance or fire rescue services,” says Pandey. “We must have a command centre that incorporates different emergency service providers into an integrated response system.”&nbsp; <h2>Fire</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240725120744_6c338449143818aa97b9e6cfbe391104cfa2f19f532df508bd373106393fd3e5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20240725120744_6c338449143818aa97b9e6cfbe391104cfa2f19f532df508bd373106393fd3e5" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="101, 102, 103"> <figcaption>Photo: BIJAYABAR PRADHAN(Photo: Shristi Karki)</figcaption> </figure>  Fire support services are in an even woeful state, especially given the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/smoke-screen">record-breaking wildfires</a> threatening settlements this year. There are only 211 fire brigades in Nepal, which means one fire engine per 110,254 people across the country. More than 1,100 people have died in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/going-up-in-smoke">forest fires</a> and household fires in the last decade.&nbsp; “Our fire response system is very weak to put it bluntly,” admits Sundar Sharma at the NDRRMA. “211 fire brigades is not nearly enough, and we do not have enough trained firefighters and first responders.”&nbsp; ---- As it is, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/it-s-an-emergency-nepal-needs-to-improve-trauma-care">trauma care and infrastructure are inaccessible</a> to a large number of Nepalis. Tertiary hospitals that specialise in trauma and critical care are largely centralised in urban areas, and the rescue, ambulance, and medevac fees are unaffordable for most. There is also limited clarity and knowledge of which hospitals and health institutions are primary, secondary, or tertiary, which is crucial for emergency responders and medical professionals to direct trauma patients to relevant hospitals on a case-by-case basis. That way, first responders can triage survivors of accidents and disasters. “There is a weak link in our life-saving mechanisms between accident sites and hospitals, and we do not have enough trained emergency responders,” <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/injured-use-internet-to-get-rehab-care">Raju Dhakal of the Spinal Injury Rehabilitation Centre in Sanga</a> told Nepali Times, citing a spate of highway mishaps killed more than two dozen people and injured many more within a week last year. He added: “Even not-critical injuries become life-threatening because police and rescuers do not reach accident sites on time, or are not trained in handling spine or head injuries.” &nbsp;&nbsp;

Shristi Karki

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Shanta Bahadur Budha takes a step out of his tarp. The sun is still not out yet, and his hands are quivering from the cold. Ever since his house in Barekot was destroyed by the 6.4 magnitude earthquake that struck at 11.23pm on the night of 3 November, he like many others has been living in a tent. Barekot is near the epicentre of the quake, and although there were no casualties the earthquake damaged nearly every house in the village. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/jajarkot-one-month-after-the-earthquake">Jajarkot: One month after the earthquake</a>, Ramu Kharel and Maggie Doyne  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231225131212_309c5b2236916946dc6a360e47c733f81fbbfcfdb45a0291cd780395aedf352c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20231225131212_309c5b2236916946dc6a360e47c733f81fbbfcfdb45a0291cd780395aedf352c" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1366" loading="lazy" alt="Below zero at Ground Zero NT"> </figure>  "That night it felt like the entire village would collapse,” Budha recalls. “After that, every night in the tent it has been getting colder and colder. It will soon start snowing, how will we survive?" Asked what is their main concern, everyone here says surviving the winter is the biggest challenge as the temperature drops below zero at night 2,400m in the mountains of western Nepal. From a distance, the houses clinging to the flanks of the picturesque rolling hills look fine. But on closer inspection, the impact of the earthquake is starkly visible — houses that have not collapsed all have cracks on walls or missing roofs.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/learning-from-jajarkot-what-we-didnt-after-2015-695vpzle">Learning from Jajarkot what we didn't after 2015</a>, Sushil Gyewali  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231225131212_5c59d59444b7e7ac3ec631fdbc471a79d9c779bebe3c431f039e60bcf27411a4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20231225131212_5c59d59444b7e7ac3ec631fdbc471a79d9c779bebe3c431f039e60bcf27411a4" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1536" loading="lazy" alt="Below zero at Ground Zero NT"> </figure>  Municipality data shows that most houses in the nine wards have been affected, and there are 5,586 applications for temporary housing. "All the houses are affected, no house is habitable," says Dinayat Gharti of the Municipality "Every family has been living in tents for two months now.”&nbsp; Barekot lies about 30km from the Jajarkot district capital of Khalanga, but construction of temporary housing has not even started. Because of the area’s remoteness, assistance has not reached the locals on time and the lack of workers has delayed construction.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/shaking-things-up">Shaking things up</a>, Editorial  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231225131212_3803f5921c6f432baf876a36b50e69f32eacd645b5f88490389fe80538de7f82.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20231225131212_3803f5921c6f432baf876a36b50e69f32eacd645b5f88490389fe80538de7f82" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1536" loading="lazy" alt="Below zero at Ground Zero NT"> </figure>  Slow disbursement of the first instalment of compensation from the government has also affected progress. According to Gharti, only 583 families have received the first instalment of Rs25,000, and 5,300 families are yet to receive even that.&nbsp; All this means that Barekot’s 22,000 people are forced to live in courtyards, fields and open spaces in freezing temperatures. The most common sound here is of children and the elderly coughing. Health care workers report that most children suffer from exposure-related diseases, while the elderly are experiencing respiratory problems and fever. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/demographics-of-disaster-in-nepal-quake">Demographics of disaster in Nepal quake</a>, Nepali Times  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231225131212_c05df258d1a366788cee06255d135f6d9e79a39a0be7151637da92f67c5c1cce.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20231225131212_c05df258d1a366788cee06255d135f6d9e79a39a0be7151637da92f67c5c1cce" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1536" loading="lazy" alt="Below zero at Ground Zero NT"> </figure>  Charities organisations have distributed tarps and blankets which has made things a bit easier for the residents. Dhan Bahadur Budha, principal of the Himalaya Devi Basic School says problems are bound to get worse once the temperature starts dropping further. All 53 schools in Barekot Rural Municipality collapsed on 3 November, which is also a stark reminder of what would have happened if the earthquake had struck during school hours when classrooms would have been full.&nbsp; Schools would have been ideal shelters for survivors, but even those are in no condition to be used. Himalaya Devi Basic School has been conducting classes from under a tent since the earthquake.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/rebuilding-resilience-7-years-later">Rebuilding resilience 7 years later</a>, Anil Pokharel  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231225131212_22f51ad08da69a8376154578e42c6d046ade9e84b10cd2b9b5e7688ac65f62f0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20231225131212_22f51ad08da69a8376154578e42c6d046ade9e84b10cd2b9b5e7688ac65f62f0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1707" height="1058" loading="lazy" alt="Below zero at Ground Zero NT"> </figure>  "All school buildings have been damaged, it is impossible to run classes inside the building," laments Budha. Although classes have resumed, things are yet to go back to normal. &nbsp;Most students have not been able to attend school. "Initially students did not show up at all," says Budha, "then the teachers went house-to-house and parents started sending their kids back." But conducting classes regularly is a challenge. Classes are held in the open when the sun is out, otherwise, it is too cold.&nbsp; Now that most families have warm clothes, blankets and tents, the most urgent need is for the temporary shelter construction to be expedited. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/in-a-disastrous-state">In a disastrous state</a>, Sonia Awale

Below zero at Ground Zero

A rapid assessment of the epicentre of the earthquake that hit just before midnight on 3 November shows that lack of accurate information about the status of survivors and their needs continues to be a challenge. Our trip to the hardest hit areas from Khalanga to Nalgad in this remote district in the mountains of western Nepal involved the rescue of a month-old infant whose mother was reported to have died from the cold.&nbsp; There has been inaccurate and sensationalised reporting in the media after people died from the cold. While it is true that winter has set in the mountains and the long term illnesses can be exacerbated by the cold, stress or unhygienic conditions, many of the deaths have been due to acute illnesses and existing preconditions. There have also been reports of relief items being stuck in bureaucratic bottlenecks and piling up in municipal offices instead of being distributed to those in need. While that may have happened in the early days of the earthquake, on this week’s trip that was not what we saw.&nbsp; In any natural disaster, it is important to recognise that the scenario for relief can rapidly change from day to day, thus making a rapid response and clear communication channels vitally important.&nbsp; We are concerned that inaccurate journalism based on hearsay without fact checking can foster an environment of cynicism and criticism, discouraging collaborative efforts. It can also affect the morale amongst first responders, spreading distrust.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231201131252_0b36cd97d9d54136ebbc601ca2170c1402ec22944d1f8c5d837ba1e3dfc8ef13.png" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20231201131252_0b36cd97d9d54136ebbc601ca2170c1402ec22944d1f8c5d837ba1e3dfc8ef13" data-rendition-name="original" width="1368" height="1058" loading="lazy" alt="Jajarkot earthquake NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231201131252_9f96af647fb9e343ef22159c2191e7aaac8574f6cce70891237a91d24747fcc2.png" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20231201131252_9f96af647fb9e343ef22159c2191e7aaac8574f6cce70891237a91d24747fcc2" data-rendition-name="original" width="748" height="1142" loading="lazy" alt="Jajarkot earthquake NT"> </figure>  Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/learning-from-jajarkot-what-we-didnt-after-2015-695vpzle">Learning from Jajarkot what we didn't after 2015</a>, Sushil Gyewali Relief must be survivor-centred and not be sensationalised or politicised with fake news. A centralised database that can foster collaboration is being put up with accurate and up to date information on the <a href="https://jajarkot.himalayandisaster.org/">Jajarkot Earthquake Response website</a>. Partners on the ground can also fact-check and debunk false reports, and we urge reporters to seek out these primary sources instead of relying on sensationalised clickbait. Rubble and destruction&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023120112124_66e5ce77ae433644dabf10e3391e39021e92857248896af39bf19ad128e05e8b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2023120112124_66e5ce77ae433644dabf10e3391e39021e92857248896af39bf19ad128e05e8b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1333" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="2023 Jajarkot after earthquake NT"> </figure>  As we approached the epicentre with three vehicles filled with jackets, sanitation kits, blankets, the destruction was shocking. Even in the relatively accessible areas like the district headquarter of Khalanga the houses are still in ruins. A month after the earthquake the rubble still has not been cleared. Things get worse the deeper we go into the mountains. On the way to Nalgad, there are rows upon rows of destroyed houses. Most people are living under tarp and bamboo tents, in one of them there were seven members of a family huddled inside. One man in Kalanga had broken his arm, and was sifting through the rubble of his home with his other hand. He was sheltering in a nearby school with many other neighbours.&nbsp; A school in Nalgad was still functioning, and students were attending classes in tents. Their school was damaged and there was fear of aftershocks.&nbsp; Multiple political groups and nonprofits are helping clear the rubble in places, but no active rebuilding has started yet.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/grief-stricken-survivors-are-cold-and-hungry">Grief-stricken survivors are cold and hungry</a>, Sagar Budathoki CGI-based temporary homes might be better than tents for this winter. But rapid, affordable, earthquake resistant and sustainable rebuilding must start as soon as possible using the experience and plans developed after the 2015 earthquake. Rural municipalities must be key partners in all rebuilding efforts. Relief organisations can divide up their efforts to avoid duplication. There are prototypes for <a href="https://www.dezeen.com/2015/07/11/prototype-bamboo-shelter-nepal-earthquake-victims-built-by-unskilledworkers-three-days/amp/">winterised temporary shelters</a> and <a href="https://habitatnepal.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Bamboo-Temp-Shelter-Nepali-web.pdf">long term solutions</a> for reconstruction: Immediate Relief and Humanitarian Aid&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023120112124_fa55e5f5c7e0c08e34679ea94f7eee9d393899fe41c45d32ca0d8b3b52d00ee6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="2023120112124_fa55e5f5c7e0c08e34679ea94f7eee9d393899fe41c45d32ca0d8b3b52d00ee6" data-rendition-name="original" width="1333" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="2023 Jajarkot after earthquake NT"> </figure>  Nepal has a one-door policy currently to manage aid coming into disaster zones. Each district’s disaster relief committee is led by the Chief District Officer (CDO), who is in charge of relief items coming to the region. Jajarkot district has received tons of relief material, and local distribution was initially the bottleneck. There are still reports of items not getting to those that live in remote and roadless areas.&nbsp; We saw this week that the distribution management appeared to have improved. Items lying in municipality offices and district offices were in the process of being delivered. The municipal system makes it easy to coordinate with local ward chairs to find the areas of acute need.&nbsp; Our trucks had to be registered with the CDO with an itemised list and approved for further transport deeper into the district. The process seemed seamless. In Nalgad municipality, where few relief organisations are present, the mayor’s office and the Nepal Army have coordinated with NGOs to distribute blankets, clothes to more remote regions.&nbsp; Read also:<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/earthquake-vacates-villages-in-nepal"> Earthquake vacates villages in Nepal</a>, Anita Bhetwal The municipalities are coordinating better, and working closely with relief aid partners. But there is still a need for logistics management and strategic distribution of relief material to difficult to reach villages. Special care must be given to villages at higher altitudes where it will soon start snowing. Relief organisations must respect the one-door policy, and not bypass this effort to coordinate relief and avoid waste and overlap. The Ward chairs have their feet on the ground and are the best source for exact need. They should be made partners in all aid distribution locally.&nbsp; Healthcare&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023120112124_b094ac6d0dfcdc924f571e1308307ebaa4b6b1d2b7d5c0ebcfe290466cd3abf0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="2023120112124_b094ac6d0dfcdc924f571e1308307ebaa4b6b1d2b7d5c0ebcfe290466cd3abf0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1333" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="2023 Jajarkot after earthquake NT"> </figure>  Jajarkot has a well-equipped district hospital, and each municipality has a &nbsp;health centre. There are smaller health posts in wards within the municipality. The nearest high level facility with ICU capacity is in Surkhet.&nbsp; Jajarkot district hospital had a large number of traumas during the first weeks after the earthquake. The hospital has five medical officers, and one MDGP (consultant) physician, and can provide basic emergency care, maternal and child care including caesarean section and vaginal delivery, and has a robust pharmacy. The hospital’s patient census was not impressive during our visit.&nbsp; The Nalgad municipality health centre was busy with only one medical officer available. Large tents from UNICEF had been erected outside for additional inpatient ward and emergency space. There seems to be a gap from the district to support the local municipality's needs.&nbsp; We came across many groups coming to Jajarkot to conduct health camps. Though increased engagement has benefits, it is not so useful to have camps near the health centres or the district hospital as there are already facilities there. &nbsp;Doctors told us that they had extreme excess of certain supplies and not enough of others.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/in-a-disastrous-state">In a disastrous state</a>, Sonia Awale Groups organising health camps should focus on two areas: 1) bring specialist care that otherwise does not exist in this region, 2) reaching areas away from local health infrastructure. They must also coordinate with the district hospital and municipality health centre to assess their utility. Funds used for health camps could instead help strengthen local health facilities. The districts should divert some of their resources (doctors, nurses, etc) to some of these busy health centres in local municipalities like Nalgad. It does not make sense for one doctor to see a large number of patients in Nalgad, while the district hospital is not busy.&nbsp; Safeguarding Women and Children  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023120112124_2e48aaab35412bd26e577239a96e036781290ce1391da4a9b5d90d44410d9a63.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="2023120112124_2e48aaab35412bd26e577239a96e036781290ce1391da4a9b5d90d44410d9a63" data-rendition-name="original" width="1800" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="2023 Jajarkot after earthquake NT"> <figcaption>Ramu Kharel (left) and Maggie Doyne with locals in Jajarkot. The infant whose mother died was brought down and is recovering in ICU in Surkhet.</figcaption> </figure>  There are a large number of pregnant and postpartum women in the most affected areas in Nalgad, Rukum and Kuse. Recent news items have used false narratives to gain viewership, but there is a real need for access to appropriate ante-natal and postnatal care, which was an issue that existed before the earthquake in underserved areas of western Nepal. Jajarkot hospital, the municipal health centres are both equipped to care for most of these women. Various groups are providing warm clothes for the most vulnerable and prioritising these women for safe winterised shelters is a must.&nbsp; There are child protection units and National Child Rights Council (NCRC) offices at each municipal office. When a child, adolescent, pregnant or postpartum woman is in potential or imminent danger, it is critically important that officers be notified immediately.&nbsp; The NCRC works directly with government bodies, police, licensed shelters, and relief agencies to ensure that the woman or child is taken out of danger. NCRC and Kopila Valley are able to work together directly to safeguard the children in distress. The involvement of NCRC also prevents child smuggling and safeguards against family separation, exploitation, and human trafficking. The use of trained trauma informed social workers and child protection officers is critically important when discerning information and keeps the child’s rights and protection at the centre.&nbsp; Available health centres must be equipped with in-facility and outreach programs to identify and care for the most vulnerable in the region. This disaster could be used as an opportunity to equip and build a system around the municipal health centre and district hospitals to create innovative models like <a href="https://www.nyayahealthnepal.org/">Nyaya Health Nepal’s</a> community health care model in Achham, where community health workers are trained and equipped to provide care at home. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/rebuilding-resilience-7-years-later">Rebuilding resilience 7 years later</a>, Anil Pokharel When someone is really ill, taking the patient to Surkhet might be the only way but the road is long and hard. A streamlined approach to access government services like helicopter rescue must be available in this post-disaster setting.&nbsp; A robust ambulance and EMS service from either the municipal health centre and/or Jajarkot district hospital must be made.&nbsp; Water and Sanitation&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023120112124_186d4e99aa2c91f173de7e0e430b03a24c1099075fdbfeae8ead9b770cee9ca6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="2023120112124_186d4e99aa2c91f173de7e0e430b03a24c1099075fdbfeae8ead9b770cee9ca6" data-rendition-name="original" width="1333" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="2023 Jajarkot after earthquake NT"> </figure>  Even before the earthquake, Jajarkot and surrounding districts were hit by a cholera epidemic in 2009 that killed over 300 people, many of them children. Running water and sanitation has always been a major concern and this danger has been exacerbated with the earthquake aftermath in the dry season.&nbsp; None of the temporary tents and shelters we saw had appropriate water access and hand washing stations. Donor agency temporary toilets were dirty with no hand washing. Water and hygiene must be a priority for development groups going forward. Relief groups must put WASH in their priority.&nbsp; After meeting survivors, relief workers and local elected officials we saw a resilience and a determination to bounce back. The items we took to Nalgad are being strategically distributed in coordination with municipality offices to reach those in most need.&nbsp; We were able to locate the one-month-old infant in Nalgad municipality’s Ward 8. The infant is now getting safe ICU level care now in Surkhet, and is doing better.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/shaking-things-up">Shaking things up</a>, Editorial Resources for aid information and reporting can be found <a href="https://aidpulse.org/aidboard">here</a>. Important phone numbers:&nbsp; National Child Rights Council: 01-5550121&nbsp; Chief Minister Karnali: 985804444&nbsp; Chief District Officer Jajarkot: 9858047777&nbsp; Mayor Nalgad: 9842236335&nbsp; Mayor Kuse: 9858937755&nbsp; District Hospital Khalanga: 089-430188&nbsp; Ambulance: 102&nbsp; AIN (Federation for NGOs): 01-4468128&nbsp; Poison information center: 01-450-2011&nbsp; Suicide Hotline: 1166&nbsp; Police: 100 Ramu Kharel (ramu_kharel@brown.edu) is an emergency medicine physician with global health and public health expertise, and decade long experience in disaster response within Nepal. He is an assistant professor at Brown University, and is founder of <a href="http://www.hapsaglobe.org/">HAPSA Nepal</a>. Maggie Doyne is the co-founder of the <a href="https://blinknow.org/">BlinkNow Foundation</a> and, and has worked for 18 years in the Karnali region caring for at-risk children through community development efforts. She is a CNN Hero and author based in Surkhet.

Jajarkot: One month after the earthquake

Kathmandu Valley’s rivers have always been in full spate during the monsoon, but their wide floodplains allowed the water to spread while fertilising the banks with nutrients.
But in a process that accelerated after the multiparty system was restored in 1990, and especially since the Maoist conflict began in 1996, the Valley’s population exploded. The real estate mafia and their political partners gradually encroached on the riverine flats.
Some of the tributary streams of the Bagmati now have roads and houses built over them, others have been squeezed into narrow canals. With just 90mm of rain in 24 hours, these waterways easily overflowed this week, submerging the banks.&nbsp;
“It was not a lot of rain, but it fell over a short period and there was nowhere for the river to go,” watershed expert Madhukar Upadhyay explained to us.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/thunderstruck-in-nepal">Thunderstruck in Nepal</a>, Shristi Karki
Rainfall patterns have changed with frequent torrential microbursts or prolonged drought due to climate change, but the main reason is that we have constricted the rivers and streams.
“This should be taken as a warning,” Upadhyay added. “This week’s floods could have been as bad as they were in Uttarakhand or Beijing if rainfall was heavier. We should have had strict zoning laws about not building along floodplains.”&nbsp;
Kathmandu’s urban heat island effect meant that this year’s pre-monsoon maximum was up to 5°C higher than average. Trees that would have cooled things down are gone, concrete and asphalt trap the heat.
In winter, the Valley’s air quality is unbreathable and off the charts. Inability to control vehicular fumes, garbage burning and brick kiln emissions means suspended particles are trapped under an inversion layer. The city has now given up trying to control vehicle emissions, and subcontracted it to the private sector.
Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepal-needs-to-get-its-climate-act-together/">Nepal needs to get its climate act together</a>, Editorial
Emissions can be curbed with a systematic push towards electric public transport and battery-powered vehicles. This would also mean using surplus clean hydroelectricity that is going to waste. Instead, the government has increased taxes on electric vans.
In his election pledge, Mayor Balen Shah promised to clean up Kathmandu’s air and trash. But there has been no effort to segregate waste, leading to chronic problems at the landfill site. A foreign investment proposal to manage waste and generate power through incinerators is stuck in red tape.
None of this can be blamed on the climate crisis. Media headlines call floods ‘monsoon havoc’, but they are actually ‘human havoc’ — a result of regulatory failure, poor planning, corruption and individual greed.
Yet, there is a climate dimension that is making existing problems worse. A new report by the Integrated Centre for Mountain Development (ICIMOD) shows that Himalayan glaciers shrank 65% faster between 2010-2020 compared to the decade before. At this rate, 80% of the ice mass will be gone by 2100. In addition, springs are going dry and the water table has receded.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/un-climate-report-declares-planetary-emergency/">UN climate report declares planetary emergency</a>, Sonia Awale
“We are now past adapting to climate-induced calamities, we have to talk about mechanisms to pay for loss and damage,” &nbsp;<a href="https://climateanalytics.org/events/2023/loss-and-damage-in-south-asia-what-cop28-needs-to-deliver-for-the-region/?fbclid=IwAR0XTyAN82s5-twHW0V5IK2c1nrIeIonmHjJykMc_WDIm1VduBfMfVyjpeg">ICIMOD Director Pema Gyamtsho told a webinar</a> this week hosted by Climate Analytics South Asia. “But while the global community debates loss and damage, climate-induced disasters continue to render many people homeless and hopeless.”
This July was the hottest ever globally, and some weather extremes that climatologists had predicted would take place by 2050 are already happening. World leaders will meet in Dubai at COP28 in November and discuss reparations for climate harm.
“Loss and damage funds may or may not happen, but we in Nepal must take preventive action with local participation immediately,” says Madhukar Upadhyay.
That advice is most relevant for Kathmandu, where federal agencies and mayors must work in close coordination to tackle the Valley’s polycrisis.
Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/we-have-not-respected-the-fragility-of-the-himalaya">“We have not respected the fragility of the Himalaya”</a>, Nepali Times

Sonia Awale

Kathmandu’s Polycrisis

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111132/637219399c7e80680e0baa8ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Photo: AMIT MACHAMASI</figcaption></figure>The Melamchi flood of 15 June last year and several hours of a historical hailstorm on 20 February earlier this year in Pokhara are just the two latest examples of climate-related loss and damage in Nepal.The Melamchi flood almost exactly a year ago went beyond lives lost and infrastructure damaged. The entire stretch of the scenic river valley lost its base of ecosystem services and aesthetic value that was a draw for visitors.There are several theories concerning the origin of the flood and what exactly triggered it, but there is no doubt that it is a combination of climate change-related trends.The other freak weather event, an off-season heavy rainfall coupled with hailstorm during the dry season meant that much of the ready-to-harvest paddy in Pokhara valley was laid to waste. The intensity and the subsequent damage was unprecedented.But is Nepal, one of the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of the climate emergency, ready to cope with loss and damage on such scales?Nepal’s existing two-pillar climate policy — adaptation and mitigation — does not have provisions to compensate for the losses and damages. This policy is therefore grossly inadequate and ineffective in saving lives, livelihoods and ecosystems.In fact, with climate change impact now crossing the adaptation threshold, loss and damage have become unavoidable across vulnerable countries. This requires the third pillar for a climate solution, namely Loss and Damage (L&amp;D), a concept which gained momentum during the COP26 in Glasgow last year.But the L&amp;D mechanism is moving at a much slower pace during global climate negotiations, with some fundamental disagreements remaining unresolved, especially as the developed nations intend to limit response measures within the scope of the adaptation and mitigation pillars, and have not accepted L&amp;D for fear of additional economic burden.One of the reasons behind this is that, while the global discourses on L&amp;D are helpful to inform theoretical debates, they rarely offer practical solutions. A growing body of anticipatory research advocates L&amp;D as the third way to counter multi-dimensional climate change impact, but falls short of clarifying an approach and an actionable framework to measure and respond to the loss and damage events.In a notable progression of the agenda, the 2013 Conference of Parties (COP) adopted the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage. This first international policy document paved the way to address the issue. Since then, the focus of global advocacy has been on securing climate finance to support the most affected countries with weak economies.In recent years, Nepal has been pursuing the agenda at international fora by sharing anecdotal cases of recurrent climate-induced loss and damage. But, despite being a ‘hotspot’ for climate change extremities and subsequent impact, progress on L&amp;D remains extremely slow with climate policies lacking robust framework to guide action.Weather ‘surprises’ have become the new normal, and Nepal is on an uncharted path of climate crises bearing immense losses. But what is worrying is that the intensified climate impact is pushing many communities and ecosystems beyond adaptation thresholds.Reports of loss and damage start pouring in from early monsoon and continue for the next 100 days during which 80% of the country’s annual rainfall occurs. The predictable pattern of rhythmic monsoon rains has now become more erratic with short, intense and localised rainfall, often followed by a period of longer breaks or droughts.Rainfall events in Nepal are still recorded at weather stations with 24-hourly manually operated rain gauge. Thus the ‘mean’ and ‘average’ climate data of the past could not measure instant fluctuations and extreme weather incidents, rendering them quite useless when it comes to determining trends like cloudbursts.The good news is that record-keeping has largely improved over the years even though these are not easily accessible to the public. Linking local incidents of loss and damage to instant data of extreme weather and climate phenomena (intensity, frequency and volume) may help to identify and articulate the L&amp;D issues more clearly in the days ahead.Like many developing countries, Nepal’s early responses to climate change were framed largely based on global scenarios as there was no scientific database at local levels. While these shortcomings persist, the rapid emergence of medium and large scale climate extremes is already taking a toll on the national economy and livelihoods.With the recently launched ‘National Framework on Climate Change-induced Loss and Damage, 2021’, Nepal has positioned itself among the countries in the frontline to articulate the loss and damage component, redefining it in the national context with a focus on the urgent need of saving the diverse natural ecosystems and development infrastructure, including cultural heritage.The definition itself reflects the underlying ideas but it hardly helps with identifying and categorising the recurrent events in the country. As the Least Developed Countries advocate for compensation payments based on assessments of economic and non-economic losses, the focus should be on assessing, categorising and prioritising the changing climate and weather events. Nepal now must address L&amp;D through a three-pronged strategy.First, by recognising it as a critical component of climate response at home, and a key strategy for policy negotiation.Second, by mapping adaptation thresholds and the unavoidable risks to lives and livelihood, accommodating underlying economic and ecosystem vulnerabilities of localities to create a scientific analysis and database.Third, by making our development plan climate-resilient through the use of scientific data and transparent governance so that we can avoid or minimise risks and losses, such as the Melamchi flood at the start of the monsoon exactly a year ago.All of this means conceiving a multifront response mechanism to save lives and livelihoods of the most vulnerable at local levels while strengthening the national database of climate-induced losses and damages by overcoming the existing barriers.Ngamindra Dahal is the chair of Nepal Water Conservation Foundation for Academic Research (NWCF) and a Senior Research Fellow at Southasia Institute of Advanced Studies. Hemant Ojha is a Senior Policy Adviser with the Institute for Study and Development Worldwide (IFSD) and an Associate Professor at the University of Canberra.

Who will pay for climate disasters?

<figure><img width="960" height="640" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016118/636d14149c7e80680e0a995cjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: AMIT MACHAMASI</figcaption></figure>After the flashflood of international media coverage of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, the climate emergency has now fallen off the headlines. The Nepali delegation has returned after setting ambitious targets for forestry, adaptation and net-zero.Now, the real work begins. It is time to walk the talk, so that the people of Manang and Melamchi who suffered devastating floods this monsoon do not just get relief, but are protected from future climate calamities.My own home and farm along the Melamchi <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/think-globally-in-glasgow-and-act-locally/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/think-globally-in-glasgow-and-act-locally/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1637647216248000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1l6Qdqf2cPzviP8RzuawAE">was washed away by the freak floods of 15-16 July</a>, and there is no doubt that the severity of extreme weather has increased due to the warming trend in the Himalaya.  Despite being pitted as a ‘make-or-break’ climate summit that would set strict global targets to reduce carbon emissions by 45% from 2010 levels in the next nine years, and net-zero by 2050, to keep the warming at 1.5°, the UN conference was reduced to just a photo-op for leaders from over 140 countries and their 40,000+ delegates.Aside from their own combined carbon emissions for roundtrips to Glasgow, the leaders did not show the needed commitment to limit global heating to below 2° Celsius, let alone 1.5°. In fact, the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) submitted by 194 countries will bring down the warming to only 2.4°. Global carbon emission cuts are needed to prevent continental-scale wildfires, more extreme heat waves, flash-floods, glacial melt,  and mass extinctions. The summit also came short in delivering committed finance to developing countries and addressing loss and damage issues. At most, the two-week-long intense negotiations ended with the adoption of the ‘Glasgow Climate Pact,’ which was watered down with the last minute change from coal ‘phaseout’ to ‘phasedown’. But semantics aside, the explicit mention of coal reduction in the climate summit was indication that fossil fuels may finally be on their way out.Even so, the COP26 outcomes did not meet the expectations of countries like Nepal. The Nepal delegation sent a clear message about the urgency of tackling the planetary emergency, citing recent experiences of climate-induced disasters in the country, and pledged to do its bit.Developing countries failed to get desired commitments from industrialised countries about compensation for climate-induced disasters, especially on the agenda of ‘loss and damage’ which would have directly benefited Nepal.The demand of developing countries in establishing the Loss and Damage Facility to finance and support poor and vulnerable nations where climate adaptation limits are exhausted was limited to agreeing on the functions and financing arrangements for technical assistance under the Santiago Network on Loss and Damage.The failure of developed countries to jointly mobilise $100 billion per year by 2020 for climate action was met with harsh criticism prompting them to lay out the ‘Climate Finance Delivery Plan’ in meeting the previous commitment as well as pledge to double the adaptation finance by 2025.Similarly, a clear roadmap was developed to decide on a new collective quantified goal on climate finance going beyond 2025 from a floor of $100 billion per year. A work program from 2022 to 2024 to deliberate and agree on a new goal has been set up.COP26 completed the remaining elements of the Paris Agreement ‘Rulebook’ that had been pending for six years. Market and non-market rules for trading carbon credits have been agreed upon by allowing nations to meet their NDC target by offsetting through green projects in other countries. Developing countries including Nepal gain to benefit from investment in renewable energy, forest protection and other carbon reduction projects through the flow of capital and technology transfer. A levy of 5% from these projects will go to the Adaptation Fund to support adaptation actions in developing countries.Industrialised nations have committed to double adaptation finance with grant components. They have also pledged nearly $1.5 billion to the Adaptation Fund (AF), Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) and the Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF). Nepal must reap benefits from these limited opportunities for its climate action.If Nepal is to benefit from any of these outcomes and international agreements, it will have to start meticulous preparation. More importantly, we need to craft a robust implementation plan with the neediest and the most vulnerable at the centre, to meet the climate targets we have committed to in the NDC and the National Adaptation Plan submitted to the UN.At the end of the day, attending international conferences and raising mountain issues will not protect local communities from the worsening impacts of the climate crisis. These climate summits provide guidance, but most of our work has to be done here at home.Let us start with what is within our resources: build climate resilient communities by electrifying transport and cooking, reduce the import bill and improve public health. Raju Pandit Chhetri works on climate change issues and attended the recently concluded COP26 in Glasgow. <img width="80" height="109" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016118/636d14179c7e80680e0a995djpeg.jpg" alt="">Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/think-globally-in-glasgow-and-act-locally/"> Think globally in Glasgow, and act locally</a>, Raju Pandit Chhetri

Post-COP26, Nepal’s real work now begins

<figure><img width="800" height="438" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d133b9c7e80680e0a9911jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>The avalanche that came off Mt Tukuche in Nepal’s Mustang District on 14 November illustrates the kinds of multi-hazards present in the Himalaya. A dozen students fleeing a school below were injured while escaping, and there were reports of widespread livestock loss. Excessive post-monsoon snowfall could have contributed to the avalanche, which also resulted in flooding on a tributary of the Kali Gandaki.</figcaption></figure>Hazards in the Himalaya do not queue up politely to occur one at a time. More often, they occur together and, when they do, their cumulative effect is greater than the sum of their parts. When floods and landslides happen at once, for instance, the impact of each is intensified by the other. Still, it remains common to approach risk reduction for each hazard individually. In Nepal, and the wider Himalayan region, the coincidence of multiple hazards necessitates a multi-hazard approach to disaster risk reduction.At best, considering one hazard at a time is wishful thinking. At worst, single-hazard approaches reduce the risk of one hazard only to increase the risk from others. To avoid these tradeoffs, a multi-hazard approach manages the connections between hazards to reduce overall risk. Shifting perspective from single- to multi-hazard risk may appear subtle, but our recent research shows the stakes are high. Our team studied three dominant hazards — floods, landslides, and wildfires — and found that many Himalayan residents live in areas highly susceptible to more than one of them. If other hazards (like drought, heat stress, or earthquakes) were added to our study, it is likely that the population exposed to multi-hazards would be even higher. The predictions made by hazard models can vary considerably and their results depend especially on which set of previous hazards they consider, but the message emerging from this research is clear: Since many people in the Himalaya live in multi-hazard environments, managing one hazard at a time could have disastrous consequences. <figure><img width="2501" height="1332" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d133e9c7e80680e0a9912jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Importantly, adopting a multi-hazard approach does not mean making things more complicated. Instead, it can identify synergies to address them together, while providing a basis for collaboration for aligning single hazard management and governance practices that could otherwise conflict. A multi-hazard approach is relatively new, but multi-hazards themselves are already here. They can take many forms. Sometimes, one hazard causes another: In 2015, the Mw 7.8 Gorkha earthquake caused thousands of landslides and claimed thousands of lives. Or, in February of this year, a <a href="https://www.icimod.org/article/understanding-the-chamoli-flood-cause-process-impacts-and-context-of-rapid-infrastructure-development/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.icimod.org/article/understanding-the-chamoli-flood-cause-process-impacts-and-context-of-rapid-infrastructure-development/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1637032361315000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1TMfOVKuNvXo6wVNvXAAsm">rockslide triggered massive flooding</a> in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, claiming over 70 lives and damaging multiple hydropower projects. Other times, hazards happen together. For example, this year’s monsoon season caused <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-valley-suffers-quadruple-disaster/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-valley-suffers-quadruple-disaster/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1637032361315000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0GCEQeMHKILrZSwBGgTR4n">destructive flooding and landslides</a> in many districts in Nepal (the effects of which were exacerbated by the ongoing pandemic). Without causing another hazard directly, one hazard can worsen the effects of another, such as last year’s widespread forest fires in Nepal that denuded hillsides, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/monsoon-hits-nepal-with-a-bang/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/monsoon-hits-nepal-with-a-bang/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1637032361315000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0jHHk_D84gbE7XCdXxb9ld">making the slopes more prone to landslides, mudflows, and flooding</a>. Other threats loom on the horizon. The latest report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) makes it clear that climate-related multi-hazards will become more common and more intense in the future. Glacial lakes at risk of outburst flooding are growing due to climate change, while changing precipitation patterns could make both seasonal flooding and forest fires more frequent and destructive. These changes interact in complex ways, raising the overall threat from multi-hazards. As climate change intensifies multi-hazards, current patterns of urbanisation will continue to put more people in harm’s way. Our research shows a high level of settlement in areas also prone to multi-hazards; people may be unaware of multi-hazard risk, or immediate concerns for their livelihood overrule potential future risk from catastrophic multi-hazards. In either case, people settle in multi-hazard-prone areas to access economic, healthcare, or educational opportunities. Thus, an important component of reducing risk is in providing sustainable livelihoods in less risky areas. Impoverished people in multi-hazard areas may not have the resources necessary to recover from disaster or to settle in safer areas if those areas have lower levels of access.  <figure><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d13419c7e80680e0a9913jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Gender disparities increase risks to women, and religious minorities may not have equal access to disaster preparedness resources in some places. Multi-hazards are natural events with human effects. Thus, beside technical and governance issues, a multi-hazard approach should consider how multi-hazards multiply the risks faced by already vulnerable populations.With a multi-hazard approach, synergies are possible. For instance, <a href="https://www.iucn.org/sites/dev/files/content/documents/bioengineering_brochure_hr.pdf" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.iucn.org/sites/dev/files/content/documents/bioengineering_brochure_hr.pdf&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1637032361315000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2Lq1Jfzk5Xb_CeV6qBLNbk">soil bioengineering</a> is an established set of techniques in Nepal that focuses on conditions — vegetation, drainage, and sediment — that contribute to multiple hazards. By focusing on the conditions where hazards intersect, practices like bioengineering could be more suitable for a multi-hazard environment than those that focus on reducing the risk of a specific hazard alone.Without a multi-hazard approach, reducing the risk from one hazard could increase the risk of another. In the wake of this year’s fire season, for example, unvegetated buffers around developed areas may seem like a good option for preventing fire damage to structures. But these areas more easily erode, potentially contributing to landslides or mudflows. Similarly, slope stabilisation to prevent landslides, especially around road cuts, can increase surface runoff and exacerbate flooding. Engineering approaches are important, but multi-hazard risk reduction is not just a technical problem. Governance issues are at the root of both major opportunities and challenges for mitigating multi-hazard risk. A significant obstacle to adopting a multi-hazard approach is existing mandates for governing bodies to manage single hazards in isolation. For example, federalisation in Nepal gave the Ministry of Home Affairs the mandate to manage forest fire risk, but the mitigation of floods and landslides, which interact with forest fires, often remains at the municipal level. These divisions can lead to conflicts between agencies, while a multi-hazard approach can align mandates otherwise focused on single hazards. Nepal’s Disaster Risk Reduction Strategic Action Plan is already taking steps in this direction.  <figure><img width="4940" height="3965" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d13449c7e80680e0a9914jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>In addition to managing connections between hazards, governance practices aimed at reducing multi-hazard risk can facilitate two other forms of collaboration: across borders, and between people, residents and otherwise, with different forms of expertise.First, current collaboration across borders in the Himalaya should be expanded and strengthened. Both hazards and people cross borders, so multi-hazard mitigation must do the same. This last summer, for instance, a landslide-dammed lake in the Rongxer basin in China <a href="https://www.icimod.org/article/the-melamchi-flood-disaster/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.icimod.org/article/the-melamchi-flood-disaster/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1637032361315000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2EsX51_SbSWuFjpxRyRC6D">threatened Nepali settlements downstream</a> along the Tama Kosi River with flooding. Further along the same river, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-kosis-sorrow-and-scope/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-kosis-sorrow-and-scope/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1637032361315000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0D5xTZ_9lCZdd17ab60kVm">sedimentation in Nepal is one of many factors</a> contributing to downstream flooding in Bihar, India. The establishment of cross-border early warning agreements is an important way to reduce these risks and is a first step toward connecting upstream and downstream risk reduction through a multi-hazard approach.Second, the collaboration between people with different types of knowledge about hazard risk — including technical, development, and local experts — is essential for ensuring the success of risk reduction programs. An inspiring precedent for this kind of collaboration is the development of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Recharging-the-mountains,3465" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Recharging-the-mountains,3465&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1637032361315000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0m8l5RSFN5WSy2wB1oMXhv">jholmal</a> natural fertiliser and pesticide. The development of jholmal required combining local practices with the work of technical specialists and efforts to reduce chemical runoff and farming costs to create a cost-effective formula easily communicated to and replicated by the region’s residents and other local experts. This collaborative and multi-pronged approach can serve as model for mitigating multi-hazard risk. A focus on multi-hazards does not contradict the need to reduce the risk associated with individual hazards; instead, a multi-hazard approach is an opportunity to align risk reduction measures to avoid tradeoffs and find synergies. Adopting a multi-hazard approach may present technical or governance challenges but the opportunity is clear: in the face of ongoing climate change and urbanisation, effective disaster risk reduction in environments such as Nepal, the Himalaya, and other mountainous regions necessitates a multi-hazard approach.Jack Rusk is a member of the <a href="https://urbanhimalaya.yale.edu/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://urbanhimalaya.yale.edu/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1637032361315000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1cdFH8tcfgFtKCY-vVpPAE">Urban Himalaya</a> research team. Urban Himalaya is an international, interdisciplinary, collaborative research partnership that seeks to understand urbanization and vulnerability in the Himalaya. Our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969721051147" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969721051147&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1637032361315000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3MqefP8QtVEj91d-Qi1u3b">recent research</a> on multi-hazards was published in the journal Science of the Total Environment.

Multipronged response to Nepal’s multi-hazards

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108111156/636a36999c7e80680e048319jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Tornado in Bara. Photo: RSS</figcaption></figure>This is the season for windstorms, and even though the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/groound-zero-in-pheta/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">whirlwind</a> that hit the central Tarai on 31 March killing 28 people was a freak event, it was not the first to touch down in our part of the world.Novelist Amitabh Ghosh begins his 2016 non-fiction book, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/book-reviews-new-year-2074,3654" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable</a>, with his personal encounter with a funnel-shaped tornado that struck New Delhi on 17 March 1978. It killed 70 and injured 700 in just 2 minutes.Ghosh writes that the Indian Meterological Service said at the time: ‘This was, in effect, the first tornado to hit Delhi—and indeed the entire region—in recorded meteorological history.’Birganj-based journalist Chandra Kishore remembers a similar devastating vortex that destroyed parts of his Tarai village in the mid-1980s. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/toll-expected-to-double-to-50-in-tornado/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In Pheta</a> on the night of 31 March, most of the deaths were due to poorly built structures, not the actual tornado, proving once again that it is shoddily-built houses that kill people not natural events.When Ghosh encountered the tornado in 1978 in New Delhi, the Earth’s atmosphere had 334ppm (parts per million) of carbon dioxide. In the 19th century, before the industrial age, it was 280ppm. By 2019, the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere has increased to 411ppm, most of it because of fossil fuel emissions.With so much carbon in the atmosphere, climate change is no longer something that will happen in a distant future — <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/a-terrifying-assessment-of-himalayan-melting/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">it is happening now</a>. Events like the Tarai tornado are <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/the-new-normal-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our new normal</a> and highlight the growing impacts of an erratic climate and its rising social and economic cost. No country is immune, all countries have to adapt and also cut their emissions by switching to renewable energy.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=25490&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal's electric transport future is here</a>, Sonia AwaleNepal’s Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM) collects wind speed data at the airport to assist flight operations, for academic assessment of wind energy potentials and for designing buildings and infrastructure. Wind hazards have always been there, but death and destruction of the scale that Pheta witnessed has not been part of our understanding.As an under-budgeted and under-staffed entity, the DHM has the lowest priority from the Nepali state, preventing it from becoming a repository of climate knowledge. As one of the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, Nepal needs to upgrade its weather forecasting and early warning.The Pheta tragedy revealed a major gap in the DHM’s ability to ‘nowcast’ weather, the process of warning people about what is likely to happen in the next few hours at a spatial resolution of a few square kilometres. The department needs to be able to provide local, short-term forecasting, perhaps by collaborating with others like Tribhuvan University’s Physics Department.The twister also exposed gaps in our <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/disastrous-management-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">disaster management institutions</a>. Nepal’s 2017 Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act has replaced the 1982 Natural Calamity Relief Act, so there are now 15 legal tools and guidelines covering the entire disaster cycle. However, these have not been contextualised for our local situation, where the understanding of national policies and laws is still limited.The Ministry of Home Affairs held a meeting of the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Committee on 5 April, chaired by the Home Affairs Minister himself. It issued a 13-point decision to expedite relief and increase preparedness for the coming monsoon season.Province 2 has also taken a number of decisions including one to build prefabricated houses for the Pheta victims within four months. The government in Kathmandu, however, decided to assign the Nepal Army to rebuild the damaged houses. The army played a commendable role in rescue and relief efforts during the 2015 earthquake and in other disasters, but it is worth asking why it needs to be involved in reconstruction of private homes.The Nepal Army is there to defend our borders and be the first responder in a disaster; building houses is not its job. Reconstruction requires working iteratively with local governments to support victims in self-recovery and building back safer without reproducing past vulnerabilities. The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) already has a track record of helping earthquake-affected families build houses, and it could have easily been assigned that responsibility in Pheta.Such complex institutional dynamics often create more constraints than solutions, at a time when there are new challenges due to climate change-induced disasters. Nepal’s national, provincial and local governments, and society by and large, do not have the necessary wherewithal to adapt and are the least prepared. The poor are the most vulnerable, and as Pheta proved, are likely going to pay the highest price.Ajaya Dixit is Executive Director of Kathmandu based ISET-Nepal. His monthly column Climate for Change deals with the impact of global warming in Nepal.

Life in the time of tornadoes

The daily 10-hour curfew at Tribhuvan International Airport from 8 November that will last five months has affected tourism during Nepal’s peak season, with some hotels and trekking agencies here reporting cancellations into spring next year. The reduced hours at Nepal’s main aviation gateway till 31 March means that a third of all flights have been cut. This has also caused ticket prices to surge by up to eight times of normal fares. For example a Kathmandu-Delhi ticket that used to cost Rs12,000 is now listed at Rs50,000, and even then seats are not available.&nbsp; “Especially if they are here to trek, change in flight dates can cause tourists to miss their connections,” says Jagan Timilsina, who runs a trail running and outdoor education business. &nbsp; Pokhara is feeling the brunt as hotels report last-minute cancellations for November because of flight disorders. Some hoteliers also say although there have been some cancelled trips, most itineraries have been rescheduled.&nbsp; Hari Prasad Sharma Gaire of the local chapter of the Hotel Association of Nepal says the Kathmandu airport closure should have been timed for the off-season. He told us: “Starting construction during the peak tourist season was a mistake and will cause the tourism industry to lose a lot of business. The upgrade could have been spread out over a longer time but closed for fewer hours at night so that disruption was minimal.”&nbsp; Nearly a third of the 1.2 million tourists who visit Nepal annually come to Pokhara, which is also the gateway to Mustang, the Annapurna treks and pilgrimage tourism to Muktinath. Located by scenic lakes with a range of adventure sports like hot air ballooning, paragliding, canyoning, bungee and ziplines, Pokhara is also popular among diaspora Nepalis. “Besides its own attractions, Pokhara is really the hub for central Nepal, and we have been trying to get visitors to extend their stay here,” says Timilsina, who started out as a trekking porter and rose up the ranks to be an expedition guide and entrepreneur. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024111603114_0e071ce63ea9b0a9a7ee76f8c3cea0ff08c6767c41dd09f6bc4413d2db067a60.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2024111603114_0e071ce63ea9b0a9a7ee76f8c3cea0ff08c6767c41dd09f6bc4413d2db067a60" data-rendition-name="original" width="3500" height="2333" loading="lazy" alt="Pokhara's tourism woes NT"> <figcaption>Tourist arrivals in Pokhara have slumped since the disruptions at Kathmandu airport due to upgrading work. Photo: KRISHNA MANI BARAL/NEPALI TIMES ARCHIVE</figcaption> </figure>  Even without the Kathmandu airport closure affecting tourist arrivals, Pokhara was already suffering from a decline due to many factors like the poor state of the Prithvi Highway, the shortage of luxury accommodation for high-end tourists, and the reluctance of international airlines to start direct flights to Pokhara despite an expensive new airport that was inaugurated two years ago.&nbsp; “There was a lot of initial excitement on the construction of the international airport,” says Timilsina, “but it hasn’t delivered as expected due to politics. People have invested in nearby businesses, and have faced losses.” India has blocked direct flights from its cities to Pokhara because the facility was built by a Chinese company. Although tourists and pilgrims from India hit record levels this year, the poor state of the highways and the Indian bus accident on the highway to Kathmandu in July that killed 27 pilgrims from Maharashtra state dampened arrival figures. Gaire says, “While tourist arrivals to Pokhara are now approaching pre-Covid levels, we haven’t seen the improvement we were expecting. We need a better marketing strategy. What are our embassies abroad doing?”&nbsp; Indeed, Pokhara used to be a favourite destination for Chinese tourists. There was a boom in arrivals from China before Covid, especially after a popular Chinese tv serial was shot on location here. But arrivals from China have not really recovered since the pandemic because of the economic slowdown there. Promoting Pokhara airport to handle direct flights from Chengdu or Kunming could revive Chinese arrivals.&nbsp; Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAAN) has used the Kathmandu airport closure as an excuse to arm-twist international airlines to start flying to Bhairawa, which has barely been in operation for two years since it was inaugurated. So far, Fly Dubai, Thai AirAsia, Jazeera and Qatar are flying to Bhairawa, but most use it as a hop before flying on to Kathmandu, which does not reduce congestion at Kathmandu.&nbsp; An ideal situation could have been to get Pokhara to run to full capacity while Kathmandu is partially out of action. Pokhara entrepreneurs are puzzled why the CAAN and the national government have not taken more interest in promoting Pokhara as an alternative to reduce the congestion in Kathmandu. Nepal’s football team that was flying to Dushanbe this week couldn’t get tickets via Delhi, and took a domestic flight to Bhadrapur, crossed over to Bagdogra and flew on to Delhi to catch their flight to Tajikistan.

Pokhara’s tourism woes

An excerpt of a conversation between an anthropologist and linguist Mark Turin, PhD and Lava Deo Awasthi, PhD, the first Chairperson of the Language Commission of Nepal. Nepali Times: What is the role of Nepal’s Language Commission and when was it formed? Lava Deo Awasthi: The Constitution of Nepal (2015) created a Language Commission (LC) with the following four core mandates: (a) to develop eligibility criteria for gaining status as an official language and offer recommendations to the Government of Nepal about the official language(s) in each province; (b) to offer recommendations to the Government about measures to be taken for the conservation, promotion, and development of languages; (c) to suggest possible ways of using mother tongues in education by assessing their stage of development; and, (d) to conduct studies, carry out research and perform monitoring functions about the response to the constitutional provisions for the federalisation of languages in Nepal. The Commission was founded in 2016 and I was appointed as the Chairperson of the Commission in September of the same year by the Cabinet of Ministers. What in your own professional and educational background helped to prepare you for the role? I have worked with the Government of Nepal for about 30 years, alongside holding teaching appointments at universities in Nepal. Prior to assuming the role of the Chairperson of the Commission, I served as permanent Secretary to the Government of Nepal and worked as the Chief Administrator of the Central Development Region. I was appointed as Director General of the Department of Education and completed my assignments as Joint Secretary at the Planning, Monitoring and Educational Administration Divisions of the Ministry of Education.&nbsp; In addition, I have taught courses as a visiting professor at Tribhuvan University and Kathmandu University for more than three decades. Later, I also started supervising MPhil and PhD students at the Far Western University in Mahendranagar, Kanchanpur. My PhD project from the Danish University of Education was dedicated to making sense of Nepal’s social construct and commitment to multilingualism, exploring the persistence of monolingual school practices in the face of constitutional promises and state commitments to multilingualism. I conducted a survey of Nepal’s languages and carried out a qualitative study of the Tharu language in the district of Bardia. I analysed language policy statements and explored classroom pedagogies in schools. I documented how teachers showed a tendency to resist change and maintain the status quo because they were not consulted when new educational language policies were introduced. Teachers also exhibited a deeply-held adherence to the Gurukul education system which appears to have been harnessed as a way to resist newer pedagogical ideologies imported from the West. Recognising how engrained these rich traditions of knowledge transmission are, I wanted to know how students’ engagement in the learning process appeared to have dwindled, creating a gap between children’s home languages and the language(s) of the school. Whilst statutory provisions for education in the mother tongue were oriented towards promotion, classroom pedagogies remained resolutely monolingual and exclusionary. The result was that multilingual education policies that had been introduced in Nepal did not result in meaningful changes in classroom practices. My research was also a reflection of childhood traumas I had experienced at the earliest stage of formal education. My home language, Baitadeli, has a strong oral tradition and no written literature. English is my fifth language in terms of exposure and competence, and my home district of Baitadi is well-known for its loyalty to the local language. I had to drop out of school after completing my sixth grade. Staying at home, I received much attention from my family and had much greater exposure to my native language, culture and environment. My overall impression is that dropping out of school had a surprisingly positive impact on my life. The opportunity offered a surprising dividend for me as I gained mastery in my mother tongue and received extensive exposure to folk literature and Indigenous knowledge and survival skills, cultivating my interest in language, culture, literature and local cosmologies.&nbsp; Now that I reflect on it, I appreciate how language has always played a key role in my life. I grew up in a multilingual environment: brought up with Baitadeli, Hindi, Sanskrit, Nepali and English. Language played a major part in my decision to leave school and my later success is closely linked to my competence in several languages. It was rewarding to be at home with my family as I deepened my understanding of native language and culture, which in turn helped me to harness and refine my art of living. Languages matter so much to me because they are both software and hardware. Later, when I was in secondary school, I realised that my command of my home language contributed significantly to enhancing my Nepali and English. I used my mother tongue as a form of linguistic capital to strengthen my competence in both English and Nepali.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024111811110_5400ba54792bf9e4854e1c1effde8bf09804e99647f23513700b450cc49adc4a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2024111811110_5400ba54792bf9e4854e1c1effde8bf09804e99647f23513700b450cc49adc4a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="Dr Lava Deo Awasthi"> </figure>  In your term as the Commission’s first Chairperson, what were your strategic goals and objectives? My first strategic goal was to create an environment conducive to implementing the provisions of the Constitution of Nepal in relation to language. My priority was to prepare a detailed action plan for my six-year tenure in consultation with language stakeholders, including language experts, professionals, activists, Indigenous community members and representatives of relevant national and local-level institutions. The Commission formed a body of high-level advisors to ensure that the Chairperson’s work was well-informed and credible. The advisors to the committee had highly visible professional and social reputations in Nepal and had much experience in the field of language conservation, promotion, research and development. Another strategy we adopted was to establish close institutional linkages with federal, provincial, and local level governments for collecting opinions and disseminating information widely.&nbsp; What critical issues did you have to consider while discharging your duty? When Nepal’s new Constitution was drafted, a number of concerns could not be adequately addressed. These related to the conservation of languages, the recognition of official languages at the provincial level, and the use of mother tongues at federal, provincial, and local levels. These unresolved issues and matters pertaining to the federalizsation of Nepal’s languages were passed on to the Language Commission to address and resolve.&nbsp; Regarding the recommendations for official languages, a five-year timeline had been set by the Constitution. With great effort, we succeeded in having all provinces agree to recognise their official languages as per the recommendations of the Commission.&nbsp; What were your greatest achievements during your term? One of the greatest achievements was that we succeeded in setting a language agenda at all levels. Nepal’s language communities and other stakeholders expressed the view that this was the first time their languages were recognised and their voices heard by the state. People participated in debates and discussed issues relating to language that in all likelihood had never before happened in their lifetimes, at least not in ways that were supported by the state. We encouraged people to speak in their own language(s) and provided translators during plenary sessions and group discussions. Another major achievement was developing criteria for the status planning of languages at federal, provincial, and local levels, and to recommend 11 province-level official languages, in addition to the Nepali language. Similarly, a notable achievement was recognising Indigenous languages spoken by smaller communities, all of whom faced ongoing marginalisation and high levels of endangerment. The Commission identified 9 new languages that had not been reported in the 2011 census, and provided a framework for recognising official languages within a municipality. The commission emphasised the need for documentation and digitisation of languages for developing corpora and archives at national and sub-national levels.&nbsp; Languages of historical importance as well as classical languages were given recognition for their protection, growth, and development. Recommendations were made for the conservation, promotion and development of Nepal’s marginalised languages that are threatened by majority languages and for those languages that hold particular power at local and global levels. Recommendations were also made for how best to safeguard Nepal’s languages from the ever-growing spread of English and other powerful, globalising languages.&nbsp; A further important aspect of the Commission’s work was to emphasise mother tongue medium instruction in schools across the nation. Recognising the role of language in children’s cognitive, socio-emotional and academic development, the Commission suggested strategies for linking schools with ward-level language clusters for use in the classroom. The importance of nurturing and respecting a child’s first language was reiterated in the Commission’s recommendations for children’s learning and all-round development. By the end of my term, a remarkable change could be observed in terms of building trust within and across Nepal’s diverse language communities. A network of language groups and stakeholders across the country proved to be a powerful way of bringing all language communities under one roof for a collective review of and response to the process of federalising language policy. The many language stakeholders across Nepal appreciated the opportunity to work within a coordinated framework, and—feeling empowered by this—seemed genuinely enthusiastic about the initiatives taken by the Commission.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024111811114_b45297fdd2fedf17bdb6313e495a1062c0d87f1a19fa5349f871f220b75f93ab.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2024111811114_b45297fdd2fedf17bdb6313e495a1062c0d87f1a19fa5349f871f220b75f93ab" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Dr Lava Deo Awasthi NT"> </figure>  What were the most significant challenges for you as Chairperson? One of the major challenges was winning people’s trust in advocating for the mission of the Language Commission. I faced considerable resistance as I sought to emphasise the use of native languages in families and communities. While the Commission advocated for multilingualism and promoted linguistic diversity, the prevailing policy circles and central level institutions had been deeply influenced by a one-language discourse and ideology of Nepali only. The spread of English also poses a huge threat to Nepal’s languages. However, people in power do not seem to see this as a problem. They tend to abandon their own languages in preference for English. The way that Nepal’s municipalities are increasingly introducing English as a medium of instruction at the earliest stage of a child’s school-based education has proven to be detrimental to their cognitive development, socio-emotional wellbeing and academic success. Most of Nepal’s elites have been heavily influenced by the spread of English and remain unaware about its impact on their home languages as well as on the inter-generational transmission of Indigenous languages in the country. I wish that we could have produced more compelling evidence to show the consequences of making poor policy choices for our children’s education. Demystification calls for a collective response. To make change happen across this entire, complex and federalising country was daunting work and left like a race against time. I feel that I could have done more to offer concrete examples in favour of using the mother tongue as a medium of children’s education at the earliest stages of a child’s education. What do you see the Language Commission achieving in the next 5-10 years? The Language Commission will have to ensure that all of its key recommendations are implemented at all levels of government. In 10 years’ time, all seven of Nepal’s provinces will have their official languages in place. These languages will also be recognised as languages of federal business, alongside Nepali. I anticipate that all official languages in the federal and provincial systems will have a national portal for inter-language corpora using machine translation to fulfil their federal, provincial and local level language functions, and that all languages spoken in Nepal will be represented through a digital database in the national archive. The Office of Statistics will monitor the status of Nepal’s languages over time. By the end of the next decade, each municipality in the country will have recognised one or two official languages at the local level, based on speech populations. Other local languages will have received community-level legal recognition and official status to fulfil their functional roles. Languages that are highly endangered or at risk will be entitled to receive state grants for enhancing local level capabilities to encourage families and young learners to speak the language. Incentive schemes will be introduced in municipalities that promote language within the family and at home. Inter-generational transmission of languages will have received welcome and timely attention across Nepal. It is my hope that all schools—public and private—will have introduced mother tongue medium instruction at the earliest stage of school education, at least up to class five. Nepali, English and other national as well as classical and foreign languages will be taught as subjects. The existing policy of English medium education at the early stage of education will be abolished. The Government of Nepal will be held accountable if the number of speakers of any language decreases or if local communities face language loss and greater endangerment. Under the aegis of the Language Commission, a Centre for Language Research and Innovation will be created with world-class facilities for language documentation and archiving in collaboration with Tribhuvan University’s Central Department of Linguistics and other relevant institutions. Harnessing the vastness of Nepal’s linguistic diversity, the Language Commission will morph into a centre of excellence for national and international communities to engage in collaborative language research, to share experiences and document best practices at in service of global linguistic diversity and Nepal’s many Indigenous languages.

Languages are both software and hardware

Nearly 750,000 Nepalis went abroad for employment in the past year, and more than 100,000 left on student visas. Most of them were young Nepali men and women, and the number has been increasing every year. As with other sections of society, Nepal’s security agencies also face a recruitment crisis. Nepal Police opened recruitment for 64 inspectors in September, and received 2,239 applications, compared to 2,718 candidates last year. Police also invited candidates for 256 assistant sub-inspectors this year for which it received 17,756 applications – down from 19,932 last year. It is the same story in the Nepal Army, the number of applicants for the post of Officer Cadet (Second Lieutenant) went down from 6,144 for 400 open seats in 2019 to 4,390 in 2020. Meanwhile, applicants in the paramilitary Armed Police Force went down from 857 applications for 75 posts in 2021 to 536 applicants for 99 posts last year. While the number of applicants appears higher than the demand, the data shows a significant decrease in applications for vacancies in Nepal’s law enforcement agencies. Security personnel are recruited on the basis of rank and age in Nepal, and the age cutoff for entry into Nepal’s security agencies is typically 25 years. Sociologist and migration expert Ganesh Gurung says that the demographic of young, physically fit Nepalis emigrating abroad in search of better opportunities has impacted recruitment into law enforcement and the military here at home. “The returns from working in Nepal’s police and army are minimal, whereas overseas job opportunities are more attractive,” Gurung says. “The work may be physically demanding abroad, but the pay is a lot higher.”  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241116041148_a7e477e0ee2f56acf16c2559fdb24d8f0377f7bc1f9e56138bc40108fc4fa33f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20241116041148_a7e477e0ee2f56acf16c2559fdb24d8f0377f7bc1f9e56138bc40108fc4fa33f" data-rendition-name="original" width="800" height="534" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal Police"><figcaption>Nepal Police</figcaption></figure>  Nepal Police spokesperson DIG Dan Bahadur Karki agrees that the physical and mental demands of a law enforcement job is incomparable to the income that security personnel earn. “A young Nepali who works in Dubai earns enough to build a home in the village within four years, while a Nepali with the same qualifications and physical ability in a security agency here barely makes enough to survive,” says Karki. “Obviously the youth prefer foreign employment.” Security agencies are now worried about the quality of inducted manpower. “There is a difference in work ethic between an applicant chosen from a competitive pool of 50 candidates versus one chosen from a pool of three candidates,” explains Gurung. “Unmotivated employees hamper the overall performance of the state apparatus.” Nepal Army spokesperson Brigadier General Gaurab Kumar KC says recruitment has not been hampered by outmigration: “We have still been getting more than three times the applicants than there are open posts, so we are not yet worried.” Even so, the passing rates of aspirants have gone down for security forces after the Public Service Commission began examinations for military recruitment in 2015. In fact, the Nepal Army complained about the Commission’s involvement in recruitment. Still, the number of vacant military posts tends to exceed the number of passing candidates. Nepal Army’s KC says that the military will not compromise on intake criteria even if there are fewer passing applicants. “Unqualified persons will not be admitted even if there are less-than-required passing candidates. We will re-advertise if that is the case.” But Nepal’s security forces now also have to worry about retention of existing personnel. About 900 Nepal Army, 600 Nepal Police, and 300 Armed police personnel resign every year before the completion of their tenure.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241116041148_b8cd62f70eea3aac7d3d3778615a5b70b1e20550c9bd76321f051f9c766fd2a9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241116041148_b8cd62f70eea3aac7d3d3778615a5b70b1e20550c9bd76321f051f9c766fd2a9" data-rendition-name="original" width="750" height="378" loading="lazy" alt="Armed police forces"><figcaption>Armed Police Force</figcaption></figure>  In 2020, Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa recalled almost 1,000 police personnel who had been deployed for the security of VIPs after long-standing criticism that security forces were being misused to cater to political and bureaucratic leadership. However, security personnel have continued to be assigned to high-ranking officials as glorified housekeepers. In December 2022, Rabi Lamichhane’s Home Ministry had instructed its offices to recall unauthorised security personnel assigned to high-ranking officials, following which 500 officers from Nepal Police and Armed Police Force were withdrawn from their details. But the Nepal Army does not have to follow such rules, and the practice of army personnel serving high-ranking active-duty and retired military personnel remains. Conditions here are dire enough that many active duty officers in Nepal’s military and police forces have chosen to leave their jobs to serve in the Russian Army to fight in the Ukraine war. The hierarchical culture and chain of command of politics, bureaucracy, law enforcement and military has also meant that abuse and mistreatment of subordinates is rife in Nepal’s security forces. “Feudalism is alive and well within our security institutions,” says Gurung. “When soldiers and security forces who swore to protect and serve the nation are made to be at the beck and call of politicians and bureaucrats, it is easy to understand why they are disillusioned with their jobs and why they choose to quit and find jobs abroad.”

Job insecurity in security forces

Earlier this month, Nepal received Rs1.6 billion from the World Bank as part of its <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/will-nepal-ever-be-paid-for-saving-trees">Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF)</a>, rewarding the country for increasing its carbon sink capacity. Nepal is the first in South Asia to benefit from this facility, and it is specifically to recompense the country for increasing forest cover in 13 Tarai districts between 2018-2024. “We are also trying to get another Rs13 billion from the facility while also preparing for free market-based carbon trading in the international market,” says Nabaraj Pudasaini of the REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries) Implementation Centre. Big emitters of greenhouse gases are under pressure to reduce their carbon emissions, and many have signed agreements to do so by investing in decarbonisation projects in developing countries. Countries that emit more than a specified amount of carbon would be able to buy emission rights from countries that emit less. Nepal is internationally known for its community forestry program which has been largely credited for <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/tree-mendous">increasing tree cover to over 45%</a> in less than three decades. But this achievement had not been adequately recognised or rewarded internationally before. Forests, especially in the tropics, absorb and store large amounts of carbon while releasing oxygen in a process known as photosynthesis. <a href="https://www.fao.org/forest-resources-assessment/en/">Preventing deforestation</a> and increasing canopy cover is considered a much more achievable goal than reducing emission in the scale necessary to limit global average temperature to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. COP11 in Montreal in 2005 first proposed reducing carbon emissions by improving forest quality by halting degradation. By 2015, a new mechanism of financial assistance was created to help less developed countries with sustainable management of forests <a href="https://www.un-redd.org/">(called REDD+)</a>. Under this new mechanism, countries receive aid based on their efforts to prevent forest degradation and increase carbon sink, and in 2021 the World Bank was entrusted with implementing it. Nepal’s FCPF receipt this month was calculated on the basis of 2.4 million tons of carbon stored at a rate of $5 per ton. In the second phase, Nepal will receive more than Rs4 billion within the next year for storing an additional 7 million tons of carbon. Eighty per cent of this amount obtained from carbon trading needs to be spent on local beneficiaries and indigenous communities.&nbsp; But carbon trading is not easy, Nepal needs to prove that protected forests will not be destroyed in future.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241121091132_c8a381c9a95aa86fec558951650d97bb87914741f01766982ba2b086af001f16.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20241121091132_c8a381c9a95aa86fec558951650d97bb87914741f01766982ba2b086af001f16" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="999" loading="lazy" alt="Greenbacks for greenery NT "> <figcaption>Photo: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption> </figure>  Explains carbon trading expert Yugan Manandhar. “Forests should be handed over to the community and shown that they are managed sustainably. Proving this will be particularly challenging; forest encroachment and degradation is rife in the Tarai.” <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/nepal-is-going-up-in-smoke">Deliberate forest fires</a> have also added to the challenge because they increase carbon emissions and reduce the sink capacity of forests. The basis for the amount that Nepal received was set five years ago by calculating the carbon reserves of forests in the 13 Tarai districts. In the meantime, sustainable forest management, tree plantation, forest destruction and erosion control were prioritised to increase carbon reserves in those forests. Nepal is signing another carbon trading agreement during the ongoing Baku climate conference. The <a href="https://www.leafcoalition.org/">Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest finance (LEAF Coalition) </a>proposes to sell the carbon stored in the forests of Bagmati, Gandaki and Lumbini provinces. For this, Nepal signed the letter of intent three years ago at COP26 in Glasgow. The target is to store 70 million tons of carbon in 32 million hectares of forest in the three provinces per which Nepal will receive Rs13 billion in four years at $10 per ton with provisions to increase the rate if various conditions are met. However, the agreement in itself doesn’t guarantee the amount. According to the targets set by Nepal, forest degradation should be stopped and carbon reserves increased by protecting tree cover. Preparations are also underway for clean air carbon trade because it has offset fossil fuel use by introducing 30,000 electric vehicles. Nepal has been selected for the first round to receive $40 million within one and a half years through the Clean Air System of the World Bank. Given that most of Nepal’s energy mix is from biomass, replacing them with electric stoves can significantly improve health by reducing indoor pollution as well as strengthen the country’s capacity for carbon trade. “Nepal's goal now is to sell carbon in the free market where carbon credits are bought and sold based on supply and demand in an open and transparent manner,” adds Pudasaini of the REDD Implementation Centre. “Nepal can now set its own price and bargain with interested buyer countries and organisations.” Lately, India has been discussing setting up a carbon market. Nepal has exported Rs12.72 billion worth of electricity to India so far this fiscal year, which can be traded under Nepal’s carbon market. “Carbon trading can create significant economic benefits for Nepal, which will help reinvest in development and environmental protection projects,” says Manandhar. “But we must prioritise sustainable management of forests, cutting older trees and allowing regrowth as well as promoting electric stoves and electric vehicles.”

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