Geo-hazard Scoring Orientations for Better Decision-making at Local Level

The 2015 earthquake had a destabilizing effect on many mountain slopes, leaving lots of cracks and loose material that can roll down the valleys during rainstorms. The Durable Solutions (DS) project supports NRA geologists who have been surveying these geo-hazard areas. Typically, local people file an application or request local authorities to survey areas in the vicinity of their settlements, and based on their request, the NRA along with the geologists visit the sites and classify whether they fall under the category I, II or III.

Until July 2018, the geologists from NRA and assigned geologists from other government bodies have assessed several sites in 18 districts and identified 498 high-risk areas, out of which 247 locations are now considered unsuitable for long-term human settlement. In this vein, the aim of DS is to alert local level authorities on the risk levels present at these sites by sharing the risk scoring of individual landslide areas prepared by the central NRA. This valuable information has been taken up by District Disaster Management Committees (DDMC), a government body in charge of disaster preparedness and response on the district level, which plans to incorporate the risk scoring of specific geo-hazard sites into its core disaster risk reduction and emergency response strategy.

The DS team has also visited many areas at risk of geo-hazards and briefed Gaupalika officials about landslide risks in their areas, along with suggestions for a more effective and efficient response plan in line with DDMC’s official response strategy. As of August 2018, DS teams have been able to deliver this orientation to 18 Gaupalika Offices in Chitwan, Gorkha, Makwanpur, Ramecchap, Nuwakot, Rasuwa, and Sindhupalchowk districts. Some of the authorities mentioned that sharing of the geo-hazard scoring was very helpful since it is authentic and provides new data, which improves local-level decision-making.