Planning for the Future: How to create a resilient and sustainable Nepal

One of the biggest questions after a natural disaster is: “how will we rebuild?” This is a careful balance of rebuilding too fast with poor construction, and taking too long to plan. The media puts a lot of pressure on governments to plan and rebuild quickly after a disaster; however, strategic planning and reflection upon what went wrong and how the country can improve is vital for sustainable and resilient communities. This post focuses on the steps the Nepali government has taken in that direction. This is important because geologists and seismologists have been predicting a “big one” for Nepal. This “big one” will occur much closer to Kathmandu and cause much more destruction.

Improved construction practices:
Effort by Nepal to improve awareness and construction practices in the past
Nepal is a world leader in outreach to communities to reduce disaster risk; however, without enforcement of building codes, there is no quality assurance or control over what is being built.

• Ductile details at construction site: rebar is tied in concrete column reinforcing bars with seismic hooks
• Nepal’s two decade plan to improve building codes
• National Society for Earthquake Technology – Nepal and GeoHazards International have helped in spreading the understanding of improved building codes around the country
• In 2012 the local government in Kathmandu and the U.N.D.P. initiated a program that would train women in masonry methods to resist earthquakes. See video of such training by the NRRC.
• ParsQuake Initiative informs people living in Central Asia of earthquake faults and risk
• Traveling shake tables show Nepalese people how structures behave in earthquakes. This has increased the number of schools with better construction practice

Creating vulnerabilities
How Nepal can improve in the future

• Many of the community-based disaster risk initiatives and programs occur in major cities (Kathmandu) and not in rural areas.
• Lack of enforcement of building codes – building codes and restrictions are difficult to enforce in a country with so many isolated villages. In fact, construction quality in rural areas has actually worsened over the last decade due to the combination of growing population in the villages and the use of spare stone and clay from previously damaged structures as construction materials to quickly house this increasing population.
• High poverty and low education rates shift the focus of the public to matters which are potentially considered more pressing than earthquake engineering and reducing earthquake vulnerabilities.

Nepal’s efforts to reduce vulnerabilities within the country have just begun, and unfortunately the April 25, 2015 earthquake struck just as they were getting started. Implementation of improved construction practices in schools and urban areas saved lives during this earthquake. As the programs and initiatives continue to take effect and spread around the country, the building stock will be constructed better and safer.

Curated topics from the April 25, 2015, Nepal Earthquake to help inform reconnaissance activities, identify impacted regions, and help document the timeline of earthquake response/recovery.