Experts push for quake-proof shelter in Nepal before monsoon
The Nepalese authorities urged thousands of villagers on Sunday to move to safety after a landslide likely triggered by recent earthquakes blocked a river, raising fears of a devastating flash flood, officials said.
The landslide at Ramche village in Myagdi district, about 140 km northwest of Kathmandu, struck on Saturday night and blocked the KaliGandakiRiver.
If a large volume of water was to build up and break through the blockage, downstream floods could reach as far as India. “We have asked villagers along the river side in these districts to move to safer places,” interior ministry official said referring to the districts of Parbat, Syangja, Gulmi, Palpa, Nawalparasi and Chitwan. The river flows into India where it is known as the Gandak.
A devastating earthquake hit Nepal on April 25, triggering numerous landslides and avalanches and killing more than 8,000 people. A second quake hit the mountainous country on May 12, killing scores.
“Mountain slopes have become fragile due to earthquakes. This could be a result,” Dhakal said of the landslide.
Police official Kamal Singh Bam said army and police personnel had been sent to the site. “The water level is rising fast. Police and the army will try to open it,” Bam said.
Witnesses reached by telephone said the landslide swept away about two dozen houses but officials said they had no reports of casualties.
WHAT OF MONSOON?
Speaking of nearing monsoon season, much of preparation is needed.
As he braces for the monsoon rains that threaten to inflict further misery after Nepal’s devastating earthquake, Nawaraj Bista has more faith he will be safe inside his $100 quick-build corrugated iron home than under bricks and mortar.
Bista, a car salesman, saw his old home in Kathmandu reduced to rubble when a 7.8-magnitude quake ripped through the Himalayan nation on April 25.
But when a second major quake on May 12 brought down more buildings that had already been weakened, his temporary metal shelter emerged unscathed.
“Nothing happened to it,” Bista said of the simple dome-shaped metal structure.
“This place has been a blessing… we will live here until the monsoons are over.”
While orange and blue tents dot Nepal’s quake-hit settlements, experts warn of an urgent need to build semi-permanent shelters like Bista’s that can withstand the approaching monsoon rains and aftershocks that continue to shred locals’ nerves.
“A tent is not a long-term solution,” said Bijay Krishna Upadhyay, a director at the non-profit National Society for Earthquake Technology (NSET).
“We have to move to quake-safe transitional homes that will outlast monsoon, even winter.”
The twin quakes killed more than 8,600 people, destroyed nearly half a million houses and damaged another 270,000 homes, leaving thousands in desperate need of food, clean water and shelter.
In a bid to accommodate thousands of families who need shelter before monsoons arrive, NGOs and design firms are moving away from emergency options like tents to building affordable and potentially permanent homes for quake victims.