Story of Chautara, Sindhupalchowk

STORY OF CHAUTARA,
SINDHUPALCHOWK
2072 BATCH/MSU
AUGUST 2016
DEPARTMENT OF URBAN PLANNING

PULCHOWK CAMPUS
INSTITUTE OF engineering
PULCHOWK, LALITPUR
Story of Chautara, Sindhupalchowk:
Great Earthquake 2015
Acknowledgement
It is our privilege duty to acknowledge the kind of help and guidance received from
several people in preparation of this study. It would not have been possible to prepare
this report in this form without their valuable help, cooperation and guidance.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to our course coordinator Mr. Ajay
Chandra Lal for his valuable support and guidance.
We would also like to thank the official personnel of DUDBC Sindhupalchowk Division
and the local people for their valuable time and information related to this subject.
We are also thankful to all those who were directly and indirectly involved in preparation
of this report
i
Table of Contents
Acknowledgement ........................................................................................................................................... i
Table of Figure ............................................................................................................................................... iii
1. Background.............................................................................................................................................. 1
2. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 3
2.1. Chautara, Sindhupalchowk ....................................................................................................... 3
3. Objective ................................................................................................................................................... 4
4. Case Studies ............................................................................................................................................. 5
4.1. Case Study 1 .................................................................................................................................... 5
4.2. Case Study 2 .................................................................................................................................. 11
4.3. Case Study 3 .................................................................................................................................. 19
4.4. Case Study 4 .................................................................................................................................. 23
4.5. Case Study 5 .................................................................................................................................. 28
4.6. Case Study 6 .................................................................................................................................. 37
4.7. Case Study 7 .................................................................................................................................. 42
4.8. Case Study 8 .................................................................................................................................. 46
4.9. Case Study 9 .................................................................................................................................. 52
4.10. Case Study 10 ........................................................................................................................... 57
Bibliography................................................................................................................................................... 64
ii
Table of Figure
Figure 1 Epicentres and areas affected ................................................................................................. 1
Figure 2 Destruction caused by earthquake 2015 ............................................................................ 2
Figure 3 Location Map of Sindhupalchowk.......................................................................................... 3
Figure 4 Map showing location of Chautara ........................................................................................ 4
Figure 5 Map showing epicenters of earthquakes ............................................................................ 4
Figure 6 Taking interview of Bhupendra B. Kunwar ....................................................................... 6
Figure 7 His wife who was preparing food at Ground Floor ......................................................... 6
Figure 8 Family Chart ................................................................................................................................... 6
Figure 9Site Section ........................................................................................................................................ 8
Figure 10 Steep slow at the back side of temporary shelter ......................................................... 9
Figure 11 Temporary shelter of Mr. Kuwar ........................................................................................ 9
Figure 12: Color sketch of Temporary Shelter ................................................................................. 10
Figure 13 Location of Shrestha family's house ................................................................................. 11
Figure 14 Krishna Chandra Shrestha in his Shop ............................................................................ 11
Figure 15 Chautara bazar after earthquake....................................................................................... 12
Figure 16 Temporary shelter of the family ........................................................................................ 13
Figure 17 Street Elevation Before and After Earthquake ............................................................. 14
Figure 18 Shrestha Family house after earthquake ....................................................................... 14
Figure 19 House damaged in earthquake ........................................................................................... 15
Figure 20 Chautara bazar before earthquake ................................................................................... 15
Figure 22 Current house of the family ................................................................................................. 15
Figure 24 Section of Shrestha Family’s House .................................................................................. 17
Figure 25 Our Chat with Respondent ................................................................................................... 19
Figure 26 Respondent's Ancestral Home ........................................................................................... 20
Figure 27 Provided Tents ......................................................................................................................... 21
Figure 28 Respondent's Home ................................................................................................................ 22
Figure 29 View of old town of Chautara with its landscape ....................................................... 28
Figure 30: Chandra Maya's old house .................................................................................................. 29
Figure 31 Interview with the family ..................................................................................................... 29
Figure 32 Temporary shelter .................................................................................................................. 32
Figure 33: Goat shed at present.............................................................................................................. 33
Figure 34: Chandra Maya's daughter Bina ......................................................................................... 33
Figure 35 Current home for the family ................................................................................................ 34
Figure 36 Damaged house ........................................................................................................................ 34
Figure 37: Access path to Chandra Maya's house ........................................................................... 35
Figure 38: Chandra Maya with her family .......................................................................................... 36
Figure 39 Owner of the house Mrs. Gyanu Kumari & Mr. Tirtha Bahadur ................................. 37
Figure 40 The remining part of the building.......................................................................................... 38
Figure 41 Temporary shelter during the recovery period. ................................................................. 39
Figure 42 Poor maintenance of the building and cracks after the major earthquake ...... 40
Figure 43 Location Map ............................................................................................................................. 46
Figure 44: Tudikhel, open space used by them during Disaster................................................ 48
iii
Figure 45: Maiya Kunwar's house ......................................................................................................... 52

Figure 46 Maiya Kunwars Dismantled House................................................................................... 53
Figure 47: Disaster Management Cycle ............................................................................................... 54
Figure 48 Example of Disaster Preparedness Training ................................................................ 54
Figure 49: Rescue during Disaster by Neighbours.......................................................................... 55
Figure 50 : Mr. Bikash Shrestha.............................................................................................................. 57
Figure 51 Chautara Bazaar before earthquake ................................................................................ 57
Figure 52 Chautara bazaar after earthquake .................................................................................... 57
Figure 53 Temporary shelter at Tundikhel ....................................................................................... 58
Figure 54 Food preparation for community...................................................................................... 58
Figure 55 Chautara Bazaar during 12th May Earthquake ........................................................... 59
Figure 56 Nepal Red Cross field hospital ............................................................................................ 60
Figure 57 Old building site ....................................................................................................................... 60
Figure 58 New construction of RCC building .................................................................................... 60
Figure 59 Gorkha earthquake and affected districts map ............................................................ 61
Figure 60 May 12 earthquake affected area map ............................................................................ 61
Figure 61 New RCC building construction with intermediate horizontal bands on brick
walls .................................................................................................................................................................. 63
iv
1. Background
Nepal is the 11th most earthquake-prone country in the world.1 Ever since the first
recorded earthquake of 1255 AD that killed one-third of the population of the Kathmandu
Valley and its King, Abhaya Malla, Nepal has experienced a major earthquake every few
generations. The last great earthquake (of magnitude 8.4) in 1934 AD resulted in more
than 10,000 deaths in the Kathmandu Valley. Most of the infrastructure and major
heritage sites had to be rebuilt. There have since been earthquakes causing severe human
and physical loss in 1980, 1988 and 2011. (Post Disaster Need Assessment, 2015)
On Saturday, 25 April 2015 at 11:56 local time, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake as recorded
by Nepal’s National Seismological Centre (NSC), struck Barpak in the historic district of
Gorkha, about 76 km northwest of Kathmandu. Nepal had not faced a natural shock of
comparable magnitude for over 80 years.
The catastrophic earthquake was followed by more than 300 aftershocks greater than
magnitude 4.0 (as of 7 June 2015). Four aftershocks were greater than magnitude 6.0,
including one measuring 6.8 which struck 17 days after the first big one with the
epicentre near Mount Everest. To date, there are over 8,790 casualties and 22,300
injuries. It is estimated that the lives of eight million people, almost one-third of the
population of Nepal, have been impacted by these earthquakes. (Post Disaster Need
Assessment, 2015)Thirty-one of the country’s 75 districts have been affected, out of
which 14 were declared ‘crisis-hit’ for the purpose of prioritizing rescue and relief
operations (Gorkha, Dhading, Rasuwa, Sindhupalchok, Kavre, Nuwakot, Dolakha,
Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Ramechhap, Okhaldunga, Sindhuli and Makwanpur);
another 17 neighbouring districts are partially affected. The Government reported a total
of 505,745 houses destroyed and 279,330 damaged by the earthquake. (Nepal:
Earthquake 2015 Situation Report , 2015)
Figure 1 Epicentres and areas affected
1
Kriti Pradhan (205)
The destruction was widespread covering residential and government buildings, heritage
sites, schools and health posts, rural roads, bridges, water supply systems, agricultural
land, trekking routes, hydropower plants and sports facilities. The geodetic network
centres including horizontal and vertical control points have been damaged in a manner
that will affect reconstruction planning. Rural areas in the central and western regions
were particularly devastated and further isolated due to road damage and obstructions.
In the worst hit areas, entire settlements, including popular tourist destinations like
Langtang, were swept away by landslides and avalanches triggered by the earthquakes.
Due to the weakened, ruptured, and destabilized slopes and surfaces, the vulnerable
areas have now become even more susceptible to flooding and landslides that can occur
during the monsoon
Hundreds of historical and cultural monuments at least a century old were either
destroyed or extensively damaged. Over half a million houses were destroyed. The
damage exposed the weaknesses of houses that did not have any seismic-resistant
features or were not in accordance with the building codes. The disaster also highlighted
aspects of inequities in Nepali society spanning geography, income and gender. Poorer
rural areas have been more adversely affected than towns and cities due to their inferior
quality of houses. More women and girls died than men and boys, partly because of
gendered roles that disproportionately assign indoor chores to women. The time and day
the first earthquake was experienced saved thousands of lives. Being a Saturday, the
weekly holiday, schools across Nepal were closed on 25 April. The death toll of young
people could have been much higher considering that nearly 7,000 schools were
completely or significantly damaged. Similarly, if the earthquake had struck at night, and
not in the middle of the day, there would certainly have been greater casualties.
.
Figure 2 Destruction caused by earthquake 2015
2
Kriti Pradhan (205)
2. Introduction
2.1. Chautara, Sindhupalchowk

Sindhupalchowk district was one of the most severely damaged areas in Nepal caused by
the earthquake of magnitude 7.8 Richter scale in 25 April and 7.3 Richter scale in 12 May
2015. Sindhupalchowk District is a part of Province No. 3 and one of the seventy-
five districts of Nepal, with an area of 2,542 km2 (981 sq mi). The district's headquarters
is in Chautara.
Figure 3 Location Map of Sindhupalchowk
Sindhupalchowk District lies in Bagmati Zone in the central region of Nepal. The district
is surrounded by Nuwakot,Kathmandu, Kavre, Rasuwa, Dolakha and China.
The Arniko Highway, also called Kodari Highway, (114 km) extending from Kathmandu to
Kodari links this district with Tibet. The district is mountainous and rich in natural
resources.
The district is easily accessible from Kathmandu. 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.
Chautara is located in the northern part of Nepal and covers an area of around 50 square
kilometers. The average elevation is 1,600 metres above sea level. It is at 84.21 km
distance from Kathmandu which is about 3.5 hours drive form Kathmandu.
Chautara town is one of the places that suffered the most severe damages during the
earthquake. The whole town was located along the Dolalghat-Chautara highway, and its
location somewhat coincided with the mountain ridges. It can be seen that the highway
3
Kriti Pradhan (205)
is located in the center of the town, and was sandwiched by the buildings along the
highway.
The Chautara town consists of two parts: old town and new town. In the old town area,
the buildings had a simple structure with bricks and wooden slabs. In the new town area,
concrete buildings were built three stories or higher.
Figure 4 Map showing location of Chautara
3. Objective
The main objective is to find out the situation of families in Chautara before, during and
after the devastating earthquake of 25 april and May 12 2015. The study focuses on the
family’s preparedness, immediate response, relief, recovery and reconstruction during
this disaster.
Figure 5 Map showing epicenters of earthquakes
4
Kriti Pradhan (205)
4. Case Studies
4.1. Case Study 1
Pain of Earthquake Victim remain fresh even after 1 year
Nepal is landlocked country which is located between China and India. Nepal is situated
in a major earthquake zone. The geographical formation of this country lies between the
Tibetan plate and the Mahabharat Plate. The collision of these two plates release huge
amount of energy in the form of earthquake. The massive earthquake hits the Nepal in
every 82 years.
Record dating to 1255 indicated the region known as the Indus – Yarlung Suture Zone
experiences a magnitude of 8 Richter scale approximately every 75 years, according to
Nepal’s National Society for Earthquake Technology. The mega earthquake hits Nepal at
11:56 A.M. with its epicenter in Gorkha of 7.8 Richter Scale on Saturday, April 25, 2015.
Sindhupalchok is one of the worst-affected districts as a result of the earthquake that took
place on the 25th April. While the initial epicenter of the earthquake was in Gorkha
district, the highest magnitude of 6.7 Richter scale aftershock took place in
Sindhupalchowk district 17 km south of Kadari (USGS 2015). The aftershock of 7 May,
3057 people were dead and 860 are injured. According to district authorities 63,885
houses are severely and 2,751 houses are moderately damaged. Based on government
reporting on damaged houses as of 6th May an estimated 109,000 people (Ministry of
Home Affairs 7th May) are affected (40% of district population as per the 2011 Census).
Around 90,000 people have been identified as in need of assistance based on reporting at
the VDC level. Chautara, the district capital, experienced a great amount of destruction,
while much of its surrounding settlements have reportedly been flattened (ACTED
30/04/2015).
Interviewee Description:
Bhupendra Bahadur Kuwar is resident of Pipaltar. He has been living in this place for 7
generations but relocated his place nearby the area for around 20 years. He is 76 years
old. He was interviewed in his own house. He seems quiet friendly and even offered us
some food what he had in his house.
5
Abushan Panta (201)
Rojeena Dangol (220)
Figure 6 Taking interview of Bhupendra B. Kunwar Figure 7 His wife who was preparing food at Ground Floor
Family Description
Bhupendra Bahadur Kuwar has many family members but now stays with one of his wife.
He is married to two wives. He has three son and 8 grandson and daughter in total. The
elder son’s name is Pitam Bahadur Kuwar. Pitam Bahadur Kuwar has 2 sons and one
daughter. He recently retired as teacher in High school. The middle sons name is Keshab
Bahadur Kuwar He also has 2son and one daughter. He is working as overseer engineer
in CDO office. The youngest son name is Dil Bahadur Kuwar. He has one daughter and one
son. One son recently passed SLC exam and has joined college in Kathmandu. His
daughter is studying in first year of bachelor. Before earthquake, Bhupendra Bahadur
Kuwar divided his property among three son. He divided his property as such all son
could have their own house. All sons’ house is nearby located to each other at Pipaltar,
Ward-2.
Figure 8 Family Chart
6
Abushan Panta (201)
Before earthquake
Before earthquake his life was quite easy comparing now. His pension was enough to feed
him and his two wives. There was good support from his sons. He could produce enough
food for himself and his family. He had owned around 17 ropani of land. There was a small
stream flowing beside his existing shelter which helped in irrigation. He had raised
cattle’s. He had 5 cows and 9 goats. So his economic condition was well among villager
before the earthquake.
Before the disaster, Bhupendra Bahadur Kuwar had good social life. He belong to hindu
class. He used to have gathering in his house during festival. He used to invite sons and
relatives during the festival. So we can consider that his was quite sociable person. When
we went to his house to survey he was generous enough to offer us food he had in his
house.
His house was two storied with mud and stone mortar. The house is destroyed by the
earthquake. The ground floor used to house animals, store and kitchen. The first floor had
2 bedrooms with verandah in the front. The upper attic part was used as the store room.
He did not have enough knowledge about risk reduction of earthquake. According to him
the house he previously had was enough for him. But now he is living in very miserable
condition. We looked on to the remaining of the house and found that the precaution for
earthquake is not taken. There is presence of corner ties but they are not properly place.
There is no presence of lintel and sill band. The house was not in good proportion. The
length and breadth ratio was more than two and half. The gable wall is considered to be
the most vulnerable part of the building. The house had gable wall made of stone so it was
no exception that the gable wall would fall. He did not have proper knowledge on what to
do during the disaster but he had somewhere heard of taking cover under table or bed
during earthquake. There was never any program conducted in the village to train people
on the risk reduction of earthquake. In fact the place where he has built his house is not
very safe from other disaster like flood and landslide. There is great risk of fall of stone.
These kinds of incident was also reported before but never cared. The level of river has
raised before but has never reached to the house so this factor is also not cared.
The below site section shows how the building looks like in the site. As mentioned earlier
the building was already unsafe from the flood and stones which are in steep hill directly
upward the building.
7
Abushan Panta (201)
Figure 9Site Section
During Disaster
At the first hit of earthquake, Mr. Kuwar was accepting tika from Pujari after doing Shrada
of his mother. There were 36 guests present at his elder son’s house. All the guests and
other family members were safely escaped from the house. There was no casualty found
on that day but their house was found totally damaged. At the meantime, his wife and
elder daughter-in-law went to graze the cattle in the grass land. Huge rocks started to fall
down from the steep hills to the grassy land. But luckily, there was no any human casualty
found. On the next day, his wife came house running and crying to inform his husband
about the death of his second daughter-in-law. At that time, he was rescuing his brother’s
grand daughter-in-law who was trapped inside the house. She was found dead.
Altogether, 58 people died in the single district. His daughter-in-law and other one person
were cremated and rest of them were buried in the hill. He told us that he could not
contact his son immediately till 2 p.m. through phone calls. Only after 2 hours, he was able
to contact his son who was living in Kathmandu and gave this bad news. His second son
and grandson reached home next day and performed the cremation. There was lack of
clear access of vehicle in the house. So there might have been great problem if any
accident occurred in the house.
After disaster:
After this earthquake, Mr. Kuwar is living in temporary shelter with his second wife.
While his first wife is living with second son so that she can take care of her grandchildren.
Mr. Kuwar lost his mental balance for many months after that earthquake. He got a huge
shock after losing his property and daughter-in-law. He told us that he used to healthy
and energetic person. This earthquake shattered his life and all his properties i.e. houses
were gone. His second wife took the whole responsibility in her head. She was actively
participating all around different activities after earthquake. She went to collect the aids
and prepared for her temporary shelter. The dozens of NGOs started to show up and
distributed the basic needs. They also received the allowance of Rs.10, 000 and Rs. 15,000
8
Abushan Panta (201)
from the government. They also separately received the Rs. 1, 40,000 from the
government for deceased family. They built the temporary shelter made up of CGI sheet
from first Rs.50, 000 installment out of 2 lakh 50 thousand sum. The location of their site
is vulnerable. There is steep slope at the back side of shelter. The possibility of landslide
is very high. Labor cost of that area is very high. The per day labor charge of this area is
Rs.1, 000 with lunch and tea. He complained us about the insufficient amount of
government allowance to reconstruct their house. He was unaware about this 17
different types of model houses which was proposed by the government.
Figure 10 Steep slow at the back side of temporary

Figure 11 Temporary shelter of Mr. Kuwar
shelter
Our experience compared to Rural experience:

The experience of earthquake I felt is different than what I heard and collected in the area.
I was in my bed doing my normal stuff. Suddenly my bed started to shake and I took cover
below the beam near column. I did not try to run hard as I already knew I could not make
it down to 2 storey that quick. But in case of Bupendra and other stories from the area
people try to run out as fast as possible and many people got injured during that time.
After few shakes I ran outside but could not find any open spaces. But there was no
problem in the village to find any open space. I had slight idea on what to do during the
earthquake as I had seen programs in television. So we can say that many people in urban
area know more about earthquake. The house I lived on had sill and lintel band and was
in good proportion. The house is new and was monitored well during the construction
period both by private and municipal engineer. This might be the reason the building
stood intact during that earthquake too. But people in village area lacks this privilege.
There is no much supervision during the time of construction. So people fail to make
earthquake resistant building even if they want to.
After the disaster this was the first time I came in contact to my neighbors but in village
area people are known to each other. The first one to rescue is the neighbors. This was
quiet common in both the case. There were some people who got injured during the
disaster while running. They were immediately rushed to hospital. In my area where I
stayed the response was quick but talking to Bhupendra the rescue operation was abit
hard and there was lack of proper medical treatment. People stayed out in open space at
the night time and people got there sleeping bag and other blankets. But in villages people
9
Abushan Panta (201)
were forced to stay in cold area as there was no proper provision of such facilities. In
villages many animals were killed but this was not found in the urban area as people
hardly raise any cattle.
Conclusion:
Looking at the history, earthquake occur almost 80 years. Numerous life and property
gets destroyed during the earthquake. The risk factor has never been eliminated and
taken care of. There is a saying that 1$ spent in preparedness saves about 7$ during the
disaster. The lack of preparedness can be clearly seen during the recent earthquake. The
decision making body has not been responsible enough to take full responsible for the
reconstruction. As per our observation we found out people are still waiting for
government fund and technical assistance to rebuild their house. This was similar in case
of Bhupendra Bahadur Kuwar. Government also have not provided the geological data
which are suitable for the construction of house. There is also lack of knowledge of soft
loan provided by the government. During the course of reconstruction the safety factor
for earthquake might be considered but other disaster like flood, landslide, and fire
should also be taken account of.
Figure 12: sketch of Temporary Shelter
10
Abushan Panta (201)
4.2. Case Study 2

Survivor Story from Chautara
The 7.8 magnitude Gorkha earthquake that struck Nepal on 25th April 2015 followed by
subsequent aftershocks, including a powerful one on 12th May 2015 led to loss of life of
more than 8000 people. Sindhupalchok is one of the worst affected districts as the highest
magnitude aftershock of 6.8 magnitudes took place on Sindhupalchok district. The
devastating earthquake led to enormous loss of life as well as property in Sindhupalchok.
Chautara Bazaar serves as the headquarter town of Sindhupalchowk district, so the
people all over the district usually visit Chautara for government official purpose as well
as business purpose. After the earthquake, the bazaar was flattened and houses were
collapsed into huge pile of rubble. Walking down the main street of Chautara bazaar
during our field visit on 12th August 2015, we came across the house of Krishna Chandra
Shrestha where he shared his experience of the disastrous earthquake.
Krishna Chandra Shrestha is a 52-year-old businessman who lives in Ward no 3 of
Chautara municipality. He has completed his education up to SLC level and earns his
living with a small grocery shop in the middle of the Chautara bazaar. He has a nuclear
family with his wife along with two sons. His wife Bimala Shrestha, aged 50 helps him
with the business. Bikesh Shrestha aged 24, who is the elder son lives in New Zealand to
complete his higher education. The other son Nikesh Shrestha is 22 years old and is a
student and also helps his father in his business. The family lived in a five storied house
of stone and mud which was constructed in 2040 B.S. The entire house was used by the
family themselves. The lower semi basement consisted of toilet and store while kitchen
and dining room was located in the upper semi basement. There was a shop in the ground
floor and the upper two floors consisted of living rooms and bedrooms.
Figure 14 Krishna Chandra Shrestha in his Shop

Figure 13 Location of Shrestha family's house
On 25th April 2015, the first earthquake of 7.8 magnitudes struck just before noon on
Saturday. Like any other day, Mr. Shrestha was inside his shop on the ground floor. He
had just had his lunch and was sitting alone at his shop. Suddenly, everything around him
was shaking and the goods in the shop started falling down one after another. At first, he
thought it was just a tremor that would pass but later he realized it to be a bigger one as
11
Barsha Shrestha (202)
Priyanka Pradhan (212)
the ground continued to shake. He said “It was so scary that I can’t even describe it”. He
continued, “Without any thought, I ran out of the shop but I did not realize that my wife
was upstairs in the room.” When he reached outside, there was white dust everywhere.”
Since, his wife was inside the house, he again went back to the house so as to escape her
safely.
When the earthquake hit, his wife was in a room on the first floor of the house. Initially,
she stood below the door frame, but later she decided to come downstairs when she
realized that her house was quite old. It was difficult for her to get down, but finally she
managed to crawl down the stairs slowly. While trying to come outside, she was hit by a
brick fallen from the neighboring house and got her arms fractured. Even, now she has
pain and can’t use it freely. Mr. Shrestha added, “When we came out, the only thing we
could think of was our son.” His son was not there in the house and had gone out with his
friends. So, they were really worried about him and were constantly trying to contact him
in his mobile phone. After a while, when they saw their son coming towards the house,
they could breathe again. He was very happy to see all of his family alive.
Mr. Shrestha shared, “When I looked

towards outside, it looked like the entire
bazaar was falling down.” There was panic
everywhere and the houses were either
tilted, cracked or with missing walls. The
earthquake was followed by numerous
aftershocks. All the families were gathered
out in the streets and were afraid to re-
enter their homes, with fear that
aftershocks might knock the building
down. Figure 15 Chautara bazar after earthquake
It was difficult for the family to contact with the other relatives due to the disturbance in
the network. He said, “We could only contact our elder son after 2-3 days of earthquake.
After hearing the news regarding the earthquake, my son was really worried about us.”
Likewise, there was no light for about a month due to the destruction caused by the
earthquake.
It was difficult for the family to contact with the other relatives due to the disturbance in
the network. He said, “We could only contact our elder son after 2-3 days of earthquake.
After hearing the news regarding the earthquake, my son was really worried about us.”
Likewise, there was no light for about a month due to the destruction caused by the
earthquake.
12
In Sindhupalchowk, there is a central

tudikhel, which is usually used for playing
football. But during the time of
earthquake, the space was filled with
tents of displaced residents and also with
the tents of Red Cross and other
organizations. Since, the tudikhel was
completely occupied; there was no space
for the family. So, they decided to stay at
the back of their house in their own field.
About 15-20 people of the neighboring
houses established and lived together in a
temporary shed, after clearing the maize Figure 16 Temporary shelter of the family
field.
Moreover, they had also built a temporary mess for about 50-60 people, where they
prepared their food. However, the overnight rain brought some difficulties and
persuaded people to return to their homes. Gradually, the number of tents thinned even
if their homes were damaged by the earthquake.
When the people were trying to return to their normal life, there was another powerful
aftershock that hit Sindhupalchok district on May 12. According to him, everything
around him was shaking and swaying and it was even difficult to try to stand still. His
house which was only damaged on April 25 collapsed just in front of him. The second
earthquake destroyed everything and there was again a panic among the people.
Buildings began to crumble and fall, bricks and dust rained down from above which
created a haze. Some people had died and many trapped people were crying for help. He
along with his neighbors also rescued a family near his house that got buried under the
debris. For him, it was very dif ficult to see the entire settlement flattened. According to
Shrestha, 7 people died near his house in bazaar area.
The Shrestha family was staying under the temporary shed in the field after the major
earthquake. Although some of families in Chautara bazaar had returned to their houses,
but they again started living in the tents. It seemed that the aftershocks would never stop.
Most of the buildings were either reduced to rubble or severely damaged. Even the
buildings that were standing were also unsafe. So, it was difficult for the people to even
walk in the streets of Chautara bazaar as the damaged buildings might fall down and
cause further casualties.
13
Figure 17 Street Elevation Before and After Earthquake
The second earthquake completely

collapsed his house. In fact, the shop in
the ground floor also collapsed damaging
most of the goods in the shop. The house
had slide down the slope at back. He said,
“Luckily, there was no one inside the
house.” Furthermore, the collapse did not
result to any injury. In the beginning, they
even did not have courage to dig out their
belongings from the debris. But, later the
family with the help of community Figure 18 Shrestha Family house after earthquake
worked together to clean the debris. He
14
said, “I am happy that my family is safe,

but I’m thinking about whether we can
ever rebuild our house.” Many people
were facing problem of their neighbor’s
earthquake damaged houses tilting
towards their houses. Similarly, they also
faced problem regarding security of their
valuable belongings. The educational
institutes in Chautara were also mostly
damaged.
Figure 19 House damaged in earthquake
According to him, there was a loss of about 3- 4 lakhs in his shop due to the earthquake.
The shop was the main source of income for his house. For this reason, he restored the
shop in Bhadra, four months after the massive earthquake with the monetary help
received from his brothers. The shop was reconstructed using the materials from his old
house such as stones, wood with the help of a labor. Likewise, CGI sheets provided by the
Government as well as the sheets from his old roof were used for the construction of the
roof. One of the interesting observations that we noticed in his shop was that the items
were now lined by a thin rope.
Figure 20 Chautara bazar before earthquake Figure 21 Chautara bazar after earthquake
After 1-2 months of earthquake, the family

started living in their other house, just at a
distance of 500m from the house.
According to him, the house is two storied
and it also has some severe cracks in the
walls. The house is RCC framed structure
and is constructed with brick masonry in
cement mortar. It is now already more than
a year of the earthquake and their life has
started getting normal gradually
Figure 22 Current house of the family
15
Although, he had felt few minor earthquakes before, it was the first time he had
experienced such a massive earthquake. When asked about his preparedness for the
earthquake he replied, “I was never concerned about earthquake and had no
preparedness for it.” He had heard about the earthquake in the television and newspapers
but was never worried about its occurrence. According to him, JICA had recently
organized a training program on earthquake resistant building technologies for the
masons. He was well informed about the seventeen prototype design for the
reconstruction of the earthquake resistant houses prepared by DUDBC.
Figure 23 Chautara bazar after earthquake
Reflection:
Chautara municipality experienced great amount of destruction with settlements
flattened. Even the houses that are standing after the massive earthquake are badly
damaged to be habitable. Old as well as new buildings have been collapsed. Most of the
buildings were constructed without compliance of National Building Code. The
destruction shows that proper construction not only consists of material but also proper
reinforcement systems, proper foundations, site condition of building etc. The house of
Mr. Shrestha was quite old without proper maintenance. Also, the house was built in split
level in a steep slope that made it more vulnerable to earthquake. On our visit, we found
that the upper semi basement that contained the kitchen was completely collapsed. The
basement should have been used as store or some room where people don’t use it for a
longer time.
16
Figure 24 Section of Shrestha Family’s House
It was fortunate that most of the people were either in the field or outside rather than
indoors. In Chautara municipality, most of schools have been severely damaged. Since it
was Saturday, the children were in home with their parents. Otherwise, it would have
caused more panic among the children as well as parents and the situation could have
been worse.
Although all the members of the Shrestha family were educated, they had no preparation
for the disaster. The objects such as bottles were displayed in their shops without any
protection or any fences. The objects could have hurt them badly. Although the objects
had fallen while shaking, it was their luck that it did not fall down on them. During the
earthquake, Mr. Shrestha’s wife stood below the door frame until the ground was shaking.
This shows that she had knowledge that one should stay in a safe place until the ground
stops shaking. During the time of earthquake, the most important thing is to be prepared
of the disaster and to prevent human loss. The open spaces for the emergency should be
identified and it should be provided with the basic facilities such as water tank and toilets.
In Chautara municipality, tudikhel was used by the locals for the temporary shelter.
After meeting the affected family, it is clear that the community is the first one to start the
rescue process. The family helped to rescue their neighbors who were buried in the
debris. The people of community established a temporary shed where they lived and
prepared their food together. This shows an example of united community that supports
each other. The pain and grief is seen to be shared which helped to lessen the impact of
the disaster. The clearing of the debris and maintenance works were also carried out with
the help of the community. A feeling of community was seen in their relief and
rehabilitation phase.
The recovery process was delayed by the second earthquake. Due to the scorching heat
of summer and the rainfall, the people faced many difficulties to stay in the tent. Even
one year after the earthquake, some people are still living in sub- standard temporary
shelters. The prototype designs for the reconstruction of the earthquake resistant houses
have been prepared with the principle of build back better. The Government should speed
17
up the reconstruction program. Besides money from the Government, the people also
need trainings of construction technology to build their houses better to withstand future
earthquakes. The local people should be mobilized with the use of local materials in the
reconstruction process. The reconstruction process should reduce the vulnerability,
strengthen community’s capacity and also mitigate future disasters.
Another part of our interest was to understand how people of Chautara bazaar are
attempting to return to their usual life. The severely damaged buildings are pulled down
and dismantled. In the buildings, where upper floors have been collapsed, the lower
ground floor has been constructed. Many new buildings are also being constructed along
the main street of the bazaar, considering the earthquake resistant construction
technology. The local people seem to be determined and have started building their own
houses. The shops have been restored and the local economy has been reignited. It is
important that the reconstruction process should strengthen local economy and thus
upgrade living condition of the people. Above all, it is important to create a safer
community.
18
4.3. Case Study 3

Story
Figure 25 Our Chat with Respondent
On our visit Chautara, 35 year old Nilendra shared his experience of the earthquake on
25th April and 12th May 2015. According to him, the day before the earthquake hit, there
was a heavy rainfall and hailstorm like never before that flooded everything down
nearby. Due to rainfall it made them feel like something terrible is going to happen. Next
day on 25th April 2015 the weather was gloomy and Nilendra along with the locals had
gone to take a look at the damage caused by the hailstorm. At around 11:45 am suddenly
vibrations started and many building started collapsing in neighbouring hills.
As he saw building collapsing one after another, he panicked and started running back
home to take his family and to move into a safer area. As he was running back home saw
minors crying along the road, he took them along to safe area .Along with his family and
other locals they temporarily resided at open space uphill. He had a three storey building
with a cattle house at the side. But due to earthquake 1 and half floor of their residential
building fell down. Due to which they presently live in cattle house. Continuous
aftershock was felt that day.
The next day after earthquake, yet another big earthquake struck that was as per him had
longitudinal impact with exploding sound. Along with the locals and he and his family
members were still living in available open spaces as they were traumatized by the shake
that also affected their day to day activities and also brought down their dwelling.
On 12th May 2016, Nilendra was in uphill having a chitchat with the locals after having
lunch. Before the earthquake, there was a sound so they became alert that earthquake
was going to come. He along with his family stayed out in the open and waited for
earthquake to pass. He said that they were mentally prepared during the second event in
19
Bipashana Tuladhar (203)
Palistha Bajracharya (210)
comparison to the first earthquake. He was with his family and out in the open. He said
maybe because of this he did not panic like before.
Figure 26 Respondent's Ancestral Home
According to him, while going through the damaged scenes, the stand alone buildings
were mostly damaged and collapsed from level of foundation to the roof,whereas
buildings flushed to the hills were less affected by the shake . Most of damage were either
cracks, a side of a building falling down and some were damaged at such rate that no clue
of existence of building remains.
Not many of the people suffered in this ward but many people died in nearby wards due
to lack of rescuers and high impact of the shake. Since government couldn't reach out to
the victims and since they were in emergency situation they decided to form a community
to support each other. The formed group also retrieved the several dead bodies from
nearby ward and buried them in a large pit as there were plenty of bodies. In order to
minimize the hazards created by disaster newly formed community decided to create
large community shelter with GI sheets as roofing and also agreed in group dinning and
also to construct community toilet by collecting fund among themselves and materials
available
Shree Memorial Hospital, Banepa were the first ones to bring relief to the victims. They
setup health camp for about 2 days that included treating the injured people and weak
ones. They also organized de-traumatisation programme so that people can concentrate
in any other activities besides fear of earthquake. They brought in lots of tents, relief
package for each family, but due to political issues these reliefs were stored in Municipal
20
office, instead of distributing it to the victim. Maybe because of depression and crisis
situations like this, they decided among themselves to obtain the relief forcefully without
any consent with officials. All the foreign reliefs were said to be brought in to Chautara,
Sindhupalchowk , but the victims were not receiving it equally due to various problems.
Figure 27 Provided Tents
After 12 weeks to disaster, other organizations like Oxfam, Red Cross ,resumed school
and also provided necessary stationary things and other support to carryout classes .
They also included knowledge based class related to earthquake. As electricity line from
NEA was cut off for several days, Canadian INGOs came in and made them small mobile
charging booth that was run with solar power and also in specific time generator power
was provided to charge gadgets. Old vision provided tent and also solar panels as
alternative source of electricity.
As the official announcement was made, the government stated to provide fund of Rs
15000 to the victims. But they didn't get the money until August. Also they have received
Rs.10000 for buying winter clothes. Government later again announced to provide Rs 2
lakh for reconstruction which they feel is not enough to construct building according to
the building catalogue proposed by government
Government also proposed various standard design models of both permanent and
temporary building typologies that needs to be followed. Since these design included
various earthquake resistance technologies it need about at least 5 Lakh rupees to
construct more than double the money they have will be receiving as aid.
Trainings programmes for alternative housing techniques, construction techniques and
information on causes of damages were carried out. Different programs regarding
hygiene were also carried out. Even students were provided knowledge about causes of
earthquake, its aftermath
21
Figure 28 Respondent's Home
Nilendra had come home on a vacation for six months when the earthquake came. After
the earthquake he could not go back to Dubai to work. He lives in Peepal Danda with his
mother and sister. His wife is still working in Dubai. He hopes that this event will bring
about development and improvement as we came to face many weaknesses of our
Government. He also hopes for employment opportunities in his hometown so that he
does not need to go abroad and be with his family like he had been here if another
earthquake strikes.
We lacked on many things, from rescue – relief, rehabilitation and even in reconstruction.
The main challenge will be reconstruction along with preparation, mitigation schemes
and risk assessment of various areas so that we will be prepared when the next
earthquake comes. We need to be prepared for all kinds of possible hazards in such a way
that we become less vulnerable to all kinds of hazards that may come up.
22
4.4. Case Study 4
Eff]u]sf] e'O+rfnf], Ps syf

SUFFERED EARTHQUAKE, THE STORY
A true story told by Mrs. Hira Kumari Kunwar, about her experience is included here. She
was found to be preparing for the kind of ritual namely Sharaddhya for the next day at
her own temporary residence at the time of our visit to her shelter. We introduced
ourselves as the students purely visiting the site and no one to support in economic or
any other way to them. With a warm gesture the team members visiting the site were
welcomed and asked to sit down on the Bed as a chair. She offered an apple sometimes
or glucose sometimes showing her gratitude to theus visitors, though we accepted it but
took none. The story telling was started with a long whisper by her regarding the
earthquake scenario as a whole.
We were twenty students in a class who had decided to visit the Earthquake Devastated
area. Our journey started on Shrawan 29, 2073, as we departed from Koteshwor at 7;00
in the morning. After having tea at Dhulilkhel we moved onwards towards our
destination Chautara. As our travel continued from Kathmandu-Bhaktapur-
Kavrepalanchowk-Sindhupalchowk, we passed along the quake damaged buildings and
settlements making story plots and imaginations what our study area will be like.
At Chautara Bazaar, on 25th of April 2015 Mrs. Hira Kumari Kunwar was with her
daughter in law when the earthquake occurred. She felt nothing but heard her daughter
in law saying आमा हुलाक तिर भाग्नुस् Then after she found herself in the temporary tent in
the ground of Chautara where she lived for 15 days. She was injured and it was not
possible for her to go to Kathmandu for proper treatment as the whole district and the
whole country was in the same terrible situation which she get informed in the camp. She
was physically present at the camp where she got support from various organizations,
some provided food, some medications and some with required utensils but mentally she
was in her house at Pipaldaanda where her two sons two daughter in laws, her
grandchildren and her husband were there. Her husband had two wives and she was the
youngest. The first wife had passed away but her sons, daughter in laws and
grandchildren were nearby her house. So, she was always thinking about her near and
dear ones and her cattle. She remembered the grains which they had stored for the whole
year and cried if they are still there at her store or not. If the grains were buried inside
the house during the quake how will they feed their grandchildren?
She had one residential building at Chautara, the district headquarter of Sindhupalchowk
District. Which was of two and half story in her language. We predicted it to be the two
storey and Buingal? And she replied, “Yes Yes”. Continuing the story, she had one
Residence of similar story at Piapaldanda (A place where we found her in a temporary
residence). All turned into the dust in just few seconds, no shelter belong to them
afterwards. But she is happy only for being survived. She did not believe how she
survided being in a building in Chautara, which got completely destructed in just few
23
Damodar Acharya (204)
Pusp Raj Bhatt (213)
seconds. They also had small cattle sheds which were also completely destructed in
earthquake near the site where we visited. A shop used to be on the ground floor of that
building and it exists no more. No goods remain in hand but all turned into dust. The story
begins very haphazardly as if she wanted to tell every destruction in a single sentence.
Again we reminded her that we are just students !
An old women was singing a song in her own way at her shelter, she was the respondent
to our survey. Her name is Hira Kumari Kunwar. She is sixty six years old. She was injured
during the earthquake at her own home at Chautara Bazar and had undergone the
medical treatment at Kathmandu for a month. Her husband, retired police (Hawaldar)
government officer of Government of Nepal, Mitra Bahadur Kunwar was not found at
home at the time of visit and he is one year older than her wife. He had two wives, Mrs.
Hira is the first one and his second wife has already dead before the earthquake. Hira
Kumari Kunwar has two sons and five daughters. Both of the sons are married and they
live with their wives and offsprings.
The first son works in an NGO and his wife works in the fields with agriculture as
profession. They have a daughter who is going school regularly. Second son is in Dumre,
who used to work in the Shop at presently demolished shop at Chautara. They have a son
who is also regularly going to the school. All five daughters are married and in their own
homes. First daughter is in Kathmandu, Second one was in Sukute but has died, Third
daughter is in Kathmandu, Fourth daughter is in Kathmandu also and the Fifth daughter
is in Dang. No family member has gone for job to abroad country.
24
Though none of her and her husband are even literate, they had managed their childrens
to go to the school. The academic qualifications of their children are found as:
First Son – SLC Fail,
Second Son – 7 Class pass,
First Daughter – IA Pass,
Second Daughter – SLC Pass,
Third Daughter – SLC Pass,
Fourth Daughter – SLC Pass and
Fifth Daughter – Plus two pass.
There are three temporary tents provided as a relief after the earthquake where three
families are residing together. First family residing in the tent are the old husband and
wife. In the second tent, there are Mitra’s second wives (who is already dead before the
earthquake) family. And in the third tent, the first son’s family live there.
She claims to be fateful. Not only she survived alone but all of her family members
survived in the earthquake. Though the Buffallo and few Chickens died no human loss
occurred. All the foods were mixed to the dust. All grains turned into something with no
value except some stored in the Plastic Bages. She claims that the grain in the Plastic Bag
is safer than in the Bhakari during earthquake.
25
She told us that, immediately after the earthquake they collected at a safe place on their
own and waited for no any signal from any government or non-government agency.
Because they knew how to tackle with the disaster with their natural inheritance. They
all were frightened for the aftershocks. But kept patience. Few people were saying the
larger earthquake will occur again and was spreading rumors but nothing happened like
that again before Baishakh 29. The environment was very threating. No one can do
anything in front of God, she says. He gives and he takes, all is in hands of God she sighs!
After the earthquake for few days, they just live in threat. But, after few days the people
arrived with some helping materials. These people provided different food items as relief
to the people in village along with the family of Mrs. Hira. They also provided the relief
materials like Utensils, Bucket, Clothes, Blankets etc., she remembers. Afterwards the
agencies provided Nrs. 10,000 and Nrs. 15,000 for the relief. The tent was provided for
shelter by the similar people coming from somewhere, she says. The tents provided once
are being out of date due to being in a long rain and sun over a year but there is no
alternative solution seen even far in the twilight.
After few days of relief materials provided to them all, the different types of people came
to the village. They were the engineers and other technical persons who told about
26
making the earthquake resistant buildings and told many things to the people in village,
they are even unable to remind the topics raised by the technical visitors. They were the
Earthquake Damage Assessent Survey team member engineers allocated to different
earthquake affected districts by Government of Nepal.
After long time the government called upon the people in village for relief fund. She also
applied for the same and has got amount of Nrs. 50,000 as to reconstruct their shelter.
The amount is just an installment of the larger amount of Nrs, 2,00,000., she shows her
awareness on the matter. The mechanism to get the money from the government is very
difficult and she complains about it. Though we were not the right place to be complained
we accepted the complaint.
The festivals became just strange after the earthquake strike because of the very common
reasons. They had not even celebrated the largest festival Dashain and no other cultural
celebrations have occurred after the earthquake.
Finally, it was the time to return after a long discussion. There were many remembrances
on the mind among which the most satisfying was one where she asked for any medicine
to put on wound on her head to make it recover faster, which was a fresh wound
scratched by CGI sheet during the work just two days ago. Fortunately, we had the
medicine and put on her wounds. The smile of happiness on her face was amazing as if
she has forgotten all the pains from the past. But the time has forced us to move out of
her home, her village... to the Kathmandu for continuing our study with high motivation.
27
4.5. Case Study 5

Background of the Family in Study
The interview was taken of 80-year-old Chandra Maya Kunwar, a resident of Phalate
gaun, ward no. 1. She was could not hear properly so her daughter responded on her
behalf. It is located in a hilly area. Their house is located about 25m below the earthen
road level.
Figure 29 View of old town of Chautara with its landscape
Before the earthquake, she lived with her husband and her daughter Bina Kunwar
Khadka. Her husband died due to illness in august 2015, 4 months after the earthquake.
Chandra Maya Kunwar has 5 daughters. All of them are married, first Daughter, Rita
Budhathoki lives at Bhaluvan, second daughter died in road accident three years back,
third daughter Bina Kunwar Khadka takes care of her, fourth daughter Dina lives in
Sanchertarra, fifth daughter Laxmi lives in Bhaktapur and the sixth and youngest
daughter Bunu lives in Kalanki, Kathmandu. She also had one son eldest of all but he
passed away at the age of seven. The education level of most of them is up to SLC level.
Only the youngest daughter has completed +2 education. Chandra Maya Kunwar and her
daughter Bina Kunwar Khadka depend on agriculture as the main occupation. They have
1 Hal land for agriculture. They also had 1 buffalo and 5 goats for animal husbandry. Their
main house which was damaged due to the earthquake was two storey. The ground floor
had store and kitchen and the first floor had 3 rooms. The house was made up of brick
28
Kriti Pradhan (205)
Rija Joshi (216)
with mud plaster. The walls of the house have been severely cracked and tilted and the
roof was completely destroyed in the earthquake of 25 April 2015.
Figure 30: Chandra Maya's old house
Figure 31 Interview with the family
The earthquake of 25 April 2072

On Saturday, 25th April 2015 Chandra Maya, her husband and her daughter Bina had their
lunch together at home. Chandra Maya’s husband was suffering from cancer. So Bina and
her father went for medical attention at Dhulikhel hospital. Chandra Maya was alone at
house. She came out of her house closed doors and sun dried some clothes.
29
Kriti Pradhan (205)
Rija Joshi (216)
She had just fed the buffalo and come out of the shed when suddenly there was a loud
sound as if something had exploded and dust blew up. The ground started shaking and
her feet felt out of control. The earthquake was of enormous magnitude.
Immediate Response and Early Relief
An old woman of 80 years alone in the house, Chandra Maya shouted frantically as she
did not know what to do. She tried to keep still by holding the branches of the nearby
plants and stayed there until her neighbours came to rescue her and she went to an open
space in the ground nearby with them.
Bina and her father on the other hand were on the midway to Dhulikhel Hospital. They
had reached Bandeau situated near Dolalghat by bus when suddenly the bus started
shaking hysterically. They realized that a big earthquake had occurred and now it was
not possible to go to Dhulikhel. There were frequent aftershocks of large magnitudes, the
vehicle that they had boarded, remained there and it was getting darker. There were
rumors that bridges had collapsed and the road had been damaged.
Three vehicles decided going back to Chautara. Bina and her father managed to get on a
bus. Bina’s father was sick so she managed to get a seat for him but she had to struggle
through the crowd in the bus to come back home as the bus was fully packed. They got
the vehicle but it was not certain that it would reach Chautara. They had no option than
to take the bus.
The bus took them up to Irkhu. From there the bus driver refused to take them further to
Chautara. The driver had a problem of his own. He also had to go to his house and his
family as they was trapped inside the house. People in the bus pleaded the driver to take
them to Chautara. Bina also pleaded that she was alone with her ill father who could not
walk. They were helpless but after knowing the driver’s wife and family had died in the
earthquake she could not force the driver. She along with the other passengers got off the
bus.
Bina was getting worried because her father could not walk. She was looking for a way to
get herself and her father home. Then she met some army men. They were going to
Chautara for rescue and to understand the situation there. She was told to reach the
station as fast as possible to the army vehicle from where she could get a ride to chautara.
Others could run but her father could hardly walk. It was difficult for them to reach there
as well. They got the ride. The army truck dropped them up to Tudikhel at Chautara. She
wanted to go home. She requested the army to take them to their village as it would be
easy for her to take care of her father there. She would be with family and neighbor at
least who cud help her. But the army had their duty of rescuing other needy people. So
she could not get home.
Bina and her father stayed at Tudikhel at Chautara. They were given beaten rice and
bhujiya by the army. Bina preparing for the soon to be scarcity of food, bought some
biscuits for her father. It was already late when Bina and her father reached Tudikhel so
they did not get space in the tent that was set up in the open space for the people to stay.
It was raining, if Bina cud not find a shelter her father’s health would worsen further.
30
Kriti Pradhan (205)
Rija Joshi (216)
There she met some of her relatives with whom she cud share the tent. It rained
continuously for 2-3 days so even under the tent they got wet.
Bina was also worried about her mother who she had left in the house all alone. She tried
contacting her sister who lived nearby and her neighbors. The communication lines were
not functioning because of the earthquake. Only after 3-4 hours she could finally contact
a neighbor. He informed her that her mother was safe and was with other villagers. Her
elder sister had also come to check on their mother as she was alone at the house.
They had no hope of surviving. Roads were all cracked up with opening 1 to 2 feet as if
they would fall in there. But later all cracks joined itself. People came from Kathmandu to
help them by providing them drinking water. Bina ate beaten rice and water and her
father had biscuits for days. Later the shops were also closed. People helped them by
providing them with beaten rice to eat. She had never imagined such day would come
when she would have to be dependent on others for food. She felt helpless at the time.
In the fifth day after earthquake brothers in law came to see Bina and her father at
Chautara. Then they went home with them in taxi. The brothers in law returned back to
their respective homes the same day. Bina and her father reunited with her mother and
sister after five days. She was overjoyed to know that her family and neighbors were safe.
There were no casualties in her village, though some were injured. Their buffalo shed and
toilet completely collapsed and buffalo was trapped, which later neighbors helped
release.
Here in the village mother, Chandra Maya and eldest sister Rita Budathoki had stayed
with villagers in the nearby open field. They did not have mobile phones so could not
contact anyone. Later they stayed in the goat shed. It was raining all the time which made
it difficult for them to survive. Bina and her father also stayed in the shed. It did not
protect them properly from water and wind.
A few days later they thought they should make the new shelter as it was not sufficient.
Bina went to take woods. She had just started collecting when again there was another
big earthquake with a bang sound. It was the earthquake of 12 May 2015. Dust covered
the sky. She came running to her family.
Recovery Phase
They had little hope of survival after that. But as everyone was making shelter, they also
started making another shed with wood and salvaged CGI sheets. They were all women
and father was sick so could not build shelter themselves. Neighbors were also busy to
build their own shelter so they hired mason to built shelter for them. They stayed in the
new shelter which was more secured than the goat shed but still was of low height and
not convenient.
31
Kriti Pradhan (205)
Rija Joshi (216)
Figure 32 Temporary shelter
They received 8 kg of rice in total as relief from a different organization. It was distributed
in the school nearby. Bina had to look after her mother and father so she could not go to
take the relief materials. Also, the relief materials were mostly distributed along the road
side and very few organizations came to their village as it was isolated. They have water
pipeline connection. So there was no problem with water. Water was muddy so they
filtered before drinking. Later different organization provided them with water purifier
(Piyush). Many people visited their place. Engineers came and inspected their house. They
were interviewed and forms were filled up.
They did not work in the fields for long time. The father died four months after the
earthquake in the month of Shrawan. Now only daughters and mother lived there. They
survived on food that was left at home. In the winter government gave them NPR.10000
for winter clothing which they used to buy some warm clothes. They had to live in the
cold weather under the CGI sheets. Government has also given them NPR.15000 to buy
CGI sheets.
Slowly life had to come back to normal. Schools were opened after two months. They did
not go to field till Falgun. When everyone started planting maize, Bina also planted maize
in their field. As now she also hoped their life cannot be more miserable.
Reconstruction
The family has some expectation to get NPR.200000 for the reconstruction of their house.
She knows about the 17 prototype designs government has proposed. Small house of
brick with mud mortar will be sufficient for them. But she is afraid they cannot build the
house as it will be costly. The labor charges have hiked and the given designs require
special skills. It is different than it had normally been to build a house in the village.
Preparedness
Bina had heard about earthquake in radios. She knew they should be prepared for
earthquake. They should keep a bag ‘Jhatpat Jhola’ with basic necessities ready all the
time. But they did not keep. They did not know there would be so many aftershocks. In
32
Kriti Pradhan (205)
Rija Joshi (216)
radios and news she had heard that during earthquake they should sit under windows
and doors. But now she has realized if they had done so they would not have been alive.
According to her there is another community Nacha gaun nearby their village, at the other
side of school. There people stayed under beam and under the bed and 36 people died in
that village.
Even now after this earthquake, they are not sure how to be prepared for another
earthquake. According to her, the big earthquake has already taken place. They have
escaped, now even if again another earthquake comes they will have to face it.
Current Situation
One year has passed since father’s death so there was small puja at the house when we
visited. Daughters, sons in law and grandchildren had come to visit Chandra Maya. They
were having a family gathering after one year of the demise of their father. The life in the
village has come to normal. Bina and her mother live together. They sold their buffalo a
month after the earthquake as it was difficult to look after it. They have goats and
chickens. The number of goats has increased she expects to sell them in Dashain if they
are big enough.
Figure 33: Goat shed at present Figure 34: Chandra Maya's daughter Bina
Their agriculture is not much productive. The fields are in raised land with no irrigation
facility. They have to buy food from the market. They buy food from Chautara market.
Chandra Maya gets old citizen allowance of NPR.500 per month from the government.
The daughters look after the mother’s necessity. Their life was hard from the beginning.
Chandra Maya and her husband did labor work to raise their daughters. Now daughters
look after them.
They do not have much property. They have a small land nearby house and one Hal that
is equivalent to 1 Ropani as agriculture field. They have a radio from which they get
updated on current happenings. Their latrine was destroyed in the earthquake and now
they are using their neighbor’s latrine.
They use wood fire for cooking. They have built a new room two months back out of CGI
sheets from 15000 received from the government. They say it is difficult to stay there as
it gets very hot during day time. They do not know when they will start reconstruction
33
Kriti Pradhan (205)
Rija Joshi (216)
Figure 35 Current home for the family
Damage
Their house was damaged severely. The roof collapsed, there are cracks in the house and
it has become inhabitable. There are no human casualties. Their buffalo shed and toilet
collapsed.
Figure 36 Damaged house
34
Kriti Pradhan (205)
Rija Joshi (216)
The earthquake happened in midday they had finished their morning chores. Father and
daughter had gone for a medical check-up and Chandra Maya was also out so they all
survived. Otherwise if would have been difficult to get sick father out of the house and
they would get trapped in the house.
Discussion
As Nepal is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, it is confronted with a
number of natural and man-made disasters every year resulting in the loss of lives and
properties. The country sits above active fault lines that can trigger earthquakes of great
intensity anytime. Chandra Maya and her family were also at high risk of this disaster.
The family of Chandra Maya was vulnerable as she was herself very old and her husband
had crossed eighty and was suffering from cancer. They were looked after by their
daughter and there were no other male members of their family. The family was one of
the vulnerable families because there were only women and old people in the house
during the disaster. The daughter managed to help her father get home with the help of
army men. As there were only women and old people, they could not go to get the reliefs
provided in the roadside area. The reliefs that were distributed could not be accessible to
them because of their social condition and because of the location of their house being
away from the road.
Their economic state was just enough for basic necessities. There was no major income
source, daughters were supporting for their livelihood. Their house was made of mud
mortar and not earthquake resistant. The access to their house is difficult there is narrow
foot trail access to their house. Their village was in remote place without any medical
facility nearby. Nearest clinic was at Chautara and for big treatments, they have to reach
Dhulikhel. If there was adequate medical facility in Chautara, they would not have to go
to Dhulikhel and would’ve reached their home quickly.
Figure 37: Access path to Chandra Maya's house
Relief and Recovery

For Chandra Maya, neighbors had come as early responders. They came to see her and
took her to a safe place. They did not have high level education but they were aware about
35
Kriti Pradhan (205)
Rija Joshi (216)
the earthquake preparedness needed. But they had not belived that such devastating
disaster could ever occur and hence did not prepare. Bina knew after the earthquake they
would have a shortage of food so she bought biscuits for her father. That was a wise
decision.
Chandra Maya’s family has received relief provided by government total amount of
NPR.25000 for winter clothes and CGI sheets and 7-8 kg of rice. They, however, could not
receive other relief materials from other organization as they could not go to receive it.
They recovered their food and some clothes from their house. The distribution of relief
materials should have been evenly distributed and they should have considered about
elderly and disabled people.
They lived in a temporary shelter for a long time. Elderly and children felt difficult during
the stay outside. Still, they are living in a shelter made out of CGI which gets too hot in
summer and too cold in winter.
The early response and relief phase have already passed. The family now has already
been back to normal life. But there is no sign of reconstruction as they do not have a stable
source of income. Chandra Maya is already 80 and does not have any income. The amount
she will receive from the government will not be sufficient for the reconstruction and she
does not have any savings of her own. She is looked after by her daughters who are
already married and they have their own family as well.
Reconstruction
Reconstruction has become a challenge. They are aware now they should build with
disaster preparedness in a better way. But due to their economic condition they cannot
afford to build as per government has suggested. They have no male member in their
family so they require hiring masons and the labor price has hiked. They are not starting
the reconstruction phase early. In other places also it seems either people will start
building in their own way with whatever resources and knowledge they have or will be
living in temporary structures like Chandra Maya’s family for a longer time.
Figure 38: Chandra Maya with her family
36
Kriti Pradhan (205)
Rija Joshi (216)
4.6. Case Study 6

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal in 25th April 2015. It was followed by a second
on 12 May, killing 9,000 people in total and leaving three million homeless. Water
supplies and toilets were among the infrastructure that was destroyed, leaving survivors
struggling to access clean water, and at risk of the spread of dangerous disease. One year
has passed and earthquake has not left us. Normalcy has not yet retained with slow pace
of reconstruction.
After more than a year of earthquake, we visited to the village Peepledada of Chautara, to
find out how the people in the area have been coping and their stories of earthquake
survival, and how many supporters are helping them take the first steps towards
rebuilding their lives. We met with the very humble duo of father and daughter who lives
in the one storey house which is practically in ruins. It was a gloomy day when Mrs. Gyanu
Kumari was grazing a cattle in her father’s house like every day. She is a 40 year’s old
married woman who takes care of her father’s household. Her mother has already passed
away and there is no one to take care of her father and the household. Her husband works
out of town and her kids study in Kathmandu. It is her daily schedule to cook, graze cattle,
and clean the house and work in the field. While her father Mr. Tirtha Bahadur Kunwar,
71 years old retired Nepal army officer rests in his home. The source of income of their
house is pension from Nepal army.
Figure 39 Owner of the house Mrs. Gyanu Kumari & Mr. Tirtha Bahadur
They clearly remember the moment earthquake struck. As usual on that day she was
grazing a cattle and her father was resting in the upper floor, all of a sudden the ground
started to shake vigorously. Mr. Tirtha Bahadur tried to escape from the house, while
running down from the stairs the two storey building started to collapse, in this process
he was struck by the stone in his leg, but somehow he managed to escape from the house.
Their upper floor of the house collapsed shortly after they evacuated from the building.
They could hear other people screaming and yelling and the surroundings being all dusty
37
Kshamata Malla (206)
Neelam Manandhar (209)
due to collapse of the all the house. Fortunately, none of the family members were
seriously injured.
They had just constructed their house a year back before the earthquake struck. It was
not long ago that they have shifted to their new home. But the devastating earthquake
has left their newly constructed house into debris and cracks all over the house. The
house has been constructed using stone and mud mortar masonry and cement plaster.
They had spent nearly 10 lakhs for the construction of the new house. But due to the lack
of technology during construction their house in dilapidated state.
Figure 40 The remining part of the building.
When asked about the experience they shared that it was a terrible experience for them,
they were in a state of panic and were numb for few days. Even after experiencing the
bigger quakes, smaller aftershocks left them scared. The two consecutive earthquake
have left them in a fear that other big earthquake might hit once again.
For six month after the earthquake, they lived in the tent in the open space of the school
along with the other villagers and shared a common kitchen where they jointly helped
each other. They received support from different agencies. Emergency rescue and relief
was done for the injured. Since Mr. Tirtha Bahadur was had a minor injury in his head he
was taken to the hospital from the ambulance. World vision agency provided them
foreign aids as well as tents and CGI sheets for construction of the temporary shelters.
Nepal army also helped to rescue people trapped in debris and demolish the ruin houses.
They also offer their help to demolish Mr. Tirtha Bahadur Kunwar’s house, but he refused
the offer because he didn’t wanted his house to totally demolish and maintain the house
to one storey. After six month of stay in the tent, they shifted at the temporary shelter
constructed from CGI sheet in the field near to their ruined house. They stayed in the
38
temporary shelter for nearly 8 months while the maintenance of the house was carried
on. But due to the heavy rainfall there was leakage of water in the structure so they shifted
in the house after the completion of the maintenance. Separate kitchen space was
constructed outside the house from hollow blocks.
Figure 41 Temporary shelter during the recovery period.
When asked about the preparedness of earthquake, they seem to be unprepared for such
disaster. They were not seen to be participating in such a preparedness programs. But
they have seen in the television about some preparedness during such disasters. They
had the idea that we should hide under the table or bed if the earthquake occurs. They
have shared their experience that in doing so many people have lost life after being buried
in the debris.
Family of Mr. Tirtha Bahadur Kunwar has much expectation from the government. Both
the father and daughter had the idea that government has published the earthquake
resistant design. But they are not familiar with the 17 design of the houses published by
government. They have received Rs.15000 as first relief fund and then Rs.10000 and
Rs.50000 as the first installment of 2 lakh to be provided by government as the relief fund
for reconstruction works of the house. After Rs.50000 they said that Rs.80000 will be
given to them and then only further money will be provided on the installment basis.
39
Figure 42 Poor maintenance of the building and cracks after the major earthquake
Since the reconstruction and the distribution of the relief fund is taking a lot of time they
said that there is a high chance of the amount received of 50000 will be spent during the
festival of dashain rather than in the reconstruction work. This is why they think that the
authorities should take required actions for the reconstruction work and distribution of
the relief fund. They shared that in 2014 this area was announced open defecation free
area. For making this possible different strategy were applied like those who does not
construct toilet did not get allowance or scholarship in school for their children. So they
were urged to construct the toilets. So for the reconstruction work also similar strategy
should be applied. Then people will be insisted towards the reconstruction work
themselves. According to them different masonry training was also carried out by
different organization in this area, so that trained peoples could have some technological
knowledge about the construction of the buildings. Instead of helping around for the
reconstructions they are busy building their own houses as per them.
People differ in their exposure to risk as a result of their social group, gender, ethnic or
other identity, age and other factors. Vulnerability may also vary in its forms: poverty, for
example, may mean that housing is unable to withstand an earthquake , or lack of
preparedness may result in a slower response to a disaster, leading to greater loss of life
or prolonged suffering. In this case, Mr. Tirtha Bahadur was exposed to the risk and
vulnerability as he was old in age and the response the hazard was slow. And they were
more vulnerable because of the low structural strength building with very less technical
details, no proper guidance and inspection while construction of the building.
The vulnerability in the future shall be counteracted by:
 Reducing the impact of the hazard itself where possible (through
mitigation, prediction and warning, preparedness);
 Building capacities to withstand and cope with hazards;
40
 Tackling the root causes of vulnerability, such as poverty, poor governance,

discrimination, inequality and inadequate access to resources and livelihoods.
Physical, economic, social and political factors determine people’s level of vulnerability
and the extent of their capacity to resist, cope with and recover from hazards. Clearly,
poverty is a major contributor to vulnerability in case of Sindhupalchowk. Poor people
are more likely to live and work in areas exposed to potential hazards, while they are less
likely to have the resources to cope when a disaster strikes.
Since, all the money has been invested on building their house before the earthquake,
they share that they don’t have enough money to build the house again. The poorly
maintained building has been the shelter for the father – daughter duo, increasing to the
exposure to the risk. They are still waiting for the authorities to take a required action for
the reconstruction work with the proper guidance and relief funds.
41
4.7. Case Study 7
GORKHA EARTHQUAKE EXPERIENCE OF NHURBU TAMANG

Nepal lies in seismic prone zone and the movement of tectonic plates is the cause behind
earthquake. On 25th April 2015, 7.8 Richter scale earthquake hits Nepal with epicenter
Gorkha which cause lots of physical as well as human destruction. During this earthquake
almost 14 districts gets affected badly among which Sindhupalchowk is the one.
Sindhupalchowk is the epicenter for many aftershocks of Gorkha earthquake including
largest aftershocks of 7.3 Richter on 12th May 2015 For our study, we visited Chautara
municipality of Sindhupalchowk on 13th August 2016 where we have to collect a story
and experience of earthquake victim.
For this purpose, we went beyond main Chautara market where we saw some destructed
houses, temporary houses and tents. While walking we saw an old woman coming out
from temporary house who shared her experience of disaster with us.
70 years old, Nhurbu Tamang narrates the story of her family, which consisted of total 8
members. She is the head of the family with one daughter in law, two grandsons, two
grand daughter in laws and two great grandsons. His elder grandson works in military
force who has been already separated from the family. Thus, she was living with her
younger grandson depending on agriculture. She has 2 great grandson of age 9 and 5.
During the earthquake, both her grandson lost their houses and she also lost her younger
grandson and younger great grandson.
Nhurbu Tamang further shares her experience as - "Earthquake has done lots of damage
to my family. During earthquake of 25th April, I was resting over the buffalo shed. When
ground started to shake, I somehow manage to escape from the shed. But, the shed
collapsed and my buffalo was buried within it. I was so shocked and scared because of
the sudden earthquake as well as sad as the buffalo died. I rushed to my house to share
this sad news with my grandson. But when I reached there, I saw my house has been
already collapsed by earthquake. The army personnel were removing the debris of my
house and I came to know that my grand children have been buried within it. We did
funeral of my grandson and my little great grandson together. "
After the death of her grandchildren, her family sent message to her elder grandson who
came and performed the death ritual of her younger grandson. While narrating this story
her eyes filled with tears. She had remembered all those moment once again. She said
that she has become old but God spare her life and took away her grandchildren. God had
done injustice to her by sparing her life instead of her grandson and great grandson.
42
Mita Prajapati (207)
Pratik Lal Shrestha (211)
After the Gorkha earthquake, Nhurbu Tamang lived in temporary tents, which were
distributed by municipality as initial relief. After 5 days in tents, they shifted to rented
room. Only after one month, they built the temporary house of CGI sheets with the help
of community members. These days they are living in this temporary CGI house with only
one room. All of them are adjusting their daily activities in the same house. During initial
days of disaster, they were provided with food and other stuffs as relief. Beside this
government had provided them with financial aid. Initially they had been provided with
one lakh rupee for being an earthquake victim. After that, they were provided with Rs80,
000 which would be Rs40, 000 each for the family of dead people as declared by
government to perform the death rituals of demised family members. They have also
received initial installment of Rs50, 000 for the construction of houses.
After our visit, we observe that the
impact of earthquake is much more
destructive beyond the market area.
There is large variation in social as
well as economic status of the
Chutara market and the area beyond
that. Economically poor and
uneducated people like Nhuboo
Tamang inhabit the area beyond the
market. Although the government
bodies are near to their locations,
these people are unaware of the
procedure of facilities and reliefs
program of government. They have already spent the financial aid given by the
government, as they do not have any other source of income beside agriculture. They had
also received the first installment given by the government for building construction.
When we asked them about the construction of permanent house, they said the amount
43
given was not enough to execute the construction work. Also the procedure of developing
house design and getting building permit is very expensive. We also ask them about the
model designs proposed by DUDBC, but they have not heard about these plans of
government. Nhurbu Tamang also states that, absence of any male member at house is
also one of the reasons that they could not plan about the permanent building.
During our visit, we found that some
settlements were completely destroyed
by earthquake with no houses left. But
some settlements were still standing
with no houses damaged or with only
minor cracks. After the careful
observation and investigation, we found
the cause that was the use of material
with proper technology. In the
destroyed settlements buildings were
constructed with stone mud mortar
without use of any kinds of ties and
joints. It was obvious that they were not
aware of the fact that these technologies can be used to make the house strong although
it is of stone mud mortar as the major material. In the settlements where buildings were
of RCC frame structure with proper ties and joints, there was no such large destruction.
These were the reason that there was so much of difference in damaged that has been
done by earthquake within the same place.
After earthquake, people are facing many problems regarding reconstruction and
rehabilitation. But however, after one year of disaster, people are slowly making their life
normal. In this municipality the main problems after disaster is shortage of water. The
ground source of water has been dried out. People are fighting for drinking water every
day.
Another factor may be the planning of the municipality itself. It seems that there was no
particular planning of municipality. The government has sent their CLPIU unit in every
affected area. But the people like Nhurbu Tamang are unaware about this. This shows the
poor management and plans of government. The food for thought behind it was that the
buildings were growing haphazardly and even some part of municipality had no proper
road connection. In this kind of condition, it is obvious to have unbalanced economic
growth of the place.
44
Conclusion
Chautara, Sindhupalchowk is one of the mostly affected areas during Gorkha earthquake
2015 in which people had lost their life and property. As we all know that, earthquake
cause no harm by itself. The destruction and damage is cause due to unawareness of
people and their ability to cope with it. The story of Nhurbu Tamang shows that due to
their economic condition and unawareness they built the house that could not resist
earthquake. They lost not only their house but also lost their family members. Her
experience of post disaster explains that although they got initial relief and financial aid,
they are still not able to reconstruct their houses. Due to the variation in social and
economic condition, this part of Chautara municipality is more affected by earthquake. It
also shows that the government lacks in plans and policies regarding reconstruction and
rehabilitation of earthquake victim.
Thus in order to reconstruction of affected area, proper plans should be prepared by
government and the people should be aware about the disaster.
45
4.8. Case Study 8

EARTHQUAKE EXPERIENCE OF ADHIKARI FAMILY
As we all know 7.8 Richter scale earthquake hit Nepal last year on 25th April 2015 leaving
the whole nation shattered. Many frequent aftershocks were also experienced with
another big shake of 7.3 Richter scale on 12th May 2015. Almost 14 districts were affected,
among them Sindhupalchowk was one. During our field visit in Chautara, one of the
municipalities of Sindhupalchowk district, on 12th August 2016 we came across Adhikari
family and spent some time with them sharing their experience regarding the earthquake.
Adhikari family live few meters

down the main Chautara bazaar in
Syangba tole, ward no. 3. They
have four members in the family;
45years old Hari Prasad Adhikari,
40 years old Nanda Maya Adhikari,
18 years old Santi Adhikari and 16
years old Bikram Adhikari. Hari
Prasad works in the Advocate
office as a helper where as Nanda
Maya is a housewife. The daughter
and son are students and are
studying in BBS first year and Class
12 respectively..
Figure 43 Location Map
The family is a lower middle class who used to live in 3 storey stone and mud house that
was built about 12 years back
It was Saturday noon. As usual Mr Hari was in his office (as he was a helper he needs to
go office even on holidays) and the children had gone to their friend’s house. Mrs Adhikari
was alone in the house sleeping in the first floor and suddenly the bed started shaking. At
first she thought it would stop soon and did nothing just kept waiting. But as the shake
didn’t stop even after a while, her heart started beating faster she said. She added “I was
thrown here and there by the shake and even couldn’t stand still.” She said she was blank
at that time and could think of nothing. As the house continued shaking, she made up her
mind going under the bed as this was taught by her children as the measures of
preparedness. But as she saw dust started coming out her house she thought this was not
the right idea. She said “I was all confused and could not make my mind on what should I
do. I was in panic and various negative thoughts were coming in my mind. I was alone in
the house and thought if I get buried no one will be there soon to rescue me. I thought
that was my last day living in this beautiful earth.” She continued saying that she looked
outside the window and saw that her neighboring houses were no more standing with
dust fumes covering the sky. “As I saw that I made a decision. I need to jump out of this
window if not my house will also collapse and will bury me” she said with some tears
rolling down her eyes. She gathered all her courage remembered the god and jumped out
46
Namrata Bhattarai (208)
Sunibha Kayastha (217)
the window in her front yard. She was all well standing on the ground and soon rushed
towards the kitchen garden nearby.
As now she was safe, she remembered her family members and was worried about them.
She didn’t had mobile phone with her so could not contact them soon. Soon her children
rushed towards their houses searching for her. The children were safe as they too were
able to escape from their friend’s house right on time. “Three of us were together and
soon I realized my husband was missing. We then rushed towards his office which was
few minutes away from our house. Once we went there we saw his office had also
collapsed and he was on the ground at the side with bleeding leg” she continued. He had
an injury in his leg as the wooden log fell down while he was escaping out the office
building. Three of them gave their shoulder to him and they returned back to their house.
I then thought of my two daughters in Kathmandu. We tried a lot to call them out but
could not reach them as all the networks were disturbed due to the shake said Mrs
Adhikari.
Once they returned back to their house, they saw gable wall had fallen down but the house
was standing with some cracks. The neighboring houses were collapsed with some
people inside. As they were terrified, they could not help in rescue but however the other
local volunteers and army soon reached there. Unfortunately they could not save the lives
and brought 2 dead bodies buried under the debris. At that moment I thank god for saving
me and my family from such a terrible situation said Mrs Adhikari.
There were continuous aftershocks that terrified them a lot. They somehow managed to
enter the house and brought down all the cash and jewelries which were in the wardrobe
in the first floor. As there were continuous aftershocks, they decided to rush on the safe
and open space. For them they choose Tudhikhel, which was about 10 min walk from
their place. They along with the other people put tents there and reside there for almost
two weeks. They and other people were given food two times a day by Nepal Army. As
many organizations were there to provide immediate relief, they got few sacks of rice,
one blanket and few sanitary items as relief. They even received Rs 10,000 as first
immediate relief from government and then Rs 15,000 in the second phase. The relief was
47
not sufficient but we managed to take out the food and other necessary stuffs from our
house few days later that helped us during the crisis.
Figure 44: Tudikhel, open space used by them during Disaster
About two weeks later they along with the other people decided to get back their home
as aftershocks were common and were small in magnitudes. But unfortunately there was
another big shake of 7.3 Richter scale which made the condition even worst. The upper
two storeys of the house fell down leaving the ground floor behind. There were several
cracks on the walls of ground floor as well. “All the stuffs were destroyed which was
almost of about 50 thousand but I had no regret for that. We are still alive and those stuffs
could be earned again” she added with confidence.
Figure 3: Three Storied house remained one storey after Earthquake
48
Figure 4: Several Cracks on the walls
They returned back their home almost after a month and put the tent on the open space
nearby given by the Red Cross. They remained there till monsoon. “As monsoon started
it was difficult for us to live in that tent. Then we built a temporary house and stayed there
for almost six months till winter”, said Mrs Adhikari. They then threw the debris in nearby
river and covered the ground floor with CGI sheet and started living there since winter.
Figure 6: Temporary Shelter later converted to cowshed
The family has heard of getting the relief of Rs 200,000 and loan of Rs 1,500,000. They
are waiting for that fund to repair and reconstruct the house. They are still unaware of
the 17 earthquake resistance building models recommended by the Government. There
was no any need assessment in that locality as per Mrs Adhikari. She said there was some
mason training as per her knowledge. Talking about the present condition, Mrs Adhikari
stated that they have been using the ground floor both as kitchen and bedroom. There
are few difficulties in their livelihood but she does not have any such complains as coming
disaster was not under anyone’s control.
49
Figure 7: Interior living space
Analysis
What we found is that the family had no idea knowledge about the earthquake. In
Kathmandu, we have seen many programs related to earthquake awareness. We also had
fair knowledge that it may occur again. But what we found there was that people had no
knowledge about what they should do before, during and after earthquake. But Mrs.
Adhikari told that she had heard about lying under the table, bed or the door from her
children through their course books. So, this was kind of preparedness program from the
government to include about earthquake in the books and it is also duty of school to
aware the students about earthquake. This is a way to transfer knowledge to the family
as the children can aware their family members too. But somehow, we can say that they
had very less preparedness.
During the event, her children were safe as they were in Ground floor, so they ran safely
outside. But for her it was a bit difficult as the staircase was a single flight staircase of
timber and it was shaking in such a way that she felt it was unsafe to go through it. Though
she did not have the knowledge that staircase is generally the weak part in the building,
she did not panic and take wrong decision during the disaster. It is generally believed that
women are physically and mentally weak and have less capacity to cope with the
situations and are thus more vulnerable to hazards. But in this case we can see her
capacity to jump off from the window and save herself from getting hurt. Since the floor
height was not so high, she was successful to get down without getting hurt.
In case of rescue, they rescued themselves as they were not physically hurt and were safe.
In case of her husband, the neighbors rescued him. So, though there were armies available
nearby, they were busy rescuing the victims who were stuck inside the damaged houses.
So, they did not really need the rescue from others. Instead they helped some of their
neighbors to rescue where possible.
After getting rescued, they took refuge in Tudikhel, a large open space that is few minutes’
walk from Chautara Bazaar. There they were sheltered and also foods were provided by
the armies. So, they got the immediate response and relief that supported them. In a long
50
run, they also got reliefs in terms of monetary values that might have helped them to
rehabilitate. So, this helped them to maintain the house and supported them to make it
livable for a moment. But they have been still waiting for the help of Government for
carrying out the reconstruction process. It’s been more than a year and they are still not
aware about the standard designs to be followed and are just waiting for the amount.
Though there has been well demonstration about the standard designs in the Bazaar area,
but they have no idea about it.
However their house was heavily damaged, they are still satisfied that there was not
much harm to their family. So, they don’t feel much disturbance in their lifestyle after the
disaster but still they are looking forward to getting government’s help for reconstruction
and development works. They proved that the first and foremost thing one should think
about during disaster is their own safety and so they did not visit their house endangering
their life for their property. Their life was somehow disturbed due to continuous
earthquakes and the absence of light but they have now come up through those
conditions. Now that they have experienced the disaster so closely, they are now aware
and are conscious about building safe house and also about other safety measures.
51
4.9. Case Study 9
EARTHQUAKE EXPERIENCE OF MAIYA KUNWAR

Maiya Kunwar, a hardworking woman, lives with her husband and three sons in Gosara
tole, Peepledanda of Chautara Sindupalchowk. She has three sons and five daughters
among which four daughters had already got married. Life of this family is going through
hard condition and this April 25 earthquake has even made it worst. She had lost her
house and 2 goats during this earthquake.
Figure 45: Maiya Kunwar's house
The day of earthquake, 25th April 2015, she remembers the day as a black rainy day when
she along with her youngest son and youngest daughter left the house for grazing their
cattle. She even hadn’t able to collect one basket (doko) grass when the earthquake
shakes the mother Nepal. “My small child was crying and saying we are going to die
mother in my lap” she explains. She still remembers that day clearly and told us that she
and her children were holding the tree during earthquake and the sound of the
earthquake made that day even more terrifying and trees are shaking so much that they
were colliding with each other. During earthquake her husband was in the house and he
was about to chopping the wood logs. Suddenly earth started to shake and he thought
earth shook due to rainfall of the last night which might have caused landslide and wind
was making shook of their house. Although he was unable to distinguish between the
earthquake and landslide, his half-conscious mind was able to think and was able to free
most of their cattle by cutting the ropes but when he was about to free more cattle, cattle
shed and whole building were collapsed. Maiya Kunwar said that her husband was too
lucky to escape and not harmed by earthquake but he was not able to save 2 goats that
day. After freeing cattle he went to look after grandchildren around.
52
Ram Krishna Maharjan (214)
Suraj Maharjan (218)
After big shock she with her children came in village and found most of the houses were
on the ground. She remembers that her daughter in law was thrown away by shock so
she had hurts her hand.
Figure 46 Maiya Kunwars Dismantled House
After earthquake, they received only one tent as the relief. CWIN had provided 4-5 CGI
sheets and Nepal Read Cross have provided 9 pathi rice and 1 pathi daal. She claims that
government help was negligible in the community. Neighborhood help was most helping
hand during disaster time. They shared one kitchen among 16 household for 1 week and
later they only shared roof to sleep but kitchen was separately constructed due to
uneasiness to serve all at once. Temporary shelter was built by materials that were
brought to ground by earthquake.
During earthquake this family faced many problems as other villagers. Due to low supply
of goods, price of the daily consumption goods was high and she explains that they were
even taking loans to buy daily needy goods. Daal, Bitten rice, and rice were costly during
that time. Her one word really touched our heart “we were not killed by earthquake so
we need to feed ourselves and keep us alive though the price of goods were high”. Not
only there was scarcity of food but there was security issue in the village at that time. She
told us that jail was damaged in earthquake and prisoners fled from jail were causing
security issue in the village.
Nowadays she is living in her elder sons’ house which already had been repaired twice
after disaster. It is seen that there was no preparedness training had been held in this
area. No proper use of radio for education about disaster had been used by the family.
After earthquake this family seems to use radio for gaining information about subsidy
and relief. Family of Maiya Kunwar has much expectation from the government. Even
family owns 7 hals (around 7 ropani) of field but not able to feed all the hungry stomach
of her family, so in this situation the only help family sees is government. Maiya Kunwar
53
is familiar with the 17 design of the houses designed by DUDBC. She had received
Rs.15,000 as first relief fund and Rs.50,000 for demolition of the house. She is not sure of
receiving further amount but had heard about 2-3 lakhs of amount of money will be given
for the construction of the house. She said that Rs. 80,000 will be given to household then
only further money will be provided.
Analytical View
Figure 47: Disaster Management Cycle
Preparedness:
"Disaster Preparedness", defined by the UN as involving "forecasting and taking precautionary
measures prior to an imminent threat in advance warnings as possible". Preparedness is
important quality in achieving goals and in avoiding and mitigating negative outcomes. It is
said that one rupee spend in preparedness will save 7 rupee in overall disaster management but
in this village no preparedness was done for disaster. This family seems unaware of the need
of preparedness in past. There is need of Preparedness program such as public awareness and
seminars in school in this village.
Figure 48 Example of Disaster Preparedness Training
54
Response:
Figure 49: Rescue during Disaster by Neighbours
Disaster response is the second phase of the disaster management cycle. It consists of a
number of elements, for example; warning/evacuation, search and rescue, providing
immediate assistance, assessing damage, continuing assistance and the immediate
restoration of infrastructure. Immediate response after disaster was done by neighbor.
There seems strong bond among neighbor but there seems lack of rescue materials in
community. Disaster response by government level was negligible in this village. Strong
presence of government in response is needed.
Recovery:
A disaster recovery plan documents policies, procedures and actions to limit the
disruption to an organization in the wake of a disaster. Just as a disaster is an event that
makes the continuation of normal functions impossible, a disaster recovery plan consists
of actions intended to minimize the negative effects of a disaster and allow the
organization to maintain or quickly resume mission-critical functions.
People are not satisfied of recovery progress after April 25 earthquake. This family is
aware of the design proposed by Nepal government but claims that the progress of
recovery is too slow. People are waiting for helping hand in recovery from the disaster.
Its already been more than 17 months of the disaster and recovery progress is slow.
Recovery progress should be in great speed now otherwise we will need many years to
reach where we were before disaster.
Mitigation:
Mitigation is the effort to reduce loss of life and property by lessening the impact of
disasters. In order for mitigation to be effective we need to take action now before the
next disaster to reduce human and financial consequences later. It is important to know
that disasters can happen at any time and any place. We are still in the phase of recovery
so no concrete steps have been taken for mitigation. Mitigation measures can be
structural and non-structural. Structural mitigation can be taken as earthquake resistant
building construction, retrofitting of weak buildings etc. No building can be made 100%
55
safe from earthquake but building can be made earthquake resistant to certain extent.
Non-structural mitigation measures are reframing building codes, guidelines, manuals
and byelaws and their strict implementation is needed for mitigation.
All the people of the country have the right of information. All the people should be
informed properly but people are not getting proper information. People should know
about the disaster, effects of disaster. People of this community are not getting the
information about the preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation of disaster. As
they hadn’t faced the disaster before the 25th April earthquake, very less people of this
community were prepared for disaster. Maiya Kunwar and her family were unknown
about the preparedness of earthquake disaster. She hadn’t received any information
about the preparedness of any kind of disaster. Her youngest son and daughter are the
students and studying in 6 and 8 classes respectively. Although these children are
studying, they lack the knowledge of preparedness and response of the disaster. So it
seems that the education system of Nepal is also not good enough to aware about the
disaster.
Though Maiya Kunwar and her family know about the risk of living in the vulnerable
house, they are still living in the house which is very vulnerable and have high risk of
hazard and engineers also already had declared the house was not safe to live in. but they
urged to live in that house as they have no other choice of shelter as they are financially
poor to build the earthquake resistant house. They are waiting for the help of authority
for the reconstruction work.
They got to know about the 17 buildings designed by DUDBC but the concern is whether
they are aware of technology and skill for constructing the buildings as per design. Some
following questions need to be solved before reconstruction work:
 How are people going to learn about the skill and technology for constructing the
earthquake resistant building?
 Who will teach the skill and technology, if they lack?
 Who will supervise their building during construction?
 Do these designs really fit according to the peoples’ socio-culture?
 Are these designs really ideal prototype which fits anywhere for reconstruction?
 What steps will be taken if these designs couldn’t fulfill the requirement of
someone’s need?
Every person should be aware of disaster and should be prepared and have capacity to
cope the disaster. For this, not only government but NGOs, INGOs, local clubs, schools, etc.
can contribute in awareness programmes. Money seems to be the big problem for the
reconstruction works and its true but government should promote vernacular
architecture and should develop and use local skills and material for earthquake resistant
building. This will minimize the cost of the building and also helps to promote the local
skills to construct the earthquake resistant building.
56
4.10. Case Study 10

The Life story of Mr. Bikash Shrestha
While we were walking through the streets of Chautara Bazaar,

we came across Mr. Bikash Shrestha, who was on the
construction site of his new home. This story entails the
experiences of Mr. Bikash Shrestha during and after the Gorkha
earthquake on April 25, and then the major aftershock on May
12, with epicenter at Dolkha. He has a family of four members:
wife, 14 year old daughter and 9 year old son. He has gained
formal education up to SLC level. He has been involved in his
own cloth store in the town, which is the major source of Figure 50 : Mr. Bikash
income for his family. Shrestha
What happened during earthquake?
He had a two storey building with attic, built

with stone and mud mortar at Bandevi
Chowk, ward no. 3 of the Chautara Bazaar.
The building was very old structure dating
back about 80 years. The earthquake of 25th
April, 2015 had a huge damage to the building
structure. The 7.8 magnitude Gorkha
earthquake shook Chautara bazaar and the
Figure 51 Chautara Bazaar before earthquake
old buildings were mostly damaged. Mr.
Bikash Shrestha with his family members and
thecustomers were on his cloth shop, when
the ground beneath him started to shake. As
the first gentle tremors of earthquake was
felt, they thought it to be of small scale and
were not at the hurry to go anywhere. As the
shaking went violent, all the family members
and the customers stood under the door
frame of the shop. All of them were holding
Figure 52 Chautara bazaar after earthquake
the wooden post and each other for support.
As witnessed by Mr. Bikash, people who were on the streets; trying to run out of the
buildings were falling to the ground and were injured. The bazaar seemed to be covered
by the dust and debris falling from the buildings. After the shaking of the ground was
calm, they came out of the building and started to head towards the Post Office building.
The sight of the bazaar seemed completely destroyed, with many old buildings damaged
and collapsed. His home was tilted with major damage to the load bearing structure and
the openings of the buildings.
57
Raman Kapali (215)
Yogina Ranjitkar (219)
The immediate Action

Most of the people from the bazaar
started to move out of the buildings and
bazaar area, and took shelter on the Post
office building. The post office building
seemed unstable and vulnerable for the
damage to the building structure and to
avoid any further risk for the people, they
decided to head up to the Tundikhel. The
Nepal Army responded within 10
minutes and were deployed for the
rescue on the Chautara bazaar as the Figure 53 Temporary shelter at Tundikhel
army barrack was situated nearby.
The army cleared the debris on the way to reach the Tundikhel area and about 300 people
followed the army along with Mr. Bikash and his family. There were continuous
aftershocks, people were terrified all day long and during evening time, some people
gathered together and went back to the bazaar area to get the food, water and tarpaulins
for shelter. On the first day of the disaster, people stayed on the temporary tarpaulin
shelter, which were bought from the local
shops. People used the tents of the catering
service at the Tundikhel area for few days.
The Tundikhel was established as the
evacuation center, hosting 86 families (over
350 people) as temporary shelter. Since the
first earthquake, a neat tented village had
grown up on the dusty field of Tundikhel near
the centre of the town. There was no any
toilet facility so people had to sort out on the Figure 54 Food preparation for community
slopes and fields.
With the major damage to the doors and fear of the collapse of the buildings, most of the
people left their homes unlocked and rushed to safety at Tundikhel and stayed there for
the night, and the theft was evident on grocery store, cloth store and jewelry stores of the
Chautara bazaar. Mr. Bikash with his family stayed at Tundikhel for 3 days and then
constructed temporary shelter of CGI sheets on his own land at Gaurigaun, near the
Chautara bazaar. They were calm but were all scared with the ongoing continuous
aftershocks occurring daily.
58
Raman Kapali (215)
The Recovery Phase

As life was getting back to its own pace,
the major aftershock of 6.8 magnitude
with epicenter at Dolkha near China
boarder, 50 miles east of Kathmandu
struck the Chautara bazaar along with
many affected districts. The town of
Chautara was devastated by the major
aftershock that struck only two weeks
after the first earthquake. The tilted
buildings from the initial earthquake of
25th April, were completely collapsed Figure 55 Chautara Bazaar during 12th May Earthquake
and turned into huge pile of rubble.
The stone masonry buildings as well as the RCC frame structure buildings were
completely destroyed that were deemed relatively safe than majority of mud and brick
houses and deaths of 7 people occurred on the bazaar area. Those injured on the disaster
were taken to Kathmandu for further treatment. Heavy rain and aftershocks caused an
influx of people to the Chautara humanitarian hub at Tundikhel and the new evacuation
center was established about 2 km away from the hub, hosting about 50 people. The
adverse weather hampered the relief efforts with potential threat of landslides on various
parts of the road. Mr. Bikash Shrestha was on his temporary shelter with his family, and
there was no any significance damage to his shelter. But the tilted stone masonry home
at Bandevi Chowk completely collapsed to the ground and buried all the belongings on
the pile of building debris. With the ongoing aftershocks, people were all out of their
shelter and could be felt really strongly. That aftershock added anxiety and panic among
the people and they started crying.
Meanwhile, District Administration Office (DAO) had restricted people from walking in
the streets of Chautara bazaar, that was devastated by the April 25 Great Earthquake and
subsequent aftershocks, to minimize further casualties. People did not have the courage
to dig out their belongings from the debris of what used to be their houses. They were
demanding additional security for their belongings and early removal of the demolished
infrastructures. People built the temporary shelter on their own investment, out of the
Chautara bazaar area. As explained by Mr. Bikash, they got food and tents as a relief from
the municipality only after one and a half months of earthquake and 11 CGI sheets only
after about 9 months. He started to take out his belongings gradually after 3 days of the
major aftershock, to his temporary shelter.
59
Raman Kapali (215)
Nepal Red Cross Society as well as

tankers belonging to Chautara
Municipality provided drinking water in
the quake-hit areas. The large Red Cross
field hospital was setup at the Tundikhel
and the distribution centre for the aid
was also setup. The drinking water
source was available nearby the
temporary shelter of Mr. Bikash and did Figure 56 Nepal Red Cross field hospital
not have to face the problem of water
during the days of earthquake. The school
buildings of Chautara were mostly
damaged and the educational session was
on complete halt for months to follow.
The Bal Samuha Sansthan established its
camp at the Chautara for about 3 months,
where the children were taught to keep
them busy in study. They also enjoyed
playing and accompanied with other
entertainment activities to keep their
mind away from the stress induced by the Figure 57 Old building site
earthquake. The schools started their academic session after 3 months on the temporary
structure and is still functioning from those building structures. The municipality
conducted training programs on earthquake resistant construction technology for
targeted 370 people, for time period of 7 days. However, only about 50 people
participated on the training and were not

fully involved in the learning process. At
present like most people, Mr. Bikash had
left the makeshift camps of ragged tents
and flapping tarpaulins they had taken
shelter in after the giant earthquake and
major aftershock. He is now living in the
tent provided by the Chinese government
and rented a room nearby his new home
construction site at Ghale Gaun, near the
Bhulbhule school. He has started the Figure 58 New construction of RCC building
construction of his new house. The new house is two-storied building with RCC frame
structure and brick masonry. The building is about rectangular in plan with 11 columns
and 3 rooms on each floor. The building is designed and supervised by the engineer of the
municipality and the construction works are being done by the skilled and trained
masons. He utilized the materials like stone and wood from the old demolished building
on the construction of his new house. Those debris which could not be used was collected
by the municipality and then disposed off at Gumba danda and Pipal danda only after 6
months. The old building structure is completely removed. The new building construction
60
Raman Kapali (215)
is done with consideration to earthquake resistant technology; with tie beam, proper
structure designs and horizontal and vertical reinforcements on the brick walls. He built
his new home on new site because of the dispute with his brother, as his brother does not
want to live in Chautara. His brother is currently residing at Kathmandu and now the
reconstruction of the old demolished building at the bazaar seems to be at complete halt.
Reflection
Nepal is the 11th most earthquake-prone

country in the world. Nepal has
experienced major earthquakes every
few generations, and the most of the
infrastructures and settlements had to be
rebuilt, with severe human and physical
loss in the past. The catastrophic
earthquake of 25th April 2015 on
Saturday and then followed by more
aftershocks including the one measuring
Figure 59 Gorkha earthquake and affected districts map
6.8 magnitude, with epicenter at Dolkha,
which struck on May 12, 17 days after the
first big one caused the total casualties of
about 8900 people and 22,300 injured.
Thirty-one of the country's 75 districts
have been affected, out of which 14 were
declared 'crisis hit'. The rural areas in the
central and western regions were
particularly devastated and further
isolated due to road damage and
obstructions. Sindhupalchok is one of the
worst-affected districts as a result of the
earthquake of the 25th April and 12th
Figure 60 May 12 earthquake affected area map
May.
The town of Chautara was devastated by the major aftershock that struck on May 12,
2015 after the first earthquake. Over half a million houses were destroyed and the
damage exposed the weakness of houses that did not have any seismic-resistant features
or were not in accordance with the building codes. When we look at the settlements'
location and the construction technology on various areas, they are vulnerable to the
disaster with major risk of loss of life and property.
The settlement of Chautara Bazaar is located on the ridge top, with the old buildings made
of stone mud mortar and the new construction of RCC structure. The buildings were not
built with consideration to the seismic forces and even the new RCC structure failed to
comply with the NBC standards. The buildings were built on the slope lands without
proper structure designs and consideration to the nature of the soil type. The town had
rocky soil type and the foundations of the old buildings were shallow. People living in
those areas had no idea about what to do when the earthquake strikes. People were
unaware and not prepared during the disaster. Many people who came out to the streets
61
Raman Kapali (215)
were injured by falling debris and unable to control their body during the extreme
shaking of the ground. People who took support and were under the beams of the
buildings and doors frame were not injured and moved out of the building after the
shaking slowed down. Those people who took cover under the bed and desk were either
severely injured or dead, and this shows how people react when they are in the state of
panic. During the disaster, it is wise to keep oneself calm and composed, and consider the
safety first rather than running away which might even do further damage and harm
others too.
It is the community at first; to involve in the rescue of the people who are in trouble. The
community assisted in the rescue and removal of the debris on the way to reach the safer
ground, where they established the temporary shelter. They supported each other at the
time of panic and terror incurred by the earthquake. The fooding and lodging were shared
by the community at the emergency time. Most rural areas had to face the problem of
hiked price for the food products (40 Rs. for a packet of WaiWai noodles), but the people
in Chautara got the food products at the market price. The thugging at the distressed time
for food should have been checked by the government authority. The quick response from
the Nepal Army and the assistance of the local people helped for rescue operation of the
victims. The Central Disaster Relief Committee focused on Search and Rescue (SAR), and
lifesaving actions, along with National Emergency Operation Centre (NEOC). For the SAR
operations, the trained human resource of the Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed
Police Force were mobilized and later the foreign agencies were involved in the SAR
operations. The emergency relief and humanitarian assistance to the affected population
was provided with the active support of and contribution by over 60 countries as well as
United Nations and other international agencies. The relief distribution in the Chautara
bazaar was not planned properly and people had to wait for long to get the basic relief
materials from the municipality, which made the local people furious towards the
municipal authority. People build their own shelters and were insecure about their
belongings on the damaged buildings due to theft.
The municipality organized the training program on construction technology for the
masons but were not effective with lesser participation of the people and irresponsible
behavior. The government have brought many awareness programs and trainings for the
people but due to lack of community participation, these programs do not seem to be
effective and gaining the desired output. People have initiated the reconstruction of their
buildings, with the permission of the municipality. Although the government have
prepared design catalogue for reconstruction of earthquake resistant houses, these
designs of the buildings have not been acceptable in most parts. People know that these
designs are not favorable as per their site and requirements of the area configuration, so
these designs are just a base for their own building design. People are now opting for RCC
structure design of the building with the vertical and horizontal reinforcements on the
brick walls, at Chautara bazaar, and this will cause the loss of the traditional vernacular
architecture of the town. This might lead to the
62
Raman Kapali (215)
loss of integrity and authenticity of the

traditional buildings of Chautara bazaar
area. At present, the bazaar have CGI
sheets temporary structures laid on
either sides of the road and on the slopes
of the town, and with the reconstruction
work beginning now, those traditional
architecture of the building would be
replaced by the modern RCC structure. Figure 61 New RCC building construction with
intermediate horizontal bands on brick walls
Looking at the ongoing construction of the buildings, they still lack the tie beam at
foundation level; and the horizontal bands are placed at the intermediate height of the
brick walls rather than on sill and lintel levels. The municipality should ensure that those
buildings are constructed in accordance to the building codes and seismic resistant
technology in a proper way. The government should promote the traditional vernacular
architecture of the place, incorporating the earthquake resistant technology on those
construction thus preserving the historical identify and character of the place. People of
Chautara are optimistic about the reconstruction of the town within 5 years and bring
back life to the town. The local people have started construction of their building at the
same site, which depicts the feeling of belongingness and ownership to their town. People
are looking forward for better future and better buildings which can resist the future
earthquake disaster and reduce distress among the community.
63
Raman Kapali (215)
Bibliography
 Nepal: Earthquake 2015 Situation Report . (2015, Jun 3). Retrieved from Reliefweb:
http://reliefweb.int/report/nepal/nepal-earthquake-2015-situation-report-
no20-3-june-2015
 (2015). Post Disaster Need Assessment. Kathmandu: National Planning
Commission Government of Nepal.
64

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STORY OF CHAUTARA,

DEPARTMENT OF URBAN PLANNING

Figure 45: Maiya Kunwar's house ......................................................................................................... 52

Figure 1 Epicentres and areas affected

2.1. Chautara, Sindhupalchowk

Figure 3 Location Map of Sindhupalchowk

Figure 4 Map showing location of Chautara

Figure 5 Map showing epicenters of earthquakes

Figure 8 Family Chart

Figure 9Site Section

Figure 10 Steep slow at the back side of temporary

Our experience compared to Rural experience:

Figure 12: sketch of Temporary Shelter

4.2. Case Study 2

Figure 14 Krishna Chandra Shrestha in his Shop

Mr. Shrestha shared, “When I looked

In Sindhupalchowk, there is a central

Figure 17 Street Elevation Before and After Earthquake

The second earthquake completely

said, “I am happy that my family is safe,

Figure 19 House damaged in earthquake

After 1-2 months of earthquake, the family

Figure 23 Chautara bazar after earthquake

Figure 24 Section of Shrestha Family’s House

4.3. Case Study 3

Figure 25 Our Chat with Respondent

Figure 26 Respondent's Ancestral Home

Figure 27 Provided Tents

Figure 28 Respondent's Home

4.4. Case Study 4

Eff]u]sf] e'O+rfnf], Ps syf

4.5. Case Study 5

Figure 29 View of old town of Chautara with its landscape

Figure 30: Chandra Maya's old house

Figure 31 Interview with the family

The earthquake of 25 April 2072

Figure 32 Temporary shelter

Figure 35 Current home for the family

Figure 36 Damaged house

Figure 37: Access path to Chandra Maya's house

Relief and Recovery

Figure 38: Chandra Maya with her family

4.6. Case Study 6

Figure 40 The remining part of the building.

Figure 41 Temporary shelter during the recovery period.

 Tackling the root causes of vulnerability, such as poverty, poor governance,

4.7. Case Study 7

GORKHA EARTHQUAKE EXPERIENCE OF NHURBU TAMANG

4.8. Case Study 8

Adhikari family live few meters

Figure 44: Tudikhel, open space used by them during Disaster

Figure 3: Three Storied house remained one storey after Earthquake

Figure 4: Several Cracks on the walls

Figure 6: Temporary Shelter later converted to cowshed

Figure 7: Interior living space

4.9. Case Study 9

EARTHQUAKE EXPERIENCE OF MAIYA KUNWAR

Figure 45: Maiya Kunwar's house

Figure 46 Maiya Kunwars Dismantled House

Figure 47: Disaster Management Cycle

Figure 48 Example of Disaster Preparedness Training

Figure 49: Rescue during Disaster by Neighbours

4.10. Case Study 10

While we were walking through the streets of Chautara Bazaar,