Lack of preparedness exposes vulnerability to monsoon disasters

The monsoon season is just three weeks away, and the government is yet to take the measures to prevent and respond to potential disasters. According to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM), the pre-monsoon period rains will begin in approximately two weeks. Typically, the monsoon season begins in the second week of June and lasts until September. The Terai region, which includes 22 districts, is highly susceptible to floods, while the hilly districts are vulnerable to landslides. However, the government lacks specific records regarding the presence of children and elderly individuals in the flood-prone areas of the country.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Authority (NDRRMA), the designated agency responsible for addressing natural disasters, has not yet formulated concrete plans to effectively handle the monsoon-induced disasters. “We are busy holding meetings to prepare for disaster management,” says Dhruba Bahadur Khadka, the spokesperson for NDRRMA. Had the authority been more foresighted, such meetings should have been held months ago.

Data compiled by the NDRRMA shows that over the course of the past 12 years, floods have claimed the lives of 876 people, with an additional 563 reported missing and 209 injured. Similarly, landslides have resulted in the loss of 1,483 lives, with 347 people still missing and 1,224 others injured. Additionally, heavy rainfall has caused the death of 126 individuals, while two people remain unaccounted for, and 336 have been injured. The monetary damage caused by the monsoon disasters over the past 12 years is estimated to be Rs 20bn. Officials at the Ministry of Home Affairs acknowledge that despite witnessing significant loss of lives and properties, their preparations for monsoon disasters have remained poor. “We have been unable to effectively mitigate the impact of these disasters due to inadequate resources and management,” says an official at the ministry. Jitendra Basnet, joint secretary and spokesperson for the ministry, says the ministry has recently conducted coordination meetings with stakeholders to prepare for the upcoming monsoon season. “We are in the process of formulating plans,” he says. “We have directed the Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force to deploy personnel across all districts during emergencies. However, we face limitations in terms of budget, resources, and equipment.” According to Basnet, the NDRRMA will undertake all necessary tasks in this regard. Khadka, the spokesperson for NDRRMA, says they are currently gathering information regarding the availability of equipment such as tents, ambulances, ropes, and other necessary resources in districts and local bodies. “We have recently acquired eight mass-casualty ambulances. We have allocated one to each province and one to the federal government,” he says. “We have also trained 25 divers to conduct search and rescue.” The government has yet to initiate a hazard mapping survey to gather data on land elevation, geological structure, house construction, and the number of children and elderly individuals residing in vulnerable areas. “Although we had planned to conduct the survey at 134 local units, we have only managed to do so in about a dozen local units so far,” adds Khadka. Meanwhile, the NDRRMA has implemented an audio-visual notification warning system for floods in six districts: Banke, Bardiya, Kailali, Kanchanpur, Rautahat, and Saptari. “This siren system, equipped with audio-visual flood warnings, has been installed at 34 locations across 13 local units in these six districts,” says Rajendra Sharma, coordinator of technical team at the NDRRMA. The NDRRMA officials acknowledge that the current preparations are not sufficiently robust to effectively address the risks posed by monsoon disasters. They say that local bodies would provide support by utilizing public buildings as temporary shelters during emergencies. Furthermore, a new regulation has been introduced in the current fiscal year, requiring districts to maintain a minimum balance in their disaster management fund. According to the regulation, a mountainous district should have a minimum of Rs 1.5m in its disaster management fund, a hilly district should have Rs 2m, and a Terai district should have Rs 2.5m. However, the NDRRMA has not been monitoring whether the districts have been maintaining the disaster funds. The impact of rain-related disasters extends to agriculture, livestock, and public infrastructure. The NDRRMA suggests that the federal government should contribute 50-60 percent to the disaster management budget, while provinces can provide 30 percent and  local units can chip in 10-20 percent. Currently, the government provides compensation of Rs 10,000-20,000 per affected household in flood-affected areas and Rs 200,000 per deceased individual. However, in cases of multiple deaths within the same family, only Rs 100,000 is provided for the second or subsequent deaths. The Ministry of Home Affairs categorizes disaster management into four main areas: risk reduction, rescue operations, relief distribution, and reconstruction. Multiple ministries, organizations, and development partners are involved in these efforts. The clusters responsible for disaster management include ministries such as Agriculture and Land Development, Health and Population, Water Supply, Education, Science and Technology, Women, Children and Senior Citizens, Urban Development, Home Affairs, Federal Affairs and General Administration, and Communication and Information Technology. Moreover, development partners and organizations, such as FAO, WFP, WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, NRCS/IFRC, IOM, UNDP, and RCO, play co-leading roles in coordinating and assisting with disaster management initiatives. The NDRRMA has a fund of Rs 1bn disbursed from the Prime Minister’s Fund for Natural Disaster Rescue and Relief. However, the NDRRMA did not provide the details of expenses on reconstruction, risk reduction and relief distribution. The development partners had pledged to provide Rs 1.51bn in grants last year, but only Rs 960m was actually released. “The government had provided us with Rs 95m. Of the amount, Rs 40m was spent on salaries while Rs 50m was disbursed as grants for reconstruction,” says Khadka. The government has proposed a budget ceiling of Rs 194.04m for the NDRRMA in the upcoming fiscal year. However, officials express concerns that the proposed ceiling is inadequate to effectively address the plans for disaster mitigation and development. The NDRRMA has formulated the Disaster Risk Reduction National Strategic Workplan for the period 2018-2030. Despite having comprehensive plans, the lack of sufficient funding hinders the authority’s ability to tackle natural disasters effectively. Anil Pokharel, the CEO of NDRRMA, says there is a significant shortfall in funds for disaster risk reduction measures, which are crucial in mitigating disasters. “We have just begun planning for disaster risk reduction due to the prevailing financial crisis. An estimated $600m is required for the development of pre-information systems, and an additional $200m is needed for preparedness measures by the year 2030,” he says.