Rapid Assessment Report Nepal Earthquake Lalitpur District World Vision International (Nepal) May 2015 WV Rapid Assessment Report: Nepal Earthquake 1 I. ASSESSMENT BACKGROUND On 25 April at 11:56am local time, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake, the largest to hit the country since 1934, struck Nepal impacting 39 out of 75 districts. While the death toll and casualty numbers continue to increase as information comes in from remote areas, current estimates indicate that there are 8019 deaths and 17,886 injured and 288, 798 houses fully destroyed and 254,112 houses partially destroyed 1. Out of 198 countries in the world, Nepal is ranked as the 11th most at-risk country in terms of earthquake (UN/BCPR, 2004) with Kathmandu valley most at risk. Kathmandu, the capital city, was severely affected though the epicentre was 80 kilometres to the northwest in Gorkha. Two of World Vision’s operating areas—Lamjung and Lalitpur—were impacted. The national government has declared an emergency in 30 districts and appealed for international support. World Vision (WV) has been operating in Nepal since 1982 and had a total of 205 national and four international staff across the country prior to the earthquake. WV’s geographic presence spans 14 districts: Bhaktapur, Doti, Jumla, Kathmandu, Kaski, Kailali, Lamjung, Lalitpur, Morang, Rupandehi, Sunsari, Udayapur, Achham and Sindhuli. Over the past 33 years of operation, World Vision International Nepal (WVIN) has implemented programs focussing on emergency preparedness and response, DRR, health, WASH, child protection, education and livelihoods. This programming experience has seen WVIN develop strong relationships with local communities. In 2014, WVIN worked with 44 local partners to implement programs in 90 Village Development Councils (VDCs) and two municipalities across Nepal. These programs reached over 365,353 people including 187,380 children. WVIN is also a member of Association of International NGOs (AIN), formed by INGOs working in Nepal in September 1996 with 116 INGOs to date, working on a wide-range of issues and sectors to contribute to development efforts in Nepal. II. KEY HIGHLIGHTS • Priority needs vary depending on the context. In the valley districts, Shelter and NFI, WASH and Protection have been expressed to be the priorities. In the hill districts, Shelter and Food (especially capacity to pay) were expressed to be the priority needs. With the current living conditions, it is expected that increased reports of illness and disease will begin to emerge in the coming weeks due to sanitation issues and ongoing problems with crowded temporary shelter. • Following the earthquake, families living in tents outside their homes and in spontaneous camps have fallen into clear patterns of vulnerability, causing them distress and suffering with a lack of access to adequate shelter, compounded by insufficient food & water (hill districts) and toilets (valley districts), and a lack of information about overall relief efforts. • Based on the available information, the response should consider shelter, food, health, sanitation, education and protection specifically support for children as well as immediate implementation of information sharing and establishment of Complaints and Response Mechanisms (CRMs) for short term to medium-term interventions. • In relation to Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), with the coming monsoon season, frequent aftershocks and high risk of landslides, coordination with communities to help them prepare and mitigate for disasters is critical. Families and communities will significantly decrease their vulnerability if they have prepared adequately for the safety and security of all family members in the event of a disaster. 1 http://www.drrportal.gov.np/ As of 8 May, (at 18:00, UTC+5:45) WV Rapid Assessment Report: Nepal Earthquake 2 • While the need is recognized for obtaining household level information to better understand their critical needs/problems and suggested solutions, this is not yet possible as there is an agreement with the government and INGOs not to conduct assessments without aid distributions. The assessment team is ready to begin primary data collection once approval is obtained. III. METHODOLOGY Following the earthquake, a Category III Global Response was declared on April 26 , 2015. WVIN deployed 30 technical specialists from its Regional and Global Network to support the national response effort. Between 27 April and 5 May, within 48 hours of a magnitude 7.8 earthquake hitting Nepal, WVI Nepal staff were deployed to assess the general condition of a number of affected districts. The methodology employed for the assessment was a mix of interviews and direct observation, which is verified with secondary information from government and UN reports. A total of 44 interviews were conducted with community members and government representatives across the seven districts. The purpose of this light touch assessment is to provide an overview of the needs and gaps in the selected districts. A total of seven (7) districts have been covered;three (3) valley districts (Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bakthapur) and four (4) hill districts (Sindhuli, Lamjung, Gorkha, Sindhupolchowk). District Municipalities /VDCs covered by Assessment 1. Lalitpur Khokana, Bungmati 2. Bhaktapur Telkot,Besitole, Pipalbot/Lama tole, Gargare, 3. Kathmandu Sankhu, Ichangu, Army Camp, Sitapaila,Gongbu Bus Park, Ichangu Narayan , Bishnumati Corridor 4. Sindhuli Bahuntilpung, Balajor, Bashes hwar, Bhubaneshwari, Bitijor, Dudhbhanjyang, Jarayotar, Khangsang, Kholagaun, Lampantar, Solpathana, Sumnam pokhari, Tinkanya, Toshramkhola, Ratanchura VDC and Kamalamai 5. Lamjung Gauda, Kolki 6. Gorkha Paslang , Aappipal,Harme, Gorkha Mun 7. Sind hupolchowk Cha utara – Army barrack, Jalbire, Baramche To assess which geographic areas will be targeted, based on strategic priorities, a rating system was designed to provide a comparable score for each district to aid in the assessment of impact and decision-making. The rankings and overall proportion of humanitarian need in each district was calculated based on the formula of poverty incidence x magnitude of damage x severity of damage. The Area Affected Analysis (AAA), based on publically available data, allows the WVIN Response Team to use a range of vulnerability and impact data to get a clear picture of where the most need is. At the time of reporting, VDC level data is available for Lamjung, Sindhuli, Gorkha and Sindhupolchowk districts. AAA - Gorkha AAA - Lamjung AAA - Sindhuli AAA - Sindhulpalchok 20150509.xlsx 20150508.xlsx 20150508.xlsx 20150509.xlsx WV Rapid Assessment Report: Nepal Earthquake 3 IV. FINDINGS GEOGRAPHIC OVERVIEW The ranking of the districts below was based on Area Affected Analysis (AAA) data. The 3W data detailing the footprints of other agencies will also be maximized to ensure that planned activities are complementary to other relief efforts. Based on this analysis of the situation, the Response will target the following districts as priority areas: District Rationale Lamjung District La mjung comprises of 61 VDCs and has a population of 168,652 people or 37,228 HHs. A western hilly region in Nepal, the main source of income is agriculture. The municipality has a poverty incidence of 16%; over 27,000 people live below the poverty line. The earthquake damaged 8,622 houses (23%), 3,314 (38%) of which were totally damaged. It is ranked #12 out of all affected districts. Lamjung is an ADP-covered area covering 6 VDCs (Banjhaknet, Baglungpani, Parewadanda, Sundarbazar, Tarku, Nalma) and 1 municipality (Besishahar). Sindhuli District Sindhuli has a population of 300,853 , spread across 54 VDCs/municipalities located in a central hilly region of Nepal. 15,028 or 22% of houses were damaged, of which 2,776 or 18% were totally damaged. It has a poverty incidence of 38%, with 114,374 people living below the poverty line. It is ranked #10 out of all affected districts. Sindhuli is an ADP-covered area covering 14 VDCs-8 VDCs in the east (Lampantar, Bahuntilpung, Toshramkhola, Kholagaun, Dudhbhangyang, Sumnam Pokhari, Khangsang and Solpathana) and 6 VDCs in the west (Jarayatar, Balajor, Tinkanya, Baseshwar, Bhuwaneshwari, and Bitijor). Gorkha District Gorkha has a population of 275,711 people spread across 67 VDCs scattered in hard-to- reach, villages across mountainous terrain. This district was the site of the epicentre of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Nepal 25 April. 45,595 (74%) houses were totally damaged. As of May 8, 410 people have been killed in the district and more than 1,000 injured 2. The earthquake has aggravated already poor existing conditions. Gorkha ranked number 2 amongst all affected districts. This district is not covered by an ADP. Electricity and water supplies are available in some areas and the markets are only partially functional 2 http://www.drrportal.gov.np/ As of 8 May, (at 18:00, UTC+5:45) WV Rapid Assessment Report: Nepal Earthquake 4 with markets in large portions of the district not functioning 3. However, access to rural areas in the district remains difficult. Aftershocks continue, with two strong quakes recorded on 6 May causing additional landslides in rural areas, including in Laprak, Gunda and Lapu. In Laprak, humanitarian partners reported a lack of shelter, food, water and medicines. Some villages in northern Gorkha are reachable only by foot trails; thus, there is a recommendation to strengthen partnerships with local trekking and porter associations to reach remote areas. 4 Sindhup alchowk District Sind hupalchowk ranked number 1 of all affected districts. It is a non-ADP covered area and has a population of 285,950 spread across 79 VDCs/municipalities. It has a poverty incidence of 25%. 63,887 or 96% houses were totally damaged. Although this district is close to Kathmandu, it is one of the least developed districts in Nepal. People depend entirely on agriculture for their survival. Since the district is hilly, the land is not very fertile, and the yield is very low. Almost every VDC has access to electricity, and roads connecting to the highway. Many NGOs and INGOs are working in the district in order to improve living standards.