Economic Loss from Earthquake in Nepal and Strategies for Recovery and Resilience Building

Abstract

The earthquakes on April 2015 took over 8790 casualties and 22,300 injuries with the destruction of physical infrastructures, heritages sites, community infrastructures and green infrastructures. This put a tremendous demand on different services and support from the affected people. The relief operations after the disaster were quite encouraging. However, the rehabilitation and reconstruction is delayed due to issues related with political, institutional, legal and governance. In this context, the strategy should aim for inclusive and resilient recovery. It should focus on reducing the disaster related risks and building better back. Moreover, it should consider the reconstruction of damaged assets, improvement in disaster preparedness response mechanism, and enhancement of measures for multi-hazard risk monitoring, vulnerability assessment, risk information dissemination and awareness. Similarly, there is a need to improve legal and institutional arrangements and mainstream disaster risk reduction into the developmental sector. There are several aspects of recovery which can be implemented only by developing a national consensus. Strong political will, sustained resource mobilization and continuous dialogue with the affected people, are among the most important prerequisites of a recovery program. The provision of income generating activities, skills development and community mobilization are catalytic for swift recovery and enhanced resilience. In addition, the existing institutions at all levels should be strengthened.