HELLO NEPAL

The Kathmandu Post 29 May 2015 POLITICAL PROBLEMS Relief and reconstruction in the aftermath of devastating earthquake seem to be taking place in full swing in the affected areas. But the government, semi-governmental organizations, individuals, I/NGOs, private organizations, donor agencies and political parties are all engaged separately in these activities, the government has not still been able to coordinate these activities. As a result, the grievances of not receiving relief and shelter materials continue to be reported in the news media. It is sad and unfortunate to see these people still being deprived of basic materials when the monsoon is fast approaching. There also seems to be competitions going on among the major political parties in reaching out to the affected people using their cadres and volunteers, albeit late, to show their presence as illustrated by Ajaya Bhadra Khanal (“Partners in crime” 27 May, Page 6). If these activities are not proper

Good job Manisha It was revealed by the Ministry of Home Affairs that the number of women killed during the recent killer earth-quake was more than that of men. This could be the indication that the women are more vulnerable to men during such natural calamity. Many women have delivered their babies in the make-shift camps where proper foods and health care services are not available. Many women had even miscarriages due to shock. Other women are engaged in looking after the well being of their children who are passing through mentally stressful life due to the recent devastating earth-quake. Kudos to Manisha Koirala, Goodwill Ambassador of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), who made an effort to counsel women folks living in make-shift camps erected in Tundikhel, Kathmandu as reported “Manish to help ensure dignity of women” (THT, 23 May, Page 10). During such natural calamity, women face tremendous mental pressure concerning their reproductive health and security.

The Kathmandu Post 22 May 2015 STEP UP The ongoing diplomatic pressure applied by the Nepal government to the donor community to deposit its financial support for the post-quake programme in the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund (PMRF) seems to be hard for the latter to digest, considering the government’s transparency and accountability record as mentioned by Sophia K Tamot in her article (“In whom we trust” 19 May, Page 6). I personally do not see any problem in channelling such funds through one-window system so that they are not haphazardly used in the name of relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction. However, there has been growing concern of the proper utilization of funds, considering the government’s failure to lead the ongoing rescue and relief-related activities. Had there not been other individuals and organizations involved in the relief, the post-quake situation could have been more devastating, which would have completely tarnished the government’s imag

The Himalayan Times 20 May 2015 Irresponsible decision It has been almost three weeks after the killer earth-quake measuring 7.6 on the rector scale followed by two powerful aftershocks rocked the nation killing more than 8000 people and displacing more than 8 millions. Now, the rescue operations are almost completed albeit did not remain effective. Many lives could still be saved had the government have disaster management plan ready. All the government, semi government organizations, I/NGOs efforts have now been diverted towards relief and rehabilitation activities. There seems to be still something missing in coordinating the relief activities. The government is still unable to meet the demands for tents and tarpaulin sheets of the affected people “Tents, tarps still in short supply three weeks on” (THT, 18 May, Page 1). Monsoon is approaching fast. If the government and the concerned agencies fail to provide temporary roofing materials to the needy people on t

The Kathmandu Post 15 May 2015 EVERYTHING POSSIBLE It seems as though none of the previous Nepali governments cared for formulating any policy nor guideline to tackle the kind of massive natural calamity such as the April 25 Great Quake (“The aftermath” 6 May, Page 6). As mentioned by Sophia K Tamot, tremendous challenges lie ahead for the government, semi- government organizations and private organizations to collectively work towards addressing the urgent needs of the nation and its people who have been severely affected by this natural calamity. Looking at the damages of the high-rise buildings, the concerned authorities did not bother to develop building codes keeping in mind that Kathmandu is an earth-quake-prone zone. Most the buildings have now been declared unsafe for living by an investigating team formed by the government. May be the government needs to seriously consider involving the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIA

The Himalayan Times 4 May 2015 Poor relief management The April 25 earthquake pushed the nation into social and economic chaos. It has left the people of the effected areas into severe traumatic state. Both the human casualties and infrastructure damages are substantially high. The state machinery has been found ineffective in providing both search and rescue operation and has been badly criticised from all sides if the new story “Govt slammed for poor post-quake management” (THT, 2 May, Page 5) is to be believed. It has completely failed in putting the effective rescue operation in place for the first three days of post-quake period when the chances of survival of the trapped persons would be very high albeit there were some cases of rescuing the people from the debris after three/four days. However, the government presence in many heavily effected areas was not felt by the affected people even after five days in-spite of their repeated calls to the concerned aut