Govt to send teams for geological study of quake-hit areas

After more than 10 months of dilemma and deliberations, the government is finally dispatching a technical team for the geological study of the quake-affected settlements that are at high risk in order to make decision about relocation of the communities at risks.

The technical study team, comprised of engineers from the Department of Mines and Geology (DMG), and representatives from Department of Water Induced Disaster Prevention and Department of Soil Conversation and Watershed Management, will leave for the districts severely hit by the earthquake this week.

The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) is mulling over including a member each from the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction and Nepal Geological Society.

“The Authority will take final decision Monday on dispatching the study team to the quake-affected districts,” informed Dr. Chandra Bahadur Shrestha, executive member of the NRA.

According to the Act Relation to Reconstruction of the Earthquake Affected Structures, 2015, the NRA is assigned to development norms as required for development of integrated settlement, integrated house pulling, rehabilitation and translocation, identify appropriate sites and formulate and implement, or cause to be implemented, plans for the same.

The DMG has submitted its terms of reference (ToR) to the NRA about the evaluation of the settlements that need to be relocated.

As per the ToR developed by the DMG, the study would decide whether the settlements were safe, needed pre-cautionary measures or demanded urgent relocation, said Dr. Shrestha.

The team will conclude its study by mid-April along with creation of site map.

“Ten teams will be mobilized for the inspection and a team will spend about 3 days in a site,” Dr. Shrestha said.

A team of geologists, chief district officers and lawmakers of respective districts inspected the quake-hit areas in the immediate aftermath of the major jolts and suggested the government for the relocation of at least 193 settlements.

According to the study, Gorkha, Nuwakot, Rasuwa, Dolakha, Dhading and Singhupalchowk had many settlements vulnerable to post-quake hazards.

A study conducted by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in July last year found out that about 8,000 households in Gorkha and Sindhupalchowk had self-relocated to safer locations fearing landslides.

The new study will be based on the findings of the earlier study and make further investigations.

“The fate of those 193 settlements will be reconsidered. We will conduct another visual inspection and further investigations will be carried out in the areas prone to landslides and other disasters,” said Dr. Som Nath Sapkota, chief of National Seismological Centre at the DMG.

To enable the study team with latest knowledge and technique, the NRA is going to organize orientation training to them.

DR. Shrestha informed that the reconstruction body was planning to invite Lieutenant-General Nadeem Ahmad, chief of Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority of Pakistan that was established after the devastating 2005 Kashmir earthquake, for the orientation.

“Since we don’t have expertise in rehabilitation of earthquake victims, the Pakistani experience may be useful for us,” he said.

As the establishment of the reconstruction body was delayed, the government couldn’t make significant progress in relocating the settlements at risks.

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, earlier initiatives for relocations couldn’t be succeeded and as the preparations were under way to establish the NRA, the government made no efforts for the resettlements in the past six months.  

In June last year, the government had decided to shift 30 settlements of the quake-affected 18 districts to safer locations nearby. But, the plan failed as the people refused to shift temporarily to new location. Out of 36,000 families at risks, only about 400 families moved to the safer locations identified by the government.

On the other hand, the NRA received requests from Laprak of Gorkha and some villages in Dhading for the relocation of the settlements there. “We have started the relocation works in Laprak. The Village Development Committee has identified the area for the resettlement of 660 families,” said Dr. Shrestha.