Post-Earthquake Situation Assessments in two Southern Lalitpur VDCs

29 and 30 April 2015

Ghusal and Bhattedanda VDCs

I, Steve Keeling, have lived and worked in Nepal full time since 1992. I am currently editor for DFID’s Nepal Health Sector Support Programme. I did extensive editing and writing work for UNDP between 2007 and 2012.

I am a keen mountain biker and know the remote parts of southern Lalitpur well. On 28 April, three days after the earthquake struck, I was asked by Tyler MacMahon of One Planet Solutions to do an assessment of Southern Lalitpur VDCs that the MP for the area (Uday Rana) said were most badly affected. He said that Ghusal, Bhattedanda and Manikhel VDCs are most badly affected and in need of assistance and especially need tarps and blankets.

I visited by motorbike.

My contact details: 9808 209987 and stephen@keeling.wlink.com.np

Main findings:

The houses and livelihoods of most people in these two VDCs have been destroyed or badly damaged.

Above anything the local people need tarpaulins (with the need being heightened by the rainy weather):

o for human and livestock shelter; ando to have somewhere to store possessions after digging them out/removing from

destroyed and damaged buildings. Dead livestock in destroyed buildings could pose a serious health risk.

1 Ghusal VDC Assessment

Ghusal VDC centre (Ghusal bazaar) lies about 1 hour's drive southwest of Tika Bhairav. The rough jeep track road was open. Ghusal VDC has about 350 households. I visited the bazaar area and discussed the situation across the VDC with the local people.

Findings:

Almost all buildings in the VDC are traditional stone and mud building. 80-90% of these buildings were destroyed or badly damaged by the earthquake. This seems to be the pattern across the many poor households on the steep hillsides of the Ghusal, Bhattedanda, Ikadole belt and probably beyond.

Many of the houses in the bazaar area have outside toilets which seemed to be mostly undamaged.

The people were sleeping in the school, the health post or in clear plastic buffalo shelters. It was said that people in the bazaar area were using the toilets in their houses. The Health Post with health assistant Srijana Singh was undamaged and functioning.

1

Destroyed homes at Ghusal bazaar, southern Lalitpur

Other destroyed homes at Ghusal bazaar, southern Lalitpur

Ghusal Bazaar — already starting to rebuild; but using the same vulnerable methods as before

Support received so far:

The Red Cross had been there a couple of days before and had given 35 tarpaulins, which all went to the most badly affected village (Jagalkot village, which suffered a few deaths)

On 29 April the police had just delivered a big load of instant noodles. On 30 April received half a sack of rice per household plus dalmut and a few other foodstuffs. On 30 April a Turkish medic ran a clinic.

Needs:

The locals said they needed tarps, blankets and food. Most of their food produced from their own fields had been stored in their destroyed houses and is destroyed.

Contact person:

Navaraj Neupane (tel. 9841 984370).runs the local saving cooperative (Ghusal Samudayik Bachet tatha Saharkari Sanstha) and is a reliable and trusted local. He would be a good contact to go through to distribute any aid. His office and its computer were destroyed in the earthquake.

Long term effects:

It was being discussed how the damage to their property would put them back 20-30 years to a state of living hand to mouth. The small loans had been very important for buying fertiliser etc. and now the cooperative was probably not going to function.

2 BHATTEDANDA VDC

Visit date: 30 April 2015, five days after the earthquake.

Bhattedanda VDC, lies just outside the southern rim of the Kathmandu Valley on steeply sloping easterly facing hillsides. From Tika Bhairav it's 25 minutes' drive up to Tinpani Bhanjyang that marks the start of Bhattedanda VDC. The VDC centre is about a further one hour's drive south and then 10 minutes' walk/motorbike ride downhill from Chapeli roadside bazaar on a rough jeep track. The VDC has about 400 households.

The road was blocked between Tinpani and Bhattedanda, but was cleared by a mechanical digger after 30 minutes.

I visited the main roadside centre (Chapeli) and the VDC centre bazaar area and discussed the situation across the VDC with the local people. I travelled by motorbike

Observations:

The distribution of LWF chura and instant noodles was going on at Tinpani as I passed through. I also observed the registration for and the distribution of LWF foodstuffs from Bhattedanda Lower Secondary School. LWF is working across quite a few VDCs in southern Lalitpur.

Most houses on the roadside and on the hillsides between Tinpani and Bhattedanda were seen to be destroyed or badly damaged.

Bhattedanda bazaar looked like a World War 2 bomb site. The electricity supply had been damaged and cut off. It was said that there was a similar level of destruction across the hilly areas of Malta VDC which

borders Bhattedanda to the southwest.

The sale of milk to Kathmandu is a major source of livelihood for this area. Many buffalos and cows were said to have been killed as they were tied up in old mud and rock buildings with no chance to escape. A little milk (c. 25% of the usual amount) is still being sold. I saw returning trucks with milk churns.

The rotting of these dead animals was said to pose a major health risk, especially when the weather gets warmer (which it will do soon).

The health post in charge (Raj Kumar Sapkota, tel. 9843516053) said that there had been three cases of bad diarrhoea that had come to the health post that day.

Anandaban Hospital and the army had run a health camp there on the previous day. Mr Sapkota told me that his health post had adequate drugs, but that Malta VDC Health Post’s

drug store and drugs had been destroyed.

As with my visit to Ghusal everybody said that the main need was for tarpaulins. These are needed for the following purposes (with the need being heightened by the rainy weather):

Raju Thapa was at Bhattedanda school distributing LWF food. He is the deputy VDC secretary and seemed like a reliable sort of guy (tel. 98510 05342). Sitaram Chautel is the school principle (9843 058211). Both are having problems charging their phones due to lack of electricity.

The local police in charge is Bhimsen Karki (98038 04475, 98512 83580). Seemed like a good guy.

A couple of local young guys had just returned from Malaysia/Qatar after taking leave after hearing about the earthquake.

Local people seemed amazingly resilient and unphased.

Bhattedanda bazaar after the earthquake looking like a World War 2 bomb site. Luckily everybody escaped outside before the buildings collapsed. Many locals are sleeping in the health post building behind

Most buildings by the road between Tinpani Bhanjyang and Bhattedanda have been destroyed

The remote settlements of the area have also suffered severe damage

Food is beginning to be distributed. The main need is for tarpaulins and tents.