GIS Mapping of Open Spaces in 5 Municipalities of Western Region of Nepal

Terms of Reference (ToR)

Project Background:

Nepal is at high risk of natural disasters - particularly seismic activity, landslides and flooding. With its location in a high risk seismic zone, it is susceptible to an earthquake's potentially devastating impact on both population and infrastructure. As predicted, the earthquakes of 25 April and 12 May 2015 had a huge impact on both lives and property with approximately 8,700 casualties and 22,000 injuries. Thirty-one of the country's 75 districts have been affected, out of which 14 were declared 'crisis-hit' and prioritized for support. It is estimated that the lives of eight million people, almost one-third of the population of Nepal, have been affected by the two earthquakes. Post Disaster Need Assessment (PDNA) report projected that the total value of disaster effects (damages and losses) caused by the earthquakes is NPR 706 billion or its equivalent of US$ 7 billion (GoN, 2015). More than half a million houses collapsed or are damaged. The first round of Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) done immediately after the earthquake indicated that 409 displacement sites hosts 117,700 internally displaced individuals from 21,711 households across 15 districts (IOM, 2015). All displacement sites were spontaneous, and the displaced populations were residing on the open spaces available in their communities. In Kathmandu Valley, all previously identified open spaces were used immediately after the earthquake.

From the rapid assessment of IOM from 29 to 30 April within the four days of the earthquake, it was found that 38 identified open spaces were being used holding 36,104 internationally displaced populations, whereas 45 of them were already closed (IOM, 2015). In total, there were 53 identified and spontaneous sites in use holding 41,937 IPDs. The sites therefore acted as the place to shelter from immediate threat of falling buildings and its debris as well as to receive humanitarian assistance. The demographic of these sites included female-headed household, child- headed household, elderly-headed household, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, unaccompanied/separated children, persons with chronic disease/disability/serious medical condition and members of marginalized caste/ethnicity. The open spaces gave shelter not only to the people from Kathmandu Valley but also of residents who have arrived from other districts, with the majority of residents from Sindhupalchok. From the Round 2 DTM assessment held from 21 May to 22 June, it was found that the number of sites increased to 75 in Kathmandu Valley 75 holding 31,908 IDPs. And gradually it has been decreasing from 31 to 26 sites, with IDPs from 24,695 to 20,708 from 23 June to 05 September. The seismic vulnerability and another fault line that runs in the West has been recently receiving many small earthquake jolts. The last major earthquake to his Western Nepal was some eighty years ago and going by the pattern of the seismic activity, it is safe to anticipate a major earthquake in this area which has not yet received a heavy focus on preparedness work. It has been abundantly clear that the open spaces work in Kathmandu and supported immediate shelter and safe places after the earthquake. The importance of preserving the open spaces and effectively communicating their usage to communities cannot be stated enough. However, the two earthquakes demonstrated that the need for suitable open spaces is also equally important outside of Kathmandu valley and in the remote districts. Due to the remote terrain, one of the many challenges faced by the districts was adequate spaces available to house displaced population and this project aims to identify such spaces in the major cities inside five districts in the Western Nepal.

IOM has successfully completed the implementation of the USAID/OFDA funded AID-OFDA-12- 0027 project to assess 83 open spaces inside the KV for humanitarian use in the event of a large- scale earthquake, AIDOFDA-10-13-00035 project titled 'Rubble Removal for Reconstruction and the Restoration of Livelihoods in the Kathmandu Valley' and the AID-OFDA-10-14-00035 "Preparedness and Management of Open Spaces for Effective Humanitarian Response in the Kathmandu Valley (P-MOS)" projects. This project AID-OFDA-IO-16-00023 “Identification and Management of Open Spaces for Disaster Preparedness” is a continuation of the USAID/OFDA funded projects on open spaces and debris management targeted towards preparing the KV, five major cities namely Pokhara, Baglung, Tansen, Putali Bazaar and Tamghas for an earthquake.

Project Approach:

The rationale of selection of the five cities listed in this proposal are (1) geographical location which is mountainous and higher population density because they are all district headquarters, (2) although the notion of there being adequate open areas outside Kathmandu Valley is true, the challenge is the identifying and protecting suitable, habitable flat land inside of district headquarters which is very scarce and it was proven during the past earthquakes where there was very limited space in the districts headquarters and lastly (3) there will be more smoother and effective distribution of humanitarian relief because of the tendency of Nepali people to remain closer to their land and property even if destroyed as demonstrated in the past earthquakes. Therefore, with a high and increasing population density in these five cities combined with poor construction standards for infrastructure means that a major earthquake (above 7 on the Richter scale) will have very serious impact. The recent earthquakes furthermore demonstrated the need for preparedness activities and open spaces in the remote areas of Nepal as they were the hardest hit in terms of not only lives lost but also the destruction to properties. It reiterated the need for suitable open spaces in smaller towns especially because the mountainous terrain does not allow for much habitable open spaces.

In cooperation with Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Local Development and Federal Affairs, IOM has undertaken a study and identified more than 80 open spaces within Pokhara Sub-Metropolitan City, Baglung Banglung Bazzar Municipality, Tansen Municipality, Putali Bazaar Municipality and Resunga Municipality that can be used for humanitarian purpose in emergency sitiations. Preliminary information has been collected and site information has been gathered by IOM through consultations with relevant district stakeholders. The selected GIS Company will conduct detail study of the identified sites in terms of GIS mapping and its capacities. The company has to adopt an innovative approach in processing the data and maps produced through the GIS mapping for easy accessibility. Thus, the specific deliverables of the detail study will be: 1. detail GIS mapping of open spaces and soil testing; 2. essential services including health, WASH, transport, warehousing, security services mapped around the identified sites; 3. detailed technical GIS maps for all open spaces accessible on IOM and GoN website.

Scope of Work:

The Firm will: a. Establish horizontal and vertical control points (GCPs) that will serve as the framework of the survey and installation of sites. b. Determine enough horizontal location and elevation (usually called side shots) of ground points to provide enough data for plotting of the topographical map. c. Locate natural and man-made features in the mentioned area including but not limited to floodplains, drainage, points of interest, water points etc. d. Demarcate plots at specified scales for each individual survey assignment with the legal description of the property which will conform with the Title Boundary Record. e. Establish the dimensions and bearings of property boundaries, and plot all locatable title exceptions and easements on the survey map. Set permanent monuments into the ground adequately to prevent movement. f. Perform field monument inspection on parcel maps and final subdivision maps. It is expected that each successful firm/team of surveyors will complete the GPS survey and demarcation of about 90 plots within a period not exceeding three weeks.

Inputs to be provided:

Survey Firm/Team

Firms or teams of surveyors are expected to field a team of experienced surveyors.

Each team is expected to bring with them appropriate GNSS integrated survey equipment to undertake the work specified above.

1. Preparation of a local plan for the area to be surveyed, if not already done. 2. Digital copy of each map, in AutoCAD “.dwg” format. The Model Space file shall be in “Real World” scale. The Plot Sheet shall be at a scale at which the entire property boundary is shown on a single sheet. While the property maps may be printed on A0 size. The name, address, telephone number, and signature of the Professional Land Surveyor who made the survey, his or her official seal and registration number, the date the survey was completed and the dates of all revisions shall be printed on the survey maps.

3. All field books used in the survey development. Field books shall be submitted in both hardcopy and as scanned Adobe Acrobat .pdf format.

4. All monument forms are to be completed at the time of monument installation. All field documentation forms shall be submitted as Adobe Acrobat pdf files.

5. All raw and processed data files shall be submitted along with hardcopy printouts of the GPS message files. (Trimble).

6. All vertical control readings shall be entered in an Excel spreadsheet and checked against the field calculated data prior to development of level abstracts. 7. An overall plan view design file shall be submitted containing all horizontal and vertical control information. Baseline points shall be connected with labeled lines. Vertical control points shall be connected with arrows noting the directions of the runs.

8. ASCII XYZ data files shall be submitted for all points set or collected. Data files shall contain the point number, northing, easting, elevation, point code, and point description.

Final Reporting: 1) Detail GIS Mapped Report with essential services mapping around the identified open spaces. 2) Soil Testing Report all the open spaces. 3) Electronic Reports on the specific information of each open space site compatible to the Website, i.e. https://sites.google.com/site/kathmanduopenspaces/