Nepal should be better prepared

It is indeed sad to learn about the devastating flood in Nepal and other neighbouring countries. So many lives were lost, with property damaged and the economy adversely impacted. Even animals have been affected.

Youth groups have started appealing for help and collecting emergency relief materials for affected communities. Facebook and Twitter groups have been created to gather emergency relief materials and raise funds for affected families. Interestingly, even elephants have been deployed to rescue hundreds of foreign tourists trapped in a flooded jungle safari park in Nepal. But this is not enough. There is a need for mobilisation of resources and larger scale relief efforts.

It is pathetic to see such severe losses year on year. What I fail to understand is that, though it is known that Nepal is prone to such disasters annually, why can’t the local government pro-actively upgrade its infrastructure and be better prepared? Such disasters have been causing havoc in the mountains in recent years, but little is being done to find out the cause or prevent future floods. Little has been done to monitor or mitigate disasters in these mountain areas. Since a significant percentage of people are exposed to recurring riverine flood disasters, mostly during the rainy season, an effective regional flood information system is needed urgently in heavily affected countries in South Asia. Such systems will avert flood catastrophes on a transboundary scale effectively.

There is a dire need for a proper flood-forecasting system and efforts are needed to make information accessible, and understandable to vulnerable populations, if is to have a life-saving impact.

Reconstruction and rehabilitation programs have had to suffer due to such resource constraints. Global organisations like the United Nation (UN), World Bank and Red Crescent should provide aid to Nepal in every possible manner.

The reader is a student based in Sharjah