National Recovery and Re-construction Plan(NRRP) “Building back better”for safe & Happy Bhutan (September 18, 2011 Earthquake) Implementation Period: 2011-2016 Department of Disaster Management Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs Royal Government of Bhutan © Copyright Department of Disaster Management, MoHCA, 2010 Published by the Department of Disaster Management with support from UNDP, Bhutan ནང་ིད་དང་ོལ་འཛིན་ལྷན་ཁག། Ministry of Home & Cultural Affairs Royal Government of Bhutan Tashichho Dzong, Thimphu ནང་ིད་དང་ོལ་འཛན་ན་ཁག།/ Ministry of Home & Cultural Affairs Royal Government of Bhutan/ Tashichho Dzong, Thimphuཤས་ིས་ན་འི་འི་ཤག/ National Recovery and Re-Construction Plan Table of Contents 7 Contents Page 1. Background on the Event 8 2. Loss and Damages 8 3. Emergency Response and Relief 8-11 4. Recovery and Re-construction Efforts 11-20 5. Recovery and Re-construction Strategy 21-23 Annexure 1. Annexure I (Preliminary Assessment Report of RGoB Technical team) 24-39 2. Annexure II (Damage Assessment Report) 40-42 3. Annexure III (RGoB’s Response and Relief Efforts)43 4. Annexure IV (Relief Materials Received and Disbursed)44 5. Annexure V (Resource Mobilization Status) 45 6. Annexure VI (Resolutions of the Three Stakeholder Meetings) 46-51 7. Annexure VII (Coordination Mechanism) 52-53 8. Annexure VIII (RGoB’s Recovery and Reconstruction Efforts)54 9. Annexure IX (Sector Recovery and Re-construction Plans) 55-86 Department of Disaster Management National Recovery and Re-Construction Plan 1. Background on the event On 18 September 2011, an earthquake of magnitude 6.9 on the Richter scale with its epicenter on the Indo- Nepal border close to Mangan, Sikkim (India) shook the Himalayan region including Bhutan at 6:41 pm. It 8 was felt across many areas of India, Nepal and Bhutan. The earthquake has been confirmed as the thrust of the Indian plate against the Eurasian plate (Preliminary report of RGoB Technical Team is attached as Annexure I). All 20 Dzongkhags (districts) of Bhutan suffered varying degrees of damages to homes, social infrastructures including schools, basic health units/outreach clinics, hospitals, administrative offices, Dzongs, lhakhangs (temples/monasteries), and choetens. 2. Loss and Damages The earthquake claimed 1 life, inflicted injuries to 14 people and caused damages worth Nu. 1,197.63 Million (As per the Joint Rapid Assessment Report (RGoB/WB/UN)). The four western Dzongkhags of Haa, Paro, Chukha and Samtse were most severely affected while all twenty Dzongkhags has reported damages, such as: S.N Sector Approximate Loss Approximate loss (Nu. Million) (USD Million) 1 Housing 774.0 15.80 2 Government, Public and Other infrastructure 16.73 0.34 3 Religious and Cultural Heritage Buildings 340.91 6.96 4 Educa on 50.18 1.02 5 Health 10.23 0.22 6 Psycho-social impacts 0 0 7 Water and Sanita on 0 0 8 RNR 5.58 0.12 Approx. Total Loss 1,197.63 24.46 (Joint Rapid Assessment Report) As per the damage assessment reports received from the Dzongkhag Administrations (Annexure II) - 6,977 rural homes, 36 Schools/NFE, 22 Hospitals/BHUs/ORCs, 27 RNR centers (including 6 irrigation channels), 30 Gup’s Offices and other public infrastructures have been damaged or affected. The earthquake also caused massive damage to cultural assets with 286 Dzongs/Lhakhangs and 55 Choetens reported as damaged. 3. Emergency Response and Relief Following the 18 September 2011 earthquake, the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGoB) responded quickly and swiftly. All the 20 Dzongkhags administrations deputed human resources immediately to visit the gewogs and affected chiwogs for a rapid situation analysis. At the request of the Department of Disaster Management (DDM) under the Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs (MoHCA), the Dzongkhags directed the gewog administrations to launch a rapid assessment of the damage on 19 September 2011. The Department of Disaster Management National Recovery and Re-Construction Plan Department of Disaster Management contacted all 20 Dzongkhags regarding the impact of the earthquake, based on which a preliminary Damage Report was submitted to the Government at 01:00 AM on 19 September 2011. 9 A high-level emergency meeting was held in 19 September 2011, chaired by the Acting Prime Minister (Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba, Minister for Works and Human Settlements). On 19 September 2011, the Acting Prime Minister, Cabinet Secretary, Home Secretary and the Director General of DDM addressed the nation through a live press conference and committed the Royal Government’s immediate support to all affected families. The Acting Prime Minister accompanied by the Home Secretary and the Director General, DDM visited the most affected Dzongkhag, Haa, on 20 September 2011, and interacted with the affected communities. The Royal Bhutan Army and Doesung (volunteers) were deployed in all the affected areas to extend immediate assistance to the affected families as per the command of His Majesty the King. The People’s Welfare Office of His Majesty (Gyalpoi Zimpon’s Office) responded immediately by visiting the affected areas and mobilizing relief items. Both their Majesties the 4th and 5th Kings visited the affected Dzongkhags of Punakha, Paro, Haa, Samtse and Chukha. To meet the immediate needs of the affected population, the DDM in coordination with Dzongkhag Administrations mobilized immediate relief materials like tarpaulin sheets, corrugated galvanized iron sheets (CGI-sheet) and Emergency Family Kits and distributed those to the affected Dzongkhags. Dzongkhag officials were also directed by the Gyalpoi Zimpon’s office to procure the necessary relief supplies for distribution to the needy families. In the aftermath of the earthquake, two rounds of structural assessments were carried out in all the Dzongkhags. The first assessment was carried out by the Gewog officials in their respective Gewogs with inputs from community members, immediately after the earthquake. The second level of assessment was carried out a week later by a 3-4 member team including 1 sector head from the Dzongkhag and 1 engineer. In case of Paro Dzongkhag, the gups were also part of the assessment teams. A gup from a particular Gewog was assigned to other Gewogs to minimize bias. The assessment team conducted field visits to the houses/structures categorized under the major damage category by the 1st assessment, in each Gewog. This information from the Gewogs was then consolidated at the Dzongkhag level and shared with the DDM. The gups along with Dzongkhag engineers and other staff of the Dzongkhag Administration were given the responsibility to collect information on preliminary damage. The Royal Insurance Corporation of Bhutan expedited the payment of insurance compensation for damaged rural homes that were insured under the Rural Housing Insurance Scheme. (RGoB’s Response and Relief Efforts – Annexure III) On 22 September 2011, on behalf of the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGoB), the DDM made an initial request to the UN for support to conduct a Joint Rapid Assessment as well as for CGI-sheets, school-in-a- Department of Disaster Management National Recovery and Re-Construction Plan tent, and dignity kits. On 27 September 2011, the DDM specified the need for 58,000 CGI sheets, 100 school-in-a-tent and 1000 dignity kits. 10 The UN Country Team (i.e. the UN Agencies, Funds and Programs, and the World Bank) offered its support to the RGoB in meeting the immediate and long-term recovery needs of the affected population and in mobilizing additional resources, if required. Upon receiving the request for assistance from the RGoB on 22 September 2011, the UN System mobilized UN-OCHA emergency cash grant amounting to USD 50,000 to cover immediate relief needs for temporary shelter, and USD 75,000 from UNDP - Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR) for emergency coordination, which was approved as of 29 September 2011. In addition, the UN through UNDP and UNICEF mobilized USD 1,605,535 through the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) Rapid Response window to cover immediate as well as early recovery needs such as CGI-sheets, emergency family kits and school-in-a- tent. The UNFPA has in addition secured USD 106,795 to mobilize 2,050 dignity kits to be distributed to the most affected population in the Dzongkhags (Relief materials received and disbursed – Annexure IV). In response to the request from the Royal government of Bhutan for assistance in assessing the damage and loss and identifying recovery and reconstruction needs, the UN System in Bhutan helped organize the fielding of a mission to the affected areas to conduct a Joint Rapid Assessment of damage and loss in order to determine the extent and cost of the damage, and recovery and reconstruction needs, as well as the need for further relief and early recovery assistance to the affected population. The Joint RGoB-UN-WB Rapid Assessment team was mobilized through UNDP/BCPR, UNOCHA and the World Bank. The team also comprised of the government as well as representatives of various UN agencies in Bhutan. The Joint Rapid Assessment mission conducted field visits to the four worst affected Dzongkhags of Haa, Paro, Chukha, and Samtse from 5 – 12 October 2011. As per the Joint Rapid Assessment Report, total approximate expenditure on Relief and Early Recovery measures is estimated at Nu. 67.6 Million. Expenditure Head Total cost (Nu, Million) Total Cost (USD, Million) 1 Intermediate Shelters 40.10 2 Dismantling house and Salvaging materials 5.00 3 Interim gup and public offi ces 1.20 4 Religious and Cultural Heritage buildings 6.00 5 Educa on 4.00 6 Health and Nutri on 4.00 7 Water, Sanita on and Hygiene Promo on 3.55 8 Psycho-social Care 2.00 9 Agriculture and Livelihoods 1.75 TOTAL 67.6 1.38 (Joint Rapid Assessment Report) Department of Disaster Management National Recovery and Re-Construction Plan The Department of Disaster Management, Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs provided continuous updated and consolidated reports to the Government and coordinated with concerned sectors/agencies and the donor agencies on the mobilization of relief materials and resources.