What
Ben says is very true. I note, however, that Sherpas seem to
have benefitted from the Everest evacuation. This may have
something to do with recent scandals about the ill-treatment
of the Sherpa class in this area.
David
Alexander
UCL-IRDR
From: Radix [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Ben Wisner
Sent: 27 April 2015 13:48
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Medical team by helicopter for Everest
climbers, why not for isolated villages at EQ
epicentre???
Thank
you, Vinod. The Government of India response is
inspirational.
I am happy to see you mention helicopters and medical
assistance in Pokhara. However, a big concern I am sure
share is with the isolated villages in the steep hills
directly over the epicentre, for example in Gokhara
District. I am struck by the fact that in UK 23% of all
media coverage has so far focused on the Mt. Everest
climbers and there are commercial medical evacuation
helicopter teams currently evacuating the injured climbers
and others from Everest base camp. All lives are precious,
so I am not questioning the care that these climbers are
getting. However, I think the readers of RADIX will join me
in questioning the 'pay-for-play' state of human
civilization. These climbers are insured, and their care
and transportation is by a for profit helicopter industry.
Nepal has a large private aviation industry including a
number of helicopter companies. So what about the people
who cannot pay? Does the government of Nepal have standing
orders and memoranda of understanding with the private
helicopter industry that would provide their services in a
national emergency? Why at the moment is there still only a
little reconnaissance by helicopter going on in the
epicentre-affected rural and peri-urban zone between Pokhara
and Kathmandu?
After the Wenshun earthquake in Sechuang, China, the Chinese
military dropped paratroops with medical and light search
and rescue equipment into a very similar, inaccessible zone
that had suffered thousands of earthquake triggered
earthquakes. They also established by helicopter medical
and triage posts in the valley bottoms. It is easier for
villagers to transport the injured downhill, and the valley
bottoms (if not in danger of landslide-triggered flooding)
offer flat land. This should happening immediately, today,
in Nepal. I have been looking at Google Earth images of
these affected ridge and valley landscapes. Such an
approach is feasible.
I don't expect an 'official' comment from you, Vinod.
However, as a friend, I put this to you an also to the RADIX
community: Once upon a time, in the 1970s, there was an
strong international voice demanding 'Health for All'.
Subsequently we have seen growing inequality of rich and
poor everywhere on planet Earth accompanied by the erosion
of the NHS in UK, only a limited and much contested health
insurance system under the Affordable Care Act in the US.
Everywhere the welfare and social protective function of
governments is under attack by neoliberalism. Here, then,
in the distribution of health resources and helicopters in
this extreme situation, we have a perfect symbol of what
citizens have let happen.
We have to contest this and fight back!
BEN
-----Original
Message-----
From: Vinod Menon
Sent: Apr 27, 2015 1:12 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Large, shallow earthquake near Kathmandu
Dear
Ben,
Our
thoughts and prayers are with the earthquake-affected
people of Nepal.
Thank
you for sharing your insights.I was reminded of the
Kobe earthquake in 19995 when a meeting of experts was
happening in Kobe. Times of India had carried this
news report about your last week's meetings in
Kathmandu to review and strengthen earthquake
preparedness.
Robert
Piper who had worked in UNDP Nepal and who was
instrumental in setting up the Nepal Risk Reduction
Consortium had written this prophetic article in
2013.
Chris
Piper had shared these very useful links on LinkedIn :
Nepal
earthquake - Useful TorqAid DRM Bibliography
Humanity
Road Social Media site
I
hope these will be useful.A few of our friends and
colleagues are already in Nepal and an Inter
Ministerial Team of senior government officials are
also leaving soon to coordinate Government of
India's search and rescue and evacuation efforts.
More than 700 personnel of the National Disaster
Response Force (NDRF) along with their Director
General have been in Nepal along with life saving
equipments, life detection equipments, and relief
supplies. Our medical teams are also there with
emergency wards. Portable field hospitals with
surgical facilities and diagnostic equipments are
also being airlifted as the scale of the emergency
medical response .requirements 1935 people have been
evacuated and today 14 aircrafts are being deployed
for evacuating stranded tourists and pilgrims
today.Several choppers are also doing medical
evacuation of injured people from Pokhra to
Kathmandu.
Hope
this updates will be useful.
On
Sun, Apr 26, 2015 at 6:30 AM, Ben Wisner <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
I
join Roshan and others in expressing concern for
and solidarity with friends and colleagues in
Nepal. I returned Tuesday from three weeks there,
where I was impressed by the achievements of the
Nepal Society for Earthquake Technology (NSET) (my
host), other Nepali NGOs, INGOs, the Nepal Red
Cross, and to some extent government -- especially
at the municipal level. As heavy as the losses
will turn out to be -- and early estimates of
casualties are always low -- I am sure lives were
saved because of these efforts to train on
earthquake aware construction, enforcement of the
building code in Patan (one of the historic cities
that now compose the metro Kathmandu region),
preparedness planning in the health sector,
establishment of 68 green space safe areas,
training in some of the cities in light search and
rescue and pre-positioning of tools for this
purpose.
It is unlikely that
this earthquake will have reduced the
probability of an every larger one such as 1934
given the nature of seismicity in this
Alpine-Himalayan zone. There will be some who
misunderstand and will think that this event has
'reduced the strain' on the geology beneath
Nepal, so that an even larger event is now less
likely. As comforting a thought as this might
be, it is probably not true. Recovery in Nepal
has got to involve best construction practice
and a redoubling of efforts in non-structural
mitigation, preparedness and reduction of risk
from secondary hazards. Any visitor to Nepal
will have noticed that there is a large oil tank
farm just 50 m on the left adjacent to the main
road as one leaves Kathmandu International
Airport. No assessment has been done, nor
remediation and retrofitting carried out, in the
industrial areas of the Kathmandu Valley where
earthquake-secondary fires, explosions and toxic
emissions to air and water could occur.
Fortunately
students were not in schools on Saturday. Of
the 10,000 schools in the Kathmandu Valley (half
of the country's schools) only 260 have been
assessed and retrofitted. To move from such
excellent pilot and demonstration work, led by
NSET, the Nepali government needs to prioritise
and push for safe schools (and other aspects of
DRR). Government will not be strong and
effective until the scores of political parties
stop quibbling over the draft constitution,
compromise, agree and move ahead. There has
been weak and ineffective governance in Nepal
since the end of the civil war in 2006. Perhaps
this tragic event will 'shake up' parliament and
create enough unity so that the constitution
will be forthcoming, and government can scale up
DRR with the knowledge that already exists in
Nepal.
Here are some
resources:
BBC News:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-32461019
Guardian:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/apr/25/nepal-earthquake-nation-worst-tremor-80-years-kathmandu-live-updates
New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/world/asia/strong-earthquake-strikes-nepal-near-its-capital-katmandu.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
-----Original
Message-----
From: Roshan Bhandari
Sent: Apr 26, 2015 1:29 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Large, shallow earthquake near
Kathmandu
Hi
Ilan and friends,
First
lets put all our efforts together to
help those affected by the massive
earthquake in Nepal. I am regularly
updating the scenario since it
occurred yesterday. My hometown
Pokhara is one of the affected areas
and fortunately the situation there is
not as bad as in the capital city
Kathmandu. I had conducted a research
related to the massive 1934 earthquake
in Kathmandu. My initial impression
shows that social capital and mutual
self help has still been a crucial
force for immediate rescue and
recovery. Hats off to good social
bonding and proactive survivors who
has been toiling hard to save the
lives of others. I am overseas however
my mind and heart is for the people
specially those affected by this
catastrophic event.
Some
areas of concern for me at the moment
are as follows:
1.
Lack of resources for quick rescue and
recovery in the national level (though
glimmer of hopes are coming with
international support, Indians being
the first to land their rescue airbus)
2.
Loss of heritage sites/ buildings and
the loss of these artifacts (possibly
theft, leakages)
3.
Impact on major infrastructures (eg
airport)
4.
Possible loss of critical services
such as drinking water, electricity
and other basic needs for human
survival.
.......and
possibly many more to unfold as the
situation aggravates.
Again,
I wish a quick recovery of my fellow
citizens from this cruelty and the
nation rebuilds with much prosperity.
Thanks
for your concern indeed Ilan.
God
save Nepal and Nepali people.
Roshan
Bhakta Bhandari, PhD
On
Sat, Apr 25, 2015 at 5:13 PM, Ilan
Kelman <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
Thinking
about our friends and colleagues
there.
Ilan
--
Dr. Ben Wisner
Aon-Benfield UCL Hazard Research Centre, University College London, UK
& Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania
& Environmental Studies Program, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH, USA
"People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."
Dr. Ben Wisner
Aon-Benfield UCL Hazard Research Centre, University College London, UK
& Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania
& Environmental Studies Program, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH, USA
"People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."