National 1 (Spotlight Weekly)

Ignored Threat

When foreign missions are worrying about ways of rescuing their citizens, Nepalese are busy ignoring the building code

By KESHAB POUDEL

Foreign diplomatic missions in Kathmandu regularly inform their citizens about the possibility of a big earthquake and ways of reaching evacuation centers, the country's municipal authorities are ignoring the basic building code and allowing rampant construction.

In the last year alone, more than 6,000 new concrete houses have been erected and countless others are being raised. Although the building code was developed several years ago, it is yet to be implemented. As the local municipalities are without elected representatives, it would be impossible for authorities to implement them soon.

Haphazard buildings in Kathmandu: Vulnerable to tremors

As the threat of quakes looms large, the diplomatic missions in the capital have been working to prepare their citizens. The US Embassy has been providing necessary information to Americans living in the valley on evacuation procedures and other facilities at the time of disaster. "Since Nepal is vulnerable to earthquakes and we have reports that the valley could have a big one any time, we are informing our citizens based in Nepal about the disaster. One of the important tasks of our office is to take care of US citizens," said Steve Brault, counselor at the US Embassy in Kathmandu.

Despite the clear risk of a major quake, the Nepalese government seems to be unaware. "If we allow haphazard building construction, it will turn the valley into a natural death trap. As the monitoring mechanism of the municipalities is weak, hundreds of new buildings are being constructed without our permission," said an engineer in the Kathmandu Metropolitan Corporation on condition of anonymity.

According to the Earthquake Risk Management Action Plan prepared by the National Society for Earthquake Technology-Nepal (NSET-Nepal), earthquakes are an unavoidable part of Kathmandu valley's future, as they have been a part of its past. However, a large earthquake in or around the valley today would cause significantly greater human and physical damage and economic crisis than that caused by past tremors. "With the valley's burgeoning population of almost 1.5 million people, uncontrolled development, and a construction practice that has actually degraded over this century, the valley is becoming increasingly vulnerable to earthquakes with each passing year," an official said.

In a study conducted in 21 cities around the world, Kathmandu was found to have the lowest performance. The United Nations Disaster Response Preparedness Plan prepared in 2001 shows that the city not only poses the highest risk of casualties in absolute numbers but also the highest per capital risk. The lethality of buildings in Kathmandu is considered extremely high. The evaluation of fire-fighting, medical-care and general preparedness reveals serious problems in the current disaster response capability. The report suggests that the best mitigation options in Kathmandu are to increase the quality of buildings, improve medical preparedness and strengthen in the level of emergency preparedness.

Nepal is situated in the seismically active Himalayan mountain belt dominated by the northward movement of the Indian tectonic plate toward and below the Eurasian tectonic plate. The earthquake centers record more than a thousand tremors of magnitudes ranging from 2 to 5 on the Richter scale each year. Even this high number of earthquakes cannot release the accumulated energy underground. Geologists say that only major earthquakes can compensate for the movement of the plates.

A quake is not an unusual phenomenon, and there are ways to minimize damage and casualties. Experts argue that by adhering to the building code, people can minimize damage by many folds. Formulated in 1994, the building code is yet to be implemented. Even negligence and weak monitoring, there is virtually anarchy in the building construction.

The seismic record of the country suggests that an earthquake of the 1934 magnitude occurs approximately every 75 years. The study conducted by the Kathmandu Valley Earthquake Risk Management Project showed that over 60 percent of all buildings in Kathmandu are likely to be damaged in case of a quake like that of 1934. More than 60 percent of water pipes, electricity and telephone lines will be damaged.

"The department has various levels of disaster management committee. We have a system to activate different institutions to provide immediate relief," said Lekhnath Pokharel, an official at the Department of Narcotics Control and Disaster Management. "We are focusing now more on the prevention part."

Thanks to the efforts of NSET-Nepal, there is a growing realization among policy-makers about the possible threat of great earthquakes and possible damage. But government agencies are yet to come up with an effective plan to minimize casualties and damage.