Building Resilient Mountain Communities: Earthquake Reconstruction in Dhungentar, Nepal

 

A powerful 7.8 Richter magnitude earthquake hit central Nepal on April 25, 2015, causing over 8,700 deaths and more than 22,000 injuries. Hundreds of thousands of homes were flattened, some 15,000 government buildings and 288,797 residential buildings were destroyed, and some 8,000 schools and 1,000 health facilities were damaged. Over half of Nepal's districts were affected by this event.

Through this project, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) will carry out rehabilitation and reconstruction in Dhungentar, Nepal, covering about 100 severely affected households. The focus of the intervention includes restoration of housing and public buildings, restoration of basic infrastructure such as roads and irrigation systems, and development of local capacity for better disaster mitigation and risk management through knowledge gathering, sharing, and dissemination.

The goal is to build resilient mountain community model villages, with climate- and earthquake-resilient housing, and to ensure sustainable livelihoods. Communities will be actively involved in the project through their village development councils. Training will be provided to community members in sustainable rehabilitation and reconstruction in a post-disaster scenario. The efforts will help the mountain communities to better prepare for climate and non-climate hazards and the knowledge generated through the project will be shared throughout the region for better disaster planning and preparedness.