DISASTER MANAGEMENT IN NEPAL: A REVIEWA Country Paper Presented By :Dr. Meen B. Poudyal Chhetri
Under Secretary
Ministry of Home Aﬀairs
Disaster Relief Section
Singha Durbar, Kathmandu, Nepal.

CONTENTSSUMMARY *1. Country Background *2. Climate, Population and Education *3. Disaster Situation *4. Past Major Disasters *5. Emergency Relief from Abroad *6. Other Assistance from Abroad *7. Laws and Regulations *8. Organizations *9. Functions and Duties of the Central Natural Disaster Relief Committee *10. Formulation of Other Natural Disaster Relief Committees *11. Functions and Duties of the Regional Natural Disaster Relief Committee *12. Functions and Duties of the District Natural Disaster Relief Committee *13. Functions and Duties of the Local Natural Disaster Relief Committee *14. Norms/Standards of Relief Assistance *15. Fund Channel Process *16. Role of The Ministry of Home in Disaster Management *17. Disaster Management Planning *18. Disaster Reduction Cooperation Among Asian Countries *19. Expectations and Conclusion *APPENDIX *BIBLIOGRAPHY *ABBREVIATIONSADPC - Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre
ADRC - Asian Disaster Reduction Centre
CARE - Cooperation for American Relief Everywhere
CBS - Central Bureau of Statistics
CDO - Chief District Oﬃcer
CNDRC - Central Natural Disaster Relief Committee
DOHM - Department of Hydrology and Meteorology
DOMG - Department of Mines and Geology
DOR - Department of Roads
DOSC - Department of Soil Conservation
DNDRC - District Natural Disaster Relief Committee
GLOF - Glacier Lake Outburst Flood
GTZ - Technical Cooperation of the Federal Republic of Germany
HMGN - His Majesty's Government of Nepal
ICIMOD - International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development
IDNDR - International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction
JICA - Japan International Cooperation Agency
LDO - Local Development Oﬃcer
LNDRC - Local Natural Disaster Relief Committee
LWS - Lutheran World Service
MDFD - Metro Dade Fire Department
MOHA - Ministry of Home Aﬀairs
NASC - Nepal Administrative Staﬀ College
NDRA - Natural Disaster Relief Act
NDRR - Natural Disaster Relief Regulations
NEA - Nepal Engineer's Association
NGS - Nepal Geological Society
NMA - Nepal Medical Association
NR - Nepalese Rupees
NRS - Nepal Redcross Society
NS - Nepal Scouts

NSET - National Society for Earthquake Technology
OFDA - Oﬃce of Foreign Disaster Assistance
RNDRC - Regional Natural Disaster Relief Committee
RTSC - Relief and Treatment Sub-Committee
SCF - Save the Children FundSSRSC - Supply, Shelter and Rehabilitation Sub-Committee
TU - Tribhuvan University
UMN - United Mission to Nepal
UNCHS - United Nations Centre for Human Settlement(Habitat)
UNDCP - United Nations International Drug Control Program
UNDP - United Nations Development Program
UNDRO - United Nations Disaster Relief Organization
UNICEF - United Nations Children's Fund
USAIDMN - United States Agency for International Development Mission
to NepalWFP - World Food Program

SUMMARY
Rugged and fragile geophysical structure, very high peaks, high angle of slopes, complex geology, variableclimatic conditions, active tectonic processes, unplanned settlement, increasing population, weak economic
condition and low literacy rate have made Nepal vulnerable to various types of natural disasters. Apart fromthese, the lack of coordination among agencies related to disaster management, no clear-cut job descriptionof those agencies, resource constraint, the lack of technical manpower, absence of modern technology, thelack of public awareness, very remote, rural and diﬃcult geo-physical situation of the country, absence ofmodern technology and so on are other factors that have been found as the major obstacles to cope with thenatural disasters in Nepal.

In view of the above situation, formulation of a Disaster Management Regulation, amendment in the existing
Act is needed to deﬁne the job and responsibilities of the agencies related to disaster management. Welltrained technical manpower, advanced technology and suﬃcient means and resources are also needed toreduce the disaster. Moreover, disaster management course has to be included in the school curriculum.
Various types of programs are to be launched in order to raise the public awareness. For an eﬀective early
warning system, it is needed to develop a scientiﬁc detection system to monitor changes in the physicalenvironment. The system of hazard mapping, vulnerability assessment, risk analysis has to be developed as
all these sectors are still at primitive stage in Nepal. For all this, political commitment and eﬀective policy
formulation and their implementation are very necessary.

Despite the above problems and limitations, Nepal is gradually picking up the momentum towards improving
the disaster management situation. Moreover, policy makers have shown interest to look into the problems ofdisaster management from the point of view of economic development which is gaining speed in the country.
This interest of the policy makers itself might prove to be conducive to develop a scientiﬁc and modern
system of disaster management in the country. Being a developing country, Nepal needs assistance andsupport of all international communities and friendly nations.

Above all, the concept of International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) has been instrumental
in transferring the emphasis from relief and rescue to preparedness and prevention. Various agencies of His
Majesty's Government of Nepal are involved in disaster prevention and mitigation works in close cooperation
with various international agencies such as: Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Asian Disaster
Reduction Centre (ADRC), Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC), United Nations Development Program(UNDP), International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), International Red Cross
Society (IRCS), United States Agency for International Development Mission to Nepal (USAIDMN), United
Mission to Nepal (UMN), Cooperation for American Relief Everywhere (CARE), World Food Program (WFP),
Save the Children Fund (SCF), Technical Cooperation of the Federal Republic of Germany (GTZ), LutheranWorld Service (LWS) etc.. Besides, professional and non-governmental organizations of Nepal are also
providing highly valuable support at the time of disasters.

1. Country Background
Nepal is a small and land locked country in South Asia. It is situated between the two large anddensely populated countries of Asia - China in the North and India in the South, East and West.
The shape of Nepal is rectangular and it has an area of 147, 181 sq. kms. The length (East toWest) is 885 kms. and the width (North to South) is non-uniform, approximately 193 kms. It issituated between longitudes 80°4'E to 88°12'E and latitudes 26°22'N to 30°27'N, along theSouthern slopes of the Himalayas (snow peaks). Within the narrow breadth of the country, allvarieties of climate and topography can be found ranging from the sub-tropical to the alpine. The
lowest altitude starts from 60 meters above the sea level in the Southern plain to 8, 848 meters in
the Northern part. Mt. Everest the highest peak in the world with an altitude of 8,848 meters lies in
Nepal. Ecologically, the country is divided into three regions namely; the Tarai, the Hills and theMountains.

2. Climate, Population and Education
Various types of climate can be found in Nepal i.e. monsoon subtropical, temperate monsoon andalpine/tundra. The subtropical monsoon climate is found in the Tarai, temperate monsoon in the
Hills and alpine in the Mountainous region of Nepal.

The average rainfall of the country in the whole year is about 1,900 MM. But the mean annual
rainfall varies from less than 300 MM. in the region near the Tibetan plateau to more than 3,700
m.m. in the Pokhara valley and the southern slopes. Monsoon usually starts in the month of Juneand ends in September. During summer the maximum temperature in the Tarai is more than 40°c
and it is about 28°c in the middle Hills. During winter the minimum temperature in the Tarai is
about 7°c, and it is about below the freezing point in the Hills.

According to the National Population Census of 1981 the total population of Nepal was 15,022,839
which increased to 18,491,097 in 1991 with an annual growth rate of 2.8 percent. The populationfor 1998 has been estimated to be 21,843,068 (10,903,447 males and 10,939,621 females). 90.8
percent of the total population live in the rural areas and the rest in the urban areas. The literacy
rate of the country is 39.6 percent of the total population out of which the male literacy rate is 54.5
percent and the female literacy rate is 25.1 percent (CBS 1998).

3. Disaster Situation
Various factors like: rugged and fragile geophysical structure, very high relief, high angle of slopes,
complex geology, variable climatic conditions, active tectonic processes, unplanned settlement,

dense and increasing population, poor economic condition and low literacy rate have made Nepal
vulnerable to natural disasters. Most part of the country is seismically active. Hence, thegeomorphology is very fragile. The constant tectonic action of diﬀerent degree along with varied
intensity of weather action, has adverse eﬀect on stability of earth surface and river course. The
physiography of earth is changing slowly due to its own tectonic action and universal planetary
action. Such activities are more pronounced in Asia (Oceania) and South America. Among them all
Himalayan region and some pocket of Oceania are most active. Major part of Himalaya lies in Nepal
which is the grace of God and sometimes curse. Thus, the Himalayan region of Nepal can beconsidered as one of the severest ﬂood hazard zone of the world. Heavy precipitation, highwetness and steepness of watersheds and river channels contribute to ﬂood magnitudes.
It is a great challenge to protect infrastructure and property from frequent landslide and ﬂoods.
Each year ﬂood, landslide, ﬁre, epidemics, avalanche and various other natural and man madedisasters cause the casualty of thousands of human lives and destruction of physical property
worth billions of rupees. The earthquake of 1934 A.D., 1980 A.D. 1988 A.D. and the ﬂood of July,
1993 A.D. are the most devastating disasters which not only caused heavy losses of human lives
and physical property but also adversely aﬀected the development process of the country as awhole. Thus, the country has been found to be a disaster prone country. The loss of lives by
disasters from 1983 to 1998 is given in Appendix 1.

Not only in Nepal, natural disasters happen almost all over the world all of a sudden causing heavy
loss of human life, destruction of infrastructure and property. Usually natural disasters can not be
stopped, but the magnitude of disasters can be reduced if preventive measures be taken for whichpragmatic government policies and public awareness are of utmost importance.

4. Past Major Disasters
A brief description of some past major natural disasters are given below:

a. Earthquake
The high mountains and Himalayan range of Nepal which is a young mountain chain thatstretches almost 2500 kms. in the east - west direction falls under the seismically active
zone mainly due to the subduction of the Indian plate under the Tibetan plate. The
seismic record of Nepal goes back to 1255 A.D. Since then a series of earthquakes
occurred in 1408 A.D., 1681 A.D., 1810 A.D., 1833 A. D. and 1866 A.D. Among all theseearthquakes, the event of 1833 A.D. was the major one exact data of which are notavailable. After that Nepal has passed through a very big earthquake in 1934 A.D. with atremor of 8.4 Richter scale magnitude. It's epicentre was in Kathmandu. This disasterclaimed the life of 16,875 people and destroyed 3,18,139 houses. Nepal experienced
another two major earthquakes one in 1980 A.D. and another in 1988 A.D. The
earthquake of 1980 A.D. had a tremor of 6.5 Richter scale magnitude with the epicentre
lying in Bajhang district due to which 178 people lost their life and about 40 thousandhouses were destroyed. The earthquake of 1988 A.D. had a tremor of 6.6 Richter scalewith epicentre in Udayapur district which killed 721 people, 1566 cattleheads anddestroyed about 64,467 houses.

b. Flood, Landslide and Debris Flow
There are more than 6000 streams and rivers in Nepal which ﬂow mostly from the north
towards the south generally with high velocity due to high river gradient. Most of the big
rivers are snow fed which originate from the Himalayan range that are covered byperpetual snow. As the topography of the country is steep, rugged and high-angle slopewith complex geology, very high intensity of rainfall during monsoon season causes

ﬂood, landslide and debris ﬂow. The landslide and ﬂood are the most destructive types ofdisasters in Nepal. Three quarter of the total land area of Nepal is hilly and many villages
are situated on or adjacent to the unstable hill slopes. As a result, the landslide and ﬂood
with debris ﬂow occurs. Unplanned settlements and physical constructions without due
consideration to the natural hazards are considerably aggravating the mountainenvironment. On the other hand the landslide add enormous load to the streams andrivers causing ﬂood and debris ﬂow downstream. Each year such types of disasters cause
the losses of a number of human life and immense damages to agricultural land, crops,
human settlements and other physical property. Five years before, in July 1993 A.D.
Nepal experienced a devastating ﬂood in the Tarai region of Nepal which took the life of1336 people and aﬀected 487,534 people. After 1993 A.D. last year's (1998 A.D.) ﬂood
and landslide was severe which aﬀected various parts of the country, mainly the Tarai
and Middle Hill region. This disaster claimed 273 human lives, injured 80 people andkilled 982 cattleheads. Besides, 33,549 families were aﬀected, 13,990 houses and 1244
cattle sheds were destroyed and 45 thousand hectares of land and agricultural crops
were ruined. This disaster of 1998 A.D. caused the total loss of about NRs 2 billion.

c. FireFire disaster occurs mainly in the dry season between April to June. During this season
the temperature rises above 35° Celsius and it rains seldom. This type of disaster takes
place mostly in the rural areas of the Tarai and Middle Hills region. As 90.8 percent of thetotal population live in the rural areas in a very poor housing condition ﬁre hazards arecommon. The houses of those rural areas especially of the Tarai areas, are usually very
close to each other and are made up of straw or reeds and timber which are easily
caught by ﬁre. In 1998 A.D. ﬁre disaster claimed the life of 54 people injuring 22. The
number of aﬀected families by this disaster reached up to 876 destroying 926 houses
and 56 cattle sheds. The number of livestock loss was 65. The total loss has been
estimated to be NRs 33.55 million due to the ﬁre disaster of 1998 A.D.

d. Epidemics
In most cases the epidemic of cholera, gastro interitis, encephalitis, meningitis, typhoid,
jaundice, malaria and so on occur during the summer and rainy season. This type ofdisasters occur mainly due to the lack of proper health care and sanitation. In 1998 A.D.
840 people died of epidemics and 1896 were aﬀected in various parts of the country. In
Humla district alone more than 350 people lost their lives due to epidemics in the middleof 1998 A.D.

e. Avalanche
As the northern part of the country is covered with high mountains i.e. Himalayas,
avalanche is very common and sometimes it claims the life of human being as well. The
avalanche of November, 1995 killed 43 people including some foreign trekkers at
Khumbu and Kanchanjungha areas. Very recently in 2 January 1999 A.D. 5 people were
swept away by the avalanche which occurred in Chunchet Village Development
Committee Ward No. 8 of Gorkha district.

f. Glacier Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF)
In the Himalayan region of Nepal glacier lakes are common. A total of 159 glacial lakes
have been found in Koshi basin and 229 in Tibetan Arun basin. Among them 24 arepotentially dangerous. The areas like: Upper Barun, Lower Barun, Chamlangtsho, Tsho

Rolpa, Sabou, Dudh Kunda, Majang, Inja, Thulari have potentially dangerous glacierlakes. These lakes contain huge volume of water and remain in unstable condition, as aresult, they can burst any time and a natural catastrophe may cause loss of life andphysical property. About 14 such glacier lake outburst ﬂood have already been
experienced between 1935 A.D. to 1991 A.D.

g. Windstorm, Thunderbolt and Hailstorm
Windstorm occur mainly during dry season between March to May. Thunderbolt occurs
during monsoon and hailstorm takes place during the beginning and end of monsoon.
Hailstorm causes heavy losses of agricultural crops though human life loss is seldom.
Windstorm and thunderbolt causes the loss of human life as well as physical property.
Windstorm and thunderbolt killed 23 people in 1998 A.D. in the whole kingdom.

h. DroughtSome parts of the country face the problem of drought. Uneven and irregular monsoonic
rainfall is the main factor of drought. The mountainous region (the northern belt) of
Nepal is generally dry. The lack of irrigation facilities make the problem even more
serious as prolonged drought condition has adverse eﬀect in crop production. The
drought of 1994 aﬀected 35 districts of the country. Agricultural crops cultivated in 157,
628 hectares of land were destroyed.

Figures of loss of lives and property caused due to the various types of disasters in 1998 is given in
Appendix 2.

5. Emergency Relief from Abroad
Being a developing country, Nepal lacks suﬃcient resources to provide adequate assistance to thedisaster victims. Mainly, reconstruction and rehabilitation programs have had to suﬀer due to such
resource constraints. Despite very limited funds and resources the Ministry of Home Aﬀairs has
been trying to cope with the natural disaster to its utmost capacity. Moreover, several
governmental as well as non-governmental international agencies such including: the Governmentof Japan, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), United States Agency for International
Development (USAID), Lutheran World Service (LWS), Technical Cooperation of the Federal
Republic of Germany (GTZ), OXFAM, Cooperation for American Relief Everywhere (CARE), United
Mission to Nepal (UMN), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Save the Children Fund
(SCF) and so on have been providing cash, kind and technical assistance for the rescue and relief
operation of the disaster victims from time to time. Some of the signiﬁcant contributions made by
the international communities have been stated below:

During the earthquakes of 1980 and 1988 as well as the ﬂood and landslide of July, 1993 theinternational community had provided rescue and relief materials to disaster victims. The UN
agencies such as : World Food Program (WFP), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Department of HumanitarianAﬀairs (UNDHA) and so on played a signiﬁcant role by channeling food stuﬀs, medicines, clothing,temporary settlement materials etc. Japan, USA, UK, Switzerland and some other countries also
provided highly valuable support at the time of 1993 disasters.

Recently in July, 1998 the Japanese government provided 1000 sheets of blankets and 21 cartoonsof medical kits for the victims of the epidemics of Humla district. The Korean Fellowship Programprovided NRs. 50 thousand to the disaster aﬀected people of Humla. A Canadian medical team also
went there for the treatment of victims of epidemics. In August 1998 CARE, Nepal have provided
equivalent to NRs. 680 thousand for the reconstruction of irrigation canals, drinking water pipes
and trail roads for the victims of landslide and ﬂood that occurred in August, 1998 in Syangja
district. Similarly, UMN provided food assistance and medicines equivalent to NRs. 50 thousand forthe natural disaster victims of the same district.

Beside the above, International Non-Governmental Organizations such as : OXFAM, UMN, Caritas,
SCF, LWS, Redd Barna, USAID, GTZ, JICA etc. are still providing necessary assistance for thedisaster response activities. Various agencies are also channeling the resources through local NGOs
as well. National Non-Governmental Organizations like Nepal Red Cross Society (NRS), Nepal
Scouts (NS), Nepal Medical Association (NMA), Nepal Engineer's Association (NEA), Nepal
Geological Society (NGS), National Society for Earthquake Technology-Nepal (NSET) etc. areassisting in the various types of natural disasters.

Beyond the relief and rescue assistance international as well as national agencies are being
involved in developing the manpower and public awareness raising program. JICA, DPTC, UNDP,
USAID, ADPC, ADRC, NASC and various other agencies are being involved in conducting various
type of workshops, seminar and training programs. Such types of activities contribute signiﬁcantly
to raise the public awareness.

6. Other Assistance from Abroad
During the early Nineties, UNDP/UNDRO/UNDTCD provided technical as well as ﬁnancial assistancein improving the institutional capacity of the Ministry of Home Aﬀairs, the focal point of disastermanagement in Nepal, through International Support to Disaster Preparedness and Relief Plan witha view to strengthen the institution and develop manpower. At the same time the Government ofFrance provided assistance to the Department of Mines & Geology to establish 17 microseismic
stations to record the magnitude of the earthquake.

The Government of Japan has provided assistance particularly in the area of capacity building. It
has helped in establishing Water Induced Disaster Prevention Technical Centre (DPTC) in 1991. The
main objective of the centre has been to promote prevention/mitigation of water induced disasters
in Nepal and to strengthen capability of His Majesty's Government of Nepal to cope with water
induced disasters through technology development, provision of training and establishment of
database. DPTC has been established as a joint undertaking of concerned agencies of HMG/N with
the Ministry of Water Resources as leading agency while the Government of Japan had cooperated
through JICA for the initial ﬁve years from the date of agreement i.e. 7 October 1991. From 8
October, 1996 the activities of DPTC have been extended upto the end of March, 1999. The
Government of Japan provides various inputs such as gabion wires for river control, GI sheets forschool buildings and other accessories from time to time.

Oﬃce of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) proposed for a four to six year training program to be
implemented by Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC) with support from the Metro Dade Fire
Department, Miami, Florida, United States of America Agency for International Development
Mission to Nepal (USAID/N) and Ministry of Home Aﬀairs, His Majesty's Government of Nepal(MOHA, HMG/N). In this program training for instructors, Introduction to Disaster Management,
Urban Search and Rescue Canine Course, Collapsed Structures Rescue Course, Advance First Aid
Course, Canine Training Program, Search and Rescue Management Training Program and Data
Collection and Dissemination are the training components.

The main objective of the training program is to improve the capability and performance of up to
600 oﬃcials and their agencies in Nepal to eﬀectively plan for, undertake and manage eﬀective
search and rescue operations in the event of an earthquake in the Kathmandu Valley. The training
will be directed to those who currently are expected to perform urban search and rescue functions
when a disaster strikes. The primary target audience includes government and non-governmentorganizations, consisting of Police, Army, Civil Servants, Red Cross, Health, Scouts and the NonGovernmental Organizations.

7. Laws and Regulations
In the context of Nepal, before the advent of Natural Disaster Relief Act (NDRA), 1982 A.D. there
was no well structured disaster policy. Prior to 1982 A.D. relief and rescue work was carried out
either on the basis of power base or as the social work. Thus, realizing the need of an act Natural
Disaster relief Act, 1982 A.D. was formulated which has already been amended twice in 1989 A.D.
and 1992 A.D.

However, National Disaster Relief Regulations (NDRR) could not yet be formulated which is very
essential, due to which the Act could not be fully eﬀective. Duties and responsibilities of various
other disaster management agencies has to be reﬂected in NDRR as each and everything could not
be stipulated in the Act. NDRA, 1982 does not describe the duties and responsibilities of all thedisaster management related agencies other than the Ministry of Home Aﬀairs. Furthermore, theprovision of a Relief and Treatment Sub-Committee, Supply, Shelter and Rehabilitation SubCommittee, Regional Natural Disaster Relief Committees and Local Natural Disaster Relief
Committees have been made in the NDRA, 1982, but they could not be made active enough. They
are like a doormat agencies. Therefore, all the four committees should be made active. At present,
only CNDRC and DNDRC are very active. Besides, as the NDRA, 1982 does not describe thefunctions and duties of all district disaster management related agencies, the problem ofcooperation, coordination and mutual understanding between various district management related
agencies are seen. Consequently, sometimes, disaster victims do not get immediate, eﬃcient andeﬀective rescue and relief services. Delayed relief works often brings very serious and unpleasantresults. And, sometimes, duplication of relief works have also been experienced, mainly due to theabsence of dialogue and mutual understanding among disaster management related agencies. In
addition, some of the district management related agencies try to shift their responsibilities to theother as there is no clear cut job description in the Act. Thus, immediate formulation of NDRR isvery necessary where clear cut job description of all the disaster management related agencies
should be made.

8. Organizations
Natural Disaster (Relief) Act (NDRA), 1982 has constituted the following organizational structure
through which rescue, relief, rehabilitation and resettlement programs are being carried out
eﬀectively and eﬃciently :Please see appendix 3 for the Organizational Structure of the Ministry of Home Aﬀairs.

According to the NDRA 1982 Central Natural Disaster Relief Committee (CNDRC) has been
constituted under the chairmanship of the Home Minister in order to formulate and implement thepolicies and programs relating to the natural disaster relief work and to undertake other necessary
measures related thereof. Moreover, the Central Committee prepares speciﬁc norms of relief
assistance to be given to the disaster victims of the aﬀected area in cash and/or in kind. Please see
appendix 4 for the composition of CNDRC.

The working procedures of the Central Committee may be managed by the Central Committee
itself.

The Central Committee may constitute Relief and Treatment Sub-Committee (RTSC) and Supply,
Shelter and Rehabilitation Sub-Committee (SSRSC) which provide necessary advice andsuggestions to the Central Committee, help to execute policies and directives of the Central
Committee and operate eﬀectively the rescue, relief and rehabilitation work during a very serious
natural disaster. Please see appendix 5, 6 and 7 for the composition of Relief and Treatment SubCommittee (RTSC), Supply, Shelter and Rehabilitation Sub-committee (SSRSC) and District Natural
Disaster Relief Committee (DNDRC).

9. Functions and Duties of the Central Natural Disaster Relief Committee(a) To recommend to His Majesty's Government to declare the areas aﬀected by natural
disaster as disaster area,(b) To formulate the national policy regarding the relief work including the rehabilitationof the victims of natural disaster and the reconstruction in the areas aﬀected by natural
disaster etc. and for the control and prevention of natural disaster and the advance
preparation thereof and to prepare the programs in accordance with the said policy andsubmit it to His Majesty's Government,(c) To implement or cause to be implemented the policy and program formulated
pursuant to the clause (b) after it has been approved by His Majesty's Government,(d) To keep the money, food stuﬀ, clothes, medicines, construction materials and othergoods received within the Kingdom of Nepal and from outside as aid or donation under
the Central Natural Disaster Aid Fund and to send such goods as required for relief workin disaster area,(e) To associate the social organizations in natural disaster relief work and to coordinate
the activities of those organizations,(f) To form groups and send them to disaster area to assist in natural disaster relief
work,(g) To give direction to the district committee and Local Committee on the mattersrelating to relief work,

(h) To perform the works speciﬁed by His Majesty's Government for the execution ofnatural disaster relief work,(I) To submit progress report of work to His Majesty's Government from time to time.

The working procedures of the Relief and Treatment Sub-Committee and the Supply,
Shelter and Rehabilitation Sub-Committee may be managed by themselves. However,the functions, duties and responsibilities of the two Sub-Committees shall be as speciﬁedby the Central Natural Disaster Relief Committee.

10. Formulation of Other Natural Disaster Relief Committees
By publishing a notiﬁcation in the Nepal Gazette His Majesty's Government may constitute theRegional Natural Disaster Relief Committee, District Natural Disaster Relief Committee and Local
Natural Disaster Relief Committee in order to undertake the natural disaster relief work. The
working procedure of such committees and the term of oﬃce of the members shall be as speciﬁedin the said notice. Albeit, there is the provision of the Regional Natural Disaster Relief Committee
and Local Natural Disaster Relief Committee nothing has been mentioned regarding thecomposition of these two committees in the Act. In fact, these committees are like doormat
agencies. However, it is necessary to activise the two committees.

11. Functions and Duties of the Regional Natural Disaster Relief Committee(a) To give necessary suggestions to the Central Natural Disaster Relief Committee
regarding the formulation of regional level policy on natural disaster relief work andpreparation of the progress thereunder,(b) To coordinate or cause to be coordinated between District Committees regarding
natural disaster relief work,(c) To provide information to the Central Committee about natural disaster relief workfrom time to time,(d) To work in accordance with the directives of the Central Committee.

12. Functions and Duties of the District Natural Disaster Relief Committee(a) To coordinate or cause to be coordinated between Local Committees regarding
natural disaster relief work,(b) To formulate district level plans on natural disaster relief work and submit such plans
to the Regional Committee,(c) To monitor the natural disaster relief work being conducted by the Local Committees
and to support the on going work,

(d) To provide information to the Regional Committee about natural disaster relief workfrom time to time,(e) To work in accordance with the directives of the Central and Regional Committees.

13. Functions and Duties of the Local Natural Disaster Relief Committee(a) To prepare detailed description of the loss caused by natural disaster and to submit
to the District Committee the estimation of means and resources required to the relief
and rehabilitation of the victims of natural disaster,(b) To organize volunteer's teams according to need and conduct or cause to be
conducted the relief work,(c) To make necessary arrangements to take the injured in the natural disaster to thenearest hospitals and health posts as soon as possible,(d) To make arrangements for the evacuation of the victims of Natural Disaster to a safe
place,(e) To systematically distribute the cash and kind received in assistance from District
Committee and local resources to the families of the victims of natural disaster,(f) To conduct an awareness program as a precaution for the prevention and control ofthe possible events of the natural disaster,(g) To hand over the goods and cash balance and the accounts thereof to the District
Committee upon completion of natural disaster relief work.

14. Norms/Standards of Relief Assistance
The Central Natural Disaster Relief Committee has formulated some norms/standards for
immediate relief assistance to the victims of the natural disaster in cash and/or in kind. The
amount and quantity of such assistance may be revised from time to time. According to thepresent norms/standards speciﬁed by the Central Committee, an amount of Rs. 10,000.00 (TenThousand) shall be provided as relief assistance to the family of a dead victim. Injured persons
shall be provided the facility of treatment in the nearest hospital or health post. Seriously injured
people will even be airlifted and taken to the well equipped hospital. If a house has been destroyed
in a natural disaster, then up to Rs. 3,000.00 shall be provided to the owner of the damaged
house. If there is a threat of disaster or the house is not safe to live, then up to Rs. 2000.00 shallbe provided to the owner for the arrangement of a temporary settlement. In addition, 7 kilos ofrice or an amount of Rs. 125.00 shall also be provided as foodgrain assistance and Rs. 500.00 shallbe provided for the clothing and utensils for a homeless person. Those who have completely losttheir land and crops and have nothing to eat, shall get an amount of Rs. 500.00 as an immediate
relief assistance. Suﬀerers from the natural disaster will also get timber at concessional rate toconstruct a house. Generally, all the above mentioned relief assistance are to be provided throughthe District Natural Disaster Relief Committee.

15. Fund Channel Process
Provision of a Central Natural Disaster Aid Fund has been made under the control of the Central
Natural Disaster Relief Committee. The fund consists of : (a) cash and kind provided by His
Majesty's Government, (b) fund received from the Prime Minister Aid Fund, (c) cash and kindassistance received from foreign countries, national and foreign agencies and individuals and fromother sources. In addition, provision has also been made of a Regional Natural Disaster Aid fund, aDistrict Natural Disaster Aid Fund and a Local Natural Disaster Aid Fund. These funds consists ofthe cash and kind provided by His Majesty's Government, the cash and kind received from Central
Natural Disaster Aid Fund and from other sources. Whatsoever, at present, only the Central Natural
Disaster Aid Fund and District Natural Disaster Aid Fund are into operation. The Central Fund
releases budget to the District Natural Disaster Aid Fund according to the need and justiﬁcation for
immediate relief assistance to the victims of the natural disasters.

16. Role of The Ministry of Home in Disaster Management
In context of the above mentioned provisions the Ministry of Home Aﬀairs has to work as the apex
body in relation to disaster management in Nepal. Formulation of national policies and theirimplementation, preparedness and mitigation of disaster, immediate rescue and relief works, datacollection and dissemination, collection and distribution of funds and resources are the vitalfunctions of the Ministry. It has its network throughout the country to cope with the natural
disasters. Thus, the Ministry of Home Aﬀairs is the key agency for immediate response during
disasters and has to play a leading role in managing the natural disasters in the country.

Despite very limited funds and resources the Ministry of Home Aﬀairs is managing the natural
disaster in all respects. Of course, there are a number of problems in disaster management andenough room for the improvement.

17. Disaster Management Planning
Ninth Plan (1998 to 2002) underlines the need to strengthen the disaster management capability
by adopting various possible means. The plan envisages that an attempt should be made forprevention, mitigation and reduction of natural disaster through more advanced geological,hydrological and meteorological technology. Hazard mapping, vulnerability assessment, risk
analysis and early warning system has to be developed for which well trained and eﬃcient
manpower should be made available. The plan also stresses the need to strengthen the capabilityof ﬁre brigade. The Plan suggests that the policies and regulations concerning disastermanagement should be amended according to the need. The plan emphasizes the importance andneed for national and/or international assistance.

Responding the call of United Nations Nepal has constituted a high level National Committee for theInternational Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) which is Chaired by the Home
Minister and represented by other high level dignitaries from Governmental and Non-Governmental
agencies. Please see appendix 8 for the constitution of the IDNDR National Committee. This
Committee formulates policies for natural disaster reduction. The National Action Plan (NAP) of
HMG/N has been prepared under the direction of the IDNDR National Committee. The NAP includes
activities on disaster preparedness, response, mitigation, rehabilitation and reconstruction
programs. The NAP speciﬁes the responsibilities of various disaster actors with speciﬁed time frame
according to which they should implement their disaster reduction jobs by formulating special

course of action and should mobilize the available resources in the given period. In this way theobjectives of NAP are under implementation.

The disaster preparedness plan includes the following activities:

Measures related to national policy and planning for making institutional arrangement, providing
legal framework, adopting national policy and plan on disaster management.

Measures related to geological, hydrological and meteorological hazard assessment andenvironmental engineering studies.

Infrastructure speciﬁc and hazard speciﬁc preparedness measures.

Measures related to strengthening ﬁre ﬁghting capabilities in ﬁre prone areas.

Measures related to awareness raising, training, rehearsal, simulation activities.

Measures related to establishment of disaster management information system and stock piling of
emergency supply materials.

Risk assessment for development planning.

Policies on the role of NGOs, local community, private sector and also people's participation
especially women and socially disadvantaged groups.

Incorporation of environment impact assessment for disaster reduction development planning.

Promotion of regional and sub-regional cooperation between countries expecting same types ofhazards.

establishment of documentation centre on disaster activities.

Besides the above Nepal has prepared a National Comprehensive Plan on Disaster Management incooperation with UNDP/UNDRO/UNDTCD. This plan emphasizes on improvement of national
capacity for disaster management and institutional structures. This plan also focuses on hazard
mapping, risk assessment, vulnerability analysis and so on. As the objectives of this plan are very
wide, keeping in view the resource constraints it might take long time to attain all the objectives.
The UNDP and concerned Government agencies have prepared manuals in food, health and logistic
sectors.

Involvement of public media are contributing to raise public awareness in cooperation with various
Governmental, Non-Governmental and Social Organizations. As the theme of IDNDR day 1998 was"Natural Disaster Prevention and the Media" with a slogan "Prevention Begins with Information"
diﬀerent programs were organized by the various Government agencies as well as NonGovernment Organizations. Each year various public awareness raising programs are being
launched in radio and television. Besides, posters, pamphlets and notiﬁcation in the media during
the hazardous season are being given to raise public awareness signiﬁcantly.

Diﬀerent Governmental and Non-Governmental Organizations like JICA, DPTC, UNDP, USAID,
ADPC, NASC and various other agencies are being involved in conducting various type ofworkshops, seminars and training programs on disaster management. Such types of activities havebeen contributing signiﬁcantly to raise public awareness and manpower development.

The Department of Mines and Geology (DOMG) is preparing a landslide inventory. Water Induced
Disaster Prevention Technical Centre (DPTC) is carrying out thematic studies on landslide andmonitoring of two-three landslides. The Department of Soil Conservation (DOSC) is doing some
protection works in diﬀerent districts. The Department of Roads (DOR) is carrying out some bioengineering works in cooperation with the Tribhuvan University (TU), in order to stabilize the slope
and road cut sides. The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology and International Centre forIntegrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) are preparing the map of ﬂood prone areas. The
ICIMOD conducts research and training activities on natural hazards as well. The Department ofHydrology and Meteorology (DOHM) is involved in generating data on earthquakes and weather
forecasts in the country. The Tribhuvan University has established a Mountain Risk Engineering Unit
for training purposes.
On 4 June 1998 a task force was formed under the coordination of the Special Secretary of the
Ministry of Home Aﬀairs Mr. Sri K. Regmi to examine the problems of disaster management in
Nepal and to suggest the measures to solve them. The task force identiﬁed a number of problems
after thorough examination and review of the present acts, rules, regulations, budget and functions
and duties of various agencies related to disaster management. The task force has also suggested
a number of solutions for each of the identiﬁed problems. The ﬁnal report of the task force wassubmitted on 30 August, 1998 to the Home Minister. Some of the suggestions of the task force
have already been implemented and the rest are under the process of implementation.

18. Disaster Reduction Cooperation Among Asian Countries
Nepal is taking part in various international activities i.e. seminars, workshops, meetings andconferences and is exchanging ideas and sharing experiences on the matter of mutual co-operationin disaster reduction eﬀorts. Nepal always stands for the international cooperation and advocates
for the establishment of international, regional and sub-regional centers where issues of common
concerns can be addressed. At this point establishment of the Asian Disaster Reduction Centre at
Kobe, Japan on 30 July 1998 is a landmark for the whole Asian Continent as it aims to collect anddisseminate information on natural disasters and reduction, carry out studies on the promotion ofdisaster reduction cooperation, gather information on emergency relief during times of disaster,disseminate knowledge and raise awareness of disaster reduction in the Asia region and so on. And
it is a very good start. There is no doubt, it will certainly contribute signiﬁcantly to the reduction ofnatural disasters in the whole region. Moreover, the resolutions adopted by the IDNDR World
Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction held at Yokohama, Japan on May 23 - 27, 1994, Asian
Natural Disaster Reduction Conference held at Kobe, Japan on December 17-18, 1995, Asian
Natural Disaster Reduction experts Meetings held at Tokyo, Japan on 23-24 October, 1996, Asian
Disaster Reduction cooperation Promotion Meeting held at Tokyo, Japan on June 16-17, 1997,
International IDNDR Conference on Early Warning Systems for the Reduction of Natural Disasters
held at Potsdam, Germany on September 7-11, 1998 and International Seminar on Water Induced
Disasters held at Kathmandu, Nepal on November 4 - 6, 1998 are remarkable.

19. Expectations and Conclusion
From the above statement, it has been observed that disaster management in Nepal haveencountered various problems such as: diﬃcult and undeveloped physical infrastructure, masspoverty, fatalistic nature of some people, poor public awareness, low literacy rate, lack of politicalcommitment etc. have made the disaster situation more complex. In view of the complexities anddiversities of the disaster management concrete, eﬀective and practicable policy is needed forwhich political commitment and a pragmatic policy formulation is very necessary. It is also believedthat lack of coordination, insuﬃcient fund and resources, and their mobilization problems have tobe addressed through the eﬀective implementation of the practicable policy. In addition, disastermitigation, early warning, emergency rescue and relief operation, rehabilitation and recovery plans
should involve in activities such as: training, post-disaster evaluation, monitoring of relief works,
review, cooperation and coordination of Central, District and Local preparedness and research etc..
Recovery planning should involve in long-term as well as immediate recovery programs.

Above and over, international and regional cooperation in this ﬁeld is of utmost importance.
Establishment of the institutions like : Asian Disaster Reduction Centre (ADRC) at Kobe, Japan andAsian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC) at Bangkok, Thailand could help greatly to redress thesituation by means of collecting and disseminating information and conducting trainings andorganizing meetings. This kind of gatherings at international, regional and sub-regional basis will
promote international cooperation, mutual understanding and help among the countries byexchanging ideas and sharing experiences between the fellow participants. Such meeting will also
help to learn from each other's experiences. Outcome of this kind of gathering will be and asset for
the individual participant and the country as well.

œ ]

APPENDIX

Appendix-1

LOSS OF LIVES BY DISASTERS(1983-1998)

Year/Types

Earthquake

1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

-

-

721

-

-

-

Flood &
Landslide

293 363 420 315

391

328

680

307

Fire

69

96

62

23

109

Epidemics

217 521 915 1101

426

427

Windstorm &Thunderbolt

NA

NA

NA

NA

2

Avalanche

-

-

-

-

Stampede

-

-

-

-

Total

-

-

57

-

52

579 941 1387 1512

2

-

Total

-

-

-

3

-

726

93

71 1336

49

203

258

83

273 5463

46

90

97

43

43

73

61

65

54 1040879

503

725 1128

100

626

520

494

951

840 10373

NA

28

57

63

20

45

47

34

75

49

23

443

-

14

20

-

-

-

-

-

43

4

12

-

93

-

71

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

71

881 1584 1716

913

971 1318 1524

765

873

895 1160 1190 18209

Appendix-2

Ministry of Home Aﬀairs
Disaster Relief Section
Loss of lives and property
Year 2055(1998)

S.N.

Types of
Disasters

PeopleAffected Cattlehead

Dead Aﬀected Injured Families
1

Avalanche2

Flood &

LossesHousesCattleSheds

Land

Estimated

LossesTotal Loss (in(Hector)

NRS*)

Destroyed Destroyed

273

80

33549

982

13990

1244

326.89 1,969,265,388.00

22

876

65

926

56

33,558,228.00

Landslide
3

Fire

54

4

Epidemics

840

5

Windstorms

6

2

172

3

140

6

225,348,280.00

6Thunderbolts

17

13

87

129

23

2

1,739,300.00

7

Earthquake

8

Hailstorm
Total

1896

2300

3
1,190

1,896

117 36,987

3
1,179

15,08256,000.00
1,308

326.89 2,229,967,196.00* 1.00 US dollar is equivalent to NRs. 68.00

Appendix-3

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF THE MINISTRY OF HOME

Appendix-4

The Central Disaster Relief Committee comprises the following members(a) Home Minister - Chairman(b) Housing and Physical Planning Minister - Member(c) Health Minister - Member(d) Secretary, Ministry of Finance - Member(e) Secretary, Ministry of Defense - Member(f) Secretary, Ministry of Home Aﬀairs - Member(g) Secretary, Ministry of External Aﬀairs - Member(h) Secretary, Ministry of Public Works and Transport - Member(i) Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources - Member(j) Secretary, Ministry of Communication - Member(k) Secretary, Ministry of Forest and Environment - Member(l) Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare - Member(m) Secretary, Ministry of Supplies - Member(n) Secretary, Secretariat of National Planning
Commission - Member(o) Brigadier, Royal Nepal Army - Member(p) Inspector General of Police, Police Headquarters - Member(q) Representative, Social Service National
Coordination Council - Member(r) Representative, Nepal Red Cross Society - Member(s) Representative, Nepal Scout - Member(t) Director General, Mining and Geological Department - Member(u) Director General, Department of Meteorology - Member(v) Two reputed persons nominated by His
Majesty's Government - Member(w) Additional Secretary (who looks after NaturalCalamity related activities), Home Ministry - Member-Secretary

The Central Disaster Relief Committee can invite at its meetings the concerned Member ofParliament representing the district aﬀected by natural disaster.

Appendix-5

The Relief and Treatment Sub-Committee is composed of the following members(a) Health Minister - Coordinator(b) Secretary, Ministry of Communication - Member(c) Secretary, Ministry of Public Works and Transport - Member(d) Brigadier, Royal Nepal Army - Member(e) Inspector General of Police, Police Headquarters - Member(f) Representative, Nepal Red Cross Society - Member(g) Representative, Nepal Scout - Member

The coordinator of the Relief and Treatment Sub-committee is empowered to designate theSecretary of the Sub-Committee.

Appendix-6

The Supplies, Shelter and Rehabilitation Sub-Committee includes
the following members(a) Housing and Physical Planning Minister - Coordinator(b) Secretary, Ministry of Finance - Member(c) Secretary, Ministry of Home Aﬀairs - Member(d) Secretary, Ministry of Supplies - Member(e) Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare - Member(f) Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources - Member(g) Secretary, Ministry of Public Works and Transport - Member(h) Representative, Social Service National
Coordination Council - Member

The Coordinator of the Supply, Shelter and Rehabilitation Sub-Committee is empowered todesignate the Secretary of the Sub-Committee.

Appendix-7

The District Natural Disaster Relief Committee

The District Natural Disaster Relief Committee has the following members:(a) Chief District Oﬃcer - Chairman(b) District Level Representative of the
National Level Political Parties - Member(c) Chief of the Royal Nepalese Army unit - Member(d) Chief of the District Police Oﬃce - Member(e) In-charge, Public Health Oﬃce/Hospital - Member(f) Representative, Nepal Red Cross Society - Member(h) Engineer, District Housing and Town
Development Oﬃce - Member(i) Chief, District Irrigation Oﬃce - Member(j) Chief, District Forest Oﬃce - Member(k) Chief, District Agriculture Development Bank - Member(l) Reputed Social Worker - Member(m) Local Development Oﬃcer - Member Secretary

Appendix-8

International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction National Committeea. Home Minister - Chairman
b. Governor, Nepal Rastra Bank - Member
c. Secretary, Ministry of Home Aﬀairs - Member
d. Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Aﬀairs - Member
e. Secretary, Ministry of Women and Social Welfare - Member
f. Secretary, Ministry of Health - Member
g. Secretary, Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation - Member
h. Secretary, Ministry of Finance - Member
i. Secretary, Ministry of Public Works and Transport - Member
j. Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Physical Planning - Member
k. Secretary, Ministry of Industry - Member
l. Secretary, Ministry of Information & Communication - Member
m. Secretary, Ministry of Supply - Member
n. Secretary, Ministry of Local Development - Membero. Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources - Member

p. Member Secretary, Secretariat of the National Planning
Commission - Member
q. Executive Secretary, Water Resources and Energy Commission - Member
r. Inspector General of Police, Police Headquarters - Members. Brigadier, Royal Nepal Army - Member
t. Director General, Housing and Town Development
Department - Member
u. Director General, Mining and Geological Department - Member
v. Director General, Department of Meteorology - Member
w. President, Nepal Journalist Association - Member
x. Dean, Institute of Engineering, Tribhuvan University (T.U.) - Member
y. Chairman, Central Teaching Department of Geology, T.U. - Member
z. Chairman, Nepal Geological Society, T.U. - Member
aa. Chairman, National Society - Nepal Earthquake Technology - Member
ab. Chairman, Nepal Medical Association - Member
ac. Chairman, Nepal Engineering Association - Member
ad. Member Secretary, Social Welfare Council - Member
ae. Representative, Nepal Red Cross Society - Member
af. Representative, Nepal Scout - Member
ag. Joint Secretary, Disaster Relief Section, Home Ministry - Member-Secretary
ah. Project Chief, Water Induced Disaster Prevention TechnicalCentre - Invitee

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