Annex 9 Chitwan District Disaster Management Action Plan Published By District Development Committee Bharatpur, Chitwan © DDC Chitwan, 2004 Study Team Shesh Kanta Kafle Dr. Govind P. Koirala Design Works MotionGraphics Phone: 4230147 Printed By: Paru Offset Press Phone: 4430799 Supported By Participatory Disaster Management Programme (PDMP) United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) ______________________________________________ Chitwan District Disaster Management Action Plan Acknowledgements Nepal is highly prone to several disasters in willing to contribute towards bringing synergy general and water-induced disasters in par- towards effective disaster management now ticular. Each year approximately one thou- so that the pain and risks of communities ex- sand people are killed, about one hundred posed to disaster could be lessen. people get lost and thousands of families are While DDC Chitwan has been at the centre of exposed to several disasters. In addition, preparing the present Action Plan and publish- property worth of million is destroyed, and ing it for wider consultation and reference, as public property is damaged. The extent of a matter of fact it has been a joint effort of pain, suffering, tragedy and psychological several institutions and individuals. We are trauma has been heart breaking. thankful to the United Nations Office for the Despite the fact that Chitwan is one of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs hard hit districts in terms of disasters, it is (UNOCHA) and United Nations Development surprising that until very late no serious at- Programme (UNDP) for their generous tention was made to lessen the impact of dis- support for the Action Plan preparation proc- aster and carry out activities for mitigation ess, and the Participatory Disaster Manage- and preparedness. I believe that the present ment Programme (PDMP) for supporting its Chitwan District Disaster Management publication. Without their support and en- Action Plan has definitely broken this si- couragement, this Action Plan, first of its kind lence. in Nepal, would not have been possible. Fi- As noted in the Action Plan, although there nally, on our part, we express our firm com- are more deaths related to flood in Sarlahi, the mitment to incorporate its strategies and rec- loss of property, land and infrastructure has ommendations into our mainstream develop- been highest in Chitwan. The debris flow con- ment process. tributed by landslides in upstream of Chitwan core area has been the cause of unprecedented devastation in this district. In this context, the present Action Plan not only draws our atten- Krishna Prasad Devkota tion towards effective management of disas- Local Development Officer District Development Committee (DDC) ters in Chitwan District, but also inspires us Chitwan for a concerted effort of several stakeholders in different fronts. The District Development Committee of Chitwan, being the representa- 1 July 2004 tive local political body in the district, is ______________________________________________ Chitwan District Disaster Management Action Plan Abbreviations and Acronyms CDO Chief District Officer DDC District Development Council DHWG Disaster Health Working Group DNDRC District Natural Disaster Relief Committee ERIP East Rapti Irrigation Project FGD Focused Group Discussion GLOF Glacial Lake Outburst Flood HMG/N His Majesty’s Government of Nepal JWIDF Japan Women In Development Fund LDO Local Development Officer NGO Non-Government Organisation NLSS Nepal Living Standard Survey NRs. Nepali Rupees PDMP Participatory Disaster Management Programme PRA Participatory Rural Appraisal SGCO Self-Governing Community Organisation TDRM Total Disaster Risk Management TOR Terms of Reference UN United Nations UN-DMS United Nations Disaster Management Secretariat UNDP United Nations Development Program VDC Village Development Committee ______________________________________________ Chitwan District Disaster Management Action Plan Executive Summary Nepal is prone to various kinds of disasters. many places. The east-west highway bridge Its geographical setting and physical envi- surface at Lothar is now only about one and a ronment make it vulnerable to floods, land- half meter above the river bed. The bridge is slides, earthquake, windstorm, fire and so on. in imminent danger because even the small In Nepal, some of the disasters are localized logs brought by the flood can clog the water and seasonal such as floods and landslides, entry beneath the bridge and demolish it. whereas others are occasional and wide- spread e.g. earthquake and drought. Nepal Therefore, it is never too early to plan and has the highest percentage of disaster-caused implement the disaster management initia- deaths in the whole of South Asia among the tives to save important lives and properties of affected or injured ones the Chitwan dwellers including one of the most fertile lands that are capable of ensuring Within Nepal also, there are some districts the food security of the country. and parts of it which are more vulnerable. Among these districts, Chitwan is one of The TDRM Concept them. This district has both hill and the flat inner tarai part. In the former, there is the The concept of TDRM is new to Nepal as is widespread problem of landslides whereas in true in the case of many other developing the latter part, there is an ever increasing countries. It is a concept that propagates threat of floods. Fire and windstorm threats more on the preventive measures on the no- are also no less prevalent. During the 1993 tion that preventive actions are at least six flood which significantly affected five tarai times cheaper than prohibitively costly res- and hill districts, Chitwan was one of the cue, relief and rehabilitation measures to be worst affected districts. Although there were taken after the disaster has actually occurred. more deaths related to flood in Sarlahi, the Early Warning System (EWS) is an impor- loss of property, land and infrastructure was tant component of TDRM which involves the highest in Chitwan. Chitwan's vulnerabil- forecasting of probable disaster and informa- ity to flood disaster is contributed by the tion to potential victims well ahead of actual landslides in parts of the hills of Chitwan and disaster incidence so that they will take ap- Makwanpur, the debris from which are propriate measures to protect their respective brought to the district by the tributaries of lives and properties. However, some disasters Narayani river in the western border and like earthquakes, lightening are extremely Rapti river in the east. In the last two rainy difficult or impossible or at best costly to seasons, the number of deaths in Chitwan by forecast and warn. In fact, no amount of pre- landslides and flood alone reached nearly caution and investment will fully free the risk 1,000. This is primarily because of the accu- of any disaster. Hence, TDRM has also the mulated rise in the level of bed which in- components of efficient rescue, relief and creases the vulnerability from even smaller rehabilitation. One of the components is to floods. The dam constructed under ADB East expedite the rescue, relief and rehabilitation Rapti project some one decade ago to prevent process through the improvements in com- the flood entry into agricultural fields has munication by way of appropriate institu- now almost equaled the river bed height in tional mechanism. If the rescue and relief ______________________________________________ Chitwan District Disaster Management Action Plan team is able to reach the disaster site faster Objectives of the study due to improved communication, many more The objective of the study is to prepare an lives and properties can be saved. action plan for total disaster risk management The other equally important feature of for Chitwan district. The specific objectives TDRM is to admit the relationship between and activities (scope) of the preparation of disaster and development. The development the action plan are as follows: can both enhance and minimize the probabil- 1. To enhance disaster management capaci- ity of various disasters, and in the same vein, ties of local institutions and communities. disasters can both destroy and augment the development. TDRM, therefore, propagates 2. To mitigate disaster losses through that each development component must in- streng-thening quick response and sus- ternalize the disaster probability and take ap- tainable rehabi-litation mechanisms. propriate safety measures. 3. To ensure sustainability of development infra-structures through rendering them The title of the Act itself reveals the partial disaster resistance. nature of response mechanism as it overlooks the wider set of man-induced disasters. Be- Methodology fore the promulgation of this Act, coping with disasters was done on a case-by-case The present study proceeded after the prepa- basis using ad hoc committees. The Act was ration of hazard and vulnerability assessment amended twice after 1982 but with no head- of the Chitwan district and the review of the way towards TDRM. After the heavy flood documents and references related to the study objectives. This was followed by the visit to of 1993, the need for disaster management the project district Chitwan. In the district, has been realized more seriously. However, the Study Team met with the DDC officials only one of three components of disaster (DDC Chairman, Local Development Offi- management