Country: /Earthquake Rapid Needs Assessment Report

Districts Dolakha,

VDCs Kalinchok, Khopachagu, Alampu and Chilanka

1. Summary of Findings and Strategic Humanitarian Priorities

th - District Dolakha which was a tourist area was badly affected by two earthquakes (25 of April and 12 May), the second earthquake was more severe as the epicentre of it was in the northern part of Dolakha. - To date, 14 VDCs within Dolakha in northern part remain inaccessible by road. The walking distances from the main road to those VDCs varies between one to eight hours walk. The inaccessibility has been a major obstacle for aid delivery, and most of these VDCs still remain uncovered or partially covered, as the aid delivered by helicopters can only reach to certain villages where there is helipad, but many of the villages still remain cut from the rest of villages due to heavy landslides. - A team of geologist from centeral government is currently carrying out a study, to determine which areas are no more inhabitable. As per CDO Dolakha, initially all those 14 inaccessible VDCs were considered vulnerable and geologist team will be focusing on those 14 VDCs. - According to CDO Dolakha, based on the recommendations of the geologists, central government will make a final decision on the way forward.

Massive destructions at Singhati leading towards Kalinchowk

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Destruction in Alampu VDC

2. Situation Overview

On April 25th 2015, an earthquake of magnitude 7.5 Richter scale struck Nepal causing a level of devastation that had not been experienced in the country for at least 80 years. Millions of people have been affected by the disaster, with 8,219 people confirmed dead and over 20,000 more injured. The epicentre of the earthquake was located 77km northwest of , in the Ghorka district.

A second earthquake, measuring 7.3 magnitude, struck Nepal on May 12th 2015. The epicentre was in Dholaka District, 18 KM southeast of ()- an area already affected by the 25 April quake. The second earthquake was followed by several aftershocks, including a 5.6 magnitude tremor and a 6.3 magnitude tremor in Dholaka District. Strong aftershocks continue to be felt. Many areas around the epicentre are particularly susceptible to landslides.

The initial assessment was focused on gathering the basic information about shelter, food, WASH, livelihood, health and education situation in 4 ACTED’s targeted VDCs in Dolakha.

Whilst the damage in accessible areas of Dolakha is well documented the road access to remote areas of Dolakha in particular is blocked and large parts of the district cannot be reached at the moment.

3. Assessment Methodology

4 KI informant interviews were conducted with the VDC secretaries (who are a government representative for their respective VDCs). The key focus was on the inaccessible VDCs in the targeted areas of ACTED. The KI were either conducted via phone or meeting in Dolakha where the displaced the secretaries are currently living. Below are the names of the targeted VDCs

- Kalinchowk - Chilanka - Khopachagu - Alampu

4. Assessment Findings

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Populations Affected______Situation VDC Name Total Total Number of Number of HH population deaths injuries Chilankha 950 4300 17 10 Kalinchowk 720 3500 4 0 Khopachagu 720 2940 5 16 Alampu 700 3200 5 32 Total 3090 13940 31 58 - Second earthquake on 12 May caused more damage, as in all the VDCs the death toll recorded was higher from the second earthquake, - Out of the 31 deaths, 24 were caused by the second earthquake (12 May) while the remaining 7 were caused by the first earthquake. In Chilankha 14 deaths were reported during the second earthquake. - 5% of the household reported to be without an able-bodied household member. - All the four assessed VDCs remain inaccessible as of the reporting date,

Needs, Coverage and Gaps - The assessed area is in urgent need of most forms of humanitarian assistance, as outlined below.

Shelter______Situation - According to all four VDCs, residents reported that 100% of shelters had either been totally destroyed – or damaged to the point of inhabitation. - According the VDC secretaries, Majority of the houses were already damaged due to first earthquake, but were collapsed during second earthquake. - The entire respondent stressed that the mjar concern of the population is inhabitable house, the make shift shelters are overcrowded and people don’t have basic HH items. - The Make shift shelters are either made by the salvage materials or some households received tarpaulins from different NGOs. - The VDC secretaries said that the majority of the population have timbers for the frame for new shelters from the salvage material of collapsed houses.

Needs, Coverage and Gaps - According to the VDC some of the household received some tarpaulins but still many households haven’t received a tarpaulin. CGI sheets were identified as the main needs to construct temporary shelters before the moon by all the VDCs. - In some of the VDCs tents were also rated as their main need. - According the VDC secretaries, most of the households were using wooden framed houses before the earthquake so they can use the salvage material to construct the shelters if they are provided with CGI sheets. - None of the households in the assessed VDCs received any CGI assistance till date, - Blankets and Kitchen sets were ranked as second and third most urgent need.

Livelihoods, Food Security and Nutrition______Situation

- Most of the residence of the targeted VDCs are either associated with farming, livestock, tourism or daily labours. Some of them also goes overseas (mainly middle east) for the daily wage labour. - Government had initially distributed 2 KG rice and some lintels as well salt, but since than no one distributed any food. - WFP is planning to distribute food in these VDCs in the coming two weeks for the second phase of distribution. This distribution is most likely be carried out via helicopters. 3

- All the VDCs reported shortage of food for the residence, as the access to the market is also limited and in case of Chilankha and Alampu, people have to walk for more than five hours to get to the main road and nearest market Singhati is still at 2 hours drive. - Road up to Babre (last point of road access) is dirt road and only accessible by 4X4 cars.

Needs, Coverage and Gaps - WFP is already planning to distribute food, - Where possible with the man power, roads to rehabilitated through cash for work; - Provision of seeds, or cash assistance to replenish stock.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene______Situation - Gravity water supply schemes are the main sources of water in the 4 assessed VDCs.

Condion of the Water sources Alampu 10% 90%

Khopachagu 25% 75%

Kalinchowk 10% 90%

Chilankha 50% 50%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% WSS working WSS destroyed

- Overall around 50% of the households were reported with limited access to the water due to above damages to the water schemes. - Almost 100% of the population doesn’t have access to sanitation facilities (e.g. latrines). - Due to limited access to the market, households are suffering to get access to hygiene supplies. - Some water sources are reported being disturbed by the earthquake, in some areas the water sources has been shifted to another location, in some places the water has been disappeared after the earthquake. Some new springs were also reported. Needs, Coverage and Gaps - Sanitary facilities (Pit Latrines, VIP Latrines); - Hygiene kits; - Hygiene promotion; - Water sources and pipelines need to be checked for contamination.

Health______Situation - MSF France has carried out a major operation in the inaccessible VDCs to treat the injured or other patients; it has also supplied medicines to the remote government health facilities. - It was reported that buildings of the government health facilities were either damaged or destroyed. As each of the VDCs had one government health facility in their VDCs - All four VDCs reported that health facilities within their respective VDCs are functional. - All the VDCs reported limited access to medical supplies.

Needs, Coverage and Gaps - Tents or temporary shelters for the health facilities - Medical supplies via helicopters - Latrines for the health facilities,

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Protection______Situation - Most of the aid is being supplied through helicopters and generally handed over to the community for distribution, this can cause unrest and potential conflict amongst the communities, - Dalit are reported as the marginalized communities,

Needs, Coverage and Gaps - Aid agencies needs to review the distribution mechanism. - Special attention is required for the inclusion of Dalits.

Education______Situation - All the schools in the assessed VDCs were destroyed VDC name Total Schools # of schools % of destroyed schools destroyed Chilankha 9 9 100% Kalinchowk 4 4 100% Khopachagu 3 3 100% Alampu 3 3 100%

- All the schools were found non functional till the assessment date

Relief Efforts/Assistance______- Larger tents were recorded as priority needs to restart the education. - Latrines were also rated as priority for the schools once operational.

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