'All the affected people will receive relief goods within next three to four days'

Going by the most recent government update, the devastating earthquake of 7.6 magnitude on April 25 has resulted in a death toll of over 7,000, injured twice as many people and destroyed billions of rupees worth of property so far. While 14 districts have been severely affected, casualties have been reported and property damaged in 15 additional districts, though less in number. Many of those rendered homeless continue to live under open skies at the mercy of the elements and deprived of basic amenities, including food and safe drinking water. At a time when the government is being widely criticised for not doing enough in ensuring that the affected population are getting the relief materials, a three-member Central Relief and Supply Management Committee has been formed under the coordination of Secretary at Ministry of Commerce and Supplies Naindra Prasad Upadhyay and comprises two other secretaries from the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Ministry of Industry. Pushpa Raj Acharya of The Himalayan Times caught up with MoCS Secretary Upadhyay about relief distribution, supply management and market monitoring to control ill-practices in the wake of the major crisis. Excerpts:

Has the government managed to collect all the relevant data on how many people have been affected and houses that were damaged due to the earthquake?

The Ministry of Home Affairs has been updating the data of casualties, affected people and the damaged physical properties. We are tasked with distributing relief materials to the affected population without delay and we’ve started doing so since Monday. Sending relief materials to the severely affected 14 districts is our topmost priority at the moment.

Could you please elaborate on the 14 most affected districts?

The most affected districts include three districts of Kathmandu Valley — Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur — along with Rasuwa, Dhading, Nuwakot, Gorkha, Sindhupalchowk, Kavrepalanchowk, Dolakha, Ramechhap, Sindhuli, Okhaldhunga and Makawanpur. These districts have been given top priority for relief distribution because of the severity of the damage — both in terms of lives and property. However, this doesn’t mean that we aren’t sending relief materials to the other affected districts. The less affected districts have very low casualties. However, a number of houses have been partially damaged and are unsafe for living. This is why we need to send tarpaulin sheets, tents and food there.

Last week, the government had said that it has been slow in dispatching relief materials through helicopters in remote villages because the choppers were involved in rescue operations. What is the situation now?

Going by the international practice, rescue operations are conducted only for seven days after any disaster strikes because the chances of finding survivors are almost nil after that point. In that sense, rescue operations will be wrapped up soon. However, the work to search for dead bodies and clear the rubble in various sites is still going on. In terms of food supply, we are sending sufficient food, water purifiers, drinking water and medicines to the affected areas. We have already dispatched 8,373 quintals of rice, 300 quintals of salt, 319 quintals of sugar, 1,700 quintals of chiura (beaten rice), 111,958 cartons of noodles and 32,841 cartons of biscuits to such locations. As per the data maintained by the airport, 22,864 tents and tarpaulin sheets have been dispatched till date. Altogether, 152 trucks have been dispatched for various locations, where it is possible to travel via land.

And yet, various reports state that people in remote villages are yet to get relief materials even as it has been over one week since the quake struck. Is it true?

Yes, it’s true to some extent, but the situation is not are dire as has been portrayed. We are constantly in touch with the chief district officers of the respective districts and we’ve also sent under secretaries and section officers to distribute relief materials to the remote corners of the villages. We’ve been thoroughly monitoring the relief distribution process from the central level. The supply system has been gradually improving since the last three days. At the local level, there is a team of District Natural Disaster Rescue Committee under the leadership of the chief district officer, comprising security personnel in the district, which is the dedicated body for relief distribution in all affected places. The team of undersecretaries will distribute relief in coordination with that committee. Since the chief district officers are under overwhelming pressure, we’ve sent the team from the centre to facilitate them and now relief distribution is gathering momentum.

Thousands of houses have either collapsed completely or been damaged so severely that they are unliveable. However, people who have been rendered homeless have not even received tarpaulin sheets or tents. Why is it taking so long to dispatch these items?

A large number of tarpaulin sheets and tents have been dispatched from the airport itself. However, we have been unable to dispatch them as per the demand. We’ve been receiving information that there is such severe shortage of these goods in the market that people cannot even buy them if they want to. We are very serious about this and the government has been dispatching all the tents and tarpaulin sheets that have been received from different countries to support the victims. Moreover, the government recently exempted all the duties levied on the import of tents and tarpaulin sheets for a month and we are hopeful that the shortage will ease and people will be able to buy them at concessional rates. The government will also continue to dispatch tents to the needy after it receives consignments. We have asked traders to import more tents and tarpaulin sheets in view of the upcoming monsoon season. We are doing our best to manage the situation. The government has put all its effort to ensure smooth supply acros

the country and then focus on rehabilitation of the people.

What sort of relief are you receiving from donor communities and those who wish to donate?

We have prepared a list of essential items and circulated it. We have told them that we need more tarpaulin sheets, tents and food items for now. And they are also sending relief materials after consulting us.

You said the Central Relief and Supply Management Committee is also monitoring the distribution process as well. Would this be effective though?

I didn’t mean to imply that we are solely monitoring the relief distribution process. Monitoring is happening in two-three layers. We are monitoring whether the dispatched goods are being received by the locals or not. We have been cross-checking to ensure the dispatched relief materials are not being held up somewhere. Subsequently, the monitoring teams of oversight agencies like National Vigilance Centre, and the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) are also monitoring to curb any ill-practices that might occur during relief distribution. Likewise, the team of joint secretaries is also monitoring relief distribution in each electoral constituency.

It has been reported that traders have been found to be involved in black marketing by capitalising on this dire situation, which is hampering the supply of essentials like food and fuel, among others. Are you informed about these ill-practices?

After we received such information, we formed market monitoring teams from the Department of Commerce and Supply Management (DoCSM). There are five DoCSM market monitoring teams to monitor the market in Kathmandu Valley. And across the country, such monitoring teams comprise officials from the District Administrative Office, CIAA and revenue officials from the Ministry of Finance. Hoarders should also be aware that we have sufficient stock of food, fuel and other essential commodities to manage the current situation and the market will not be distorted by the ill-practices of some merchants. I believe it’s only a handful of people who are engaging in such malpractices and they will be exposed soon.

Do you think the private sector has not cooperated with the government during this turbulent time?

We can’t blame the entire private sector. We are getting full cooperation of the umbrella organisations of private sector, namely Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Confederation of Nepalese Industries and Nepal Chamber of Commerce, among other private sector organisations. Private sector umbrella bodies have also been supporting in ensuring shops open and the supply situation is gradually being normalised. The private sector organisations have also urged their members not to exploit the situation and cooperate with the government and support the victims. To discourage any ill-practices, we have penalised some transporters and shops as well.

Retailers suspect that many groups that are purchasing dry food, rice, lentils, salt and sugar for relief distribution are not genuine and some of them are hoarding such items. What do you think?

The government will open an investigation in this matter and take necessary action so that only genuine groups are allowed to buy relief materials from dedicated shops. I want to assure that we will not be facing any shortage of food because we are planning to import more in the near future. Moreover, our strategic road networks are in good conditions and there is no obstruction in importing goods. The international community has also assured support for food as per our requirement.

How long will it take for all the affected population to receive relief materials?

We believe all the affected people will receive relief materials within the next three to four days. In the initial days, we were more focused on rescue operations, which is why it took a few days for relief distribution to gather pace. After relief, we’ll focus our effort on rehabilitation.

Source: THT