Rapid Needs Assessment Report – Plan International Nepal
Earthquake in Nepal
1. General information:
Name and the nature of the disaster
Earthquake 7.8 magnitude – Nepal
Date/s on which the rapid needs assessment 25, 26, 27 and 28th of April 2015
was done.
Date on which the rapid needs assessment 30 April 2015
report is being written.
Full name, job title, e-mail and phone number Murali Kunduru, Sr. Programme Manager,
of the team leader/ person writing the report.
murali.kunduru@planindia.org
Subhakar Baidya, Program Support Manager,
Plan Nepal, Subhakar.Baidya@planinternational.org
2. Situation Overview
2.1 Nature and intensity of the emergency
The 7.8 magnitude quake hit Nepal on Saturday destroying buildings in Kathmandu and
severely affecting rural areas across the region. Police said the official death toll in Nepal had
reached 5,582 as of late 30th April (OCHA, 30 Apr 2015). That figure did not include the 19
people killed at Mount Everest — five foreign climbers and 14 Nepalese Sherpa guides — when
the quake unleashed an avalanche at base camp and approximately 11,175 injured. Search and
rescue operations are ongoing and the number is increasing. However, Prime Minister Sushil
Koirala has warned the toll could reach 10,000. Kathmandu and its surrounding areas
continuously experiencing aftershocks. Thousands in Kathmandu, Nepal's capital, spent a sixth
night outside, too afraid to go back into their houses. Water, food and electricity are in short of
supply and there are fears of outbreaks of disease.
A major earthquake followed by one hundred plus aftershocks in Nepal devastated life and
property in 39 out of 75 districts of Nepal. Two major earthquakes one measuring 7.9 and
another 6.7 richteur scale happend on 25nd and 26 April respectively. The epicentre of these
earthquakes are repored to be Barpak region of Gorkha district about 150 km west of
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Kathmandu while that of second one was Kodari region near the Nepal-China border area.
Number of death and injured continues to rise as the situation unfolds while information from
remote areas in Nepal’s difficult geographical terrain is coming in. Continuous rains are also
affecting the rescue and relief operations and further decreasing the chances of finding
survivors.
2.2 Geographical extent/spread of the affected area
The following maps gives an overview of the epicentre, affected districts and operational areas
of Plan:
The Government of Nepal has established 16 temporary relief camps in different parts of
Kathmandu. Please follow the link:
http://un.org.np/sites/default/files/Kathmandu_Earthquake_A3_27April2015_v1.pdf
2.3 Number of people affected
According to an initial estimations and based on the latest earthquake intensity mapping, eight
million people in 39 districts have been severely affected, of which over two million people live
in the 11 severely affected districts," said the UN Office of the Resident Coordinator on 29
April. As of 30 April, 130,033 houses were destroyed and 85,856 houses damaged (OCHA
SitRep). Additionally, Government premises have been badly hit with 10,141 destroyed
buildings and 13,502 damaged buildings. An estimate of 3.2 million women and children are
among the population affected by protection concerns. Of these, 525,000 are women of
reproductive age, of whom 4 per cent (21,500) are pregnant. In Kathmandu alone 75,000
families have been affected as of 30th April, 1.00pm (OCHA)
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2.4 How many children are affected?
According to UNICEF, 1.7 million children have been affected (1 May). Destruction in
Kathmandu valley and surrounding areas is extremely severe with large number of mud-mortar
houses, temples and historical monuments destroyed.
While the children survivors and their families were sent to government run relief camps but
the available services to protect children and basic needs are very minimal. At the same time
repeated aftershocks are increasing the trauma for children.
The rapid needs assessment team has observed in the field that the lives of so many children
have been torn apart and they are in desperate need of life-saving support, including
protection, psychosocial care, clean water, shelter and sanitation. While interacting with the
affected children, most of the children are in a shock of the situation as they have lost their
siblings, injuries to themselves and their family members and friends, damages to schools etc.
Few children were also burst out of the situation while sharing their experiences and there is a
need for immediate child friendly spaces cum temporary learning centres. Situation of the
infants and young children is even worse as they need proper food including breast feeding but
yet the food supplies from government and aid agencies to reach them, especially for affected
families of hilly terrain as markets are also far off.
Almost all the children including adolescent girls and youth are living in open areas with no
facilities for sanitation and hygiene and privacy. Though the relief camps were set up by the
government, It was observed that the relief camps have very limited space to allow children
move freely and play which is further worsening the situation of the children.
As on 30th April, approximately 2,903 schools have been completely and 9,762 are partially
damaged as per the preliminary information from the Government. In addition it was declared
by the government that the schools will be closed for one week. This will also have an impact
on children as they will miss the peer interactions and play, which can help reduce the impact
of trauma.
Children are vulnerable to malnutrition and disease that is likely to follow by inadequate shelter,
absence of clean water and lack of nutritious food. The disruption of health care services will
further escalate this physical risks of child mortality and morbidity.
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3. Methodology
Eight Rapid Needs Assessment teams comprising of different sectoral specialist were deployed
to conduct the assessment with the support of local implementing partner teams.
Plan has
completed the RNA in Makwanpur, Kathmandu Valley (Bhaktapur, Lalitpur and Kathmandu),
Dolakha , Ramechhap, Sindhuli, Kavrepalanchok. Details of the teams, area wise, are as follows:

-
3 teams covered Kathmandu valley
-
1 team for Dolakha, Ramechhap districts
-
1 team for Tanahu and Kavrepalanchok districts
-
3 teams from the Program Unit covered Makwanpur, Sindhuli and Baglon areas
Primary data collection was made through key stakeholder interviews, focus group
discussions, direct observations and household interviews.

RNA questionnaire was used as a primary source for understanding the situation in the
ground.

Secondary data from District Relief Commissioner’s office, Village Development Committees
and other Humanitarian agencies were collected.

Information from school teachers, police department, village heads, youth clubs were also
collected.
Map over of districts covered by the RNA
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4. Needs by district
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Dolakha:

According to DDRC, 90% of the houses were severely damaged and
90% of the markets were closed. The assessment team found no open
shops at the time for the assessment.

Persons encountered during the assessment were facing acute
shortage of food as no relief material has reached and markets
remain closed.

Assessment team has observed that the living conditions are very bad
for people who were staying in makeshift shelters and need to
provide immediate shelter as most of the families are living in open
areas. There is a need for nonfood items such as cooking utensils and
blankets.

Many children live with their families in makeshift shelters, without
appropriate and safe areas to play.

School buildings have been damaged and children are worried about
their academic year. Given the level of destruction of many of the
school buildings, there will be nowhere for education to continue
unless temporary learning sites are set up.

Water points and sanitary facilities has been damaged.

According to DDRC, only 26 out of 48 VDCs are accessible by road
after the earthquake. It is difficult to send relief material.
Kavrepalanchok:

According to DDRC and VDC representatives encountered during the
assessment, 90% of houses are severely damaged in some areas. The
assessment team could confirm that most houses were severely
damaged.

Assessment team has observed that markets in Dolikhel were
functional, however in the VDCs in the hilly terrain there were no
markets open.

According to VDC representative in Jyamdi VDC, around 80% houses
were damaged out of 1,100 households, and rests were cracked. At a
single place of the Chisapani village of Jyamdi VDC, 11 houses out of
totally 25 has collapsed. 28 deaths were reported in whole VDC till
date.

Most persons encountered in the assessment had lost their houses,
property and food stock. They were living in an open area near to
their damaged houses and some of people were living in the open
ground of damaged.
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
They managed temporarily shelter through locally available materials
like plastics, tarpaulins etc.

In Deupur VDC, the secondary schools with about 500 students was
found to be partially damaged. The schools has been occupies by
cattle and residents live in the schools ground, as their houses had
collapsed. The furniture of the schools had been taken out for
temporary shelter construction and was no longer serviceable. School
materiel was lost. The schools cannot be reopened as it serves as
shelter.

Children were seen playing on the main road without attention of
their parents who were occupied to manage shelter and cooking food
with improvised devises.

People had no spare clothes and walked in wet clothing.

Food items are being managed by the locally themselves till date by
sharing each other but it will be finished by couple of days.

Displaces people used open defecation. The lack of sanitary facilities
was a concern expressed by women that the assessment team talked
to.
Ramechap:

DDRC informed that approximately 25% of houses are severely
damaged.

Team has observed that the priority needs are food assistance and
emergency shelter.

Markets are not fully functional.

Roads were blocked during the assessment, RNA team had to divert
through other side.
Tanahu:

Moderately affected district in comparison with other districts.

Based on the preliminary assessment from RNA team approximately
10,000 people have been affected with more than 5,000 houses
severely damaged. Around 60 pregnant women 30 lactating mothers
require health care.

Assessment team shared that the mostly affected areas of Tanahun
District are Suklagandaki, Byas and Bandipur municipalities and 9
VDCs namely: Bhanu, Rupakot, Chaur, Abukhairini, Manpang, Chhang,
Firfire, Purkot and Barbhanjyang.

According to RNA team 16 schools have collapsed.
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
Nearly 10000 children are affected and among them 5500 are boys
and 4500 are girls.
Makwanpur:

DDRC shared that more than 2000 houses are fully damaged and
more than 60 percent houses are partially damaged.

More than 20 school buildings are collapsed.

RNA team reported that this area is politically sensitive and
interference during distribution of relief material will be high.

Fear of landslides and road blocks during the rainy season is a
challenge.
Kathmandu

Valley and Town
Sanitation, lack of personal sewage drainage, public drainage pipes
are brushed and started to effect in health (some persons are now
affected of cholera.)

Many families personally and in group have been staying in
yards/field with tents.

The families are in need of tents and safe shelters.

Temporary latrine facilities are required.

Partial damaged houses are still threat.

The temporary stay of people is 2 hours walk from the main town
could not reach to those areas as no vehicles are plying and can be
reached only by walk.
Sindhuli

Emergency Shelter, Food and medicines have been identified as
priority needs by the assessment team. There are a total of 50 VDCs
and 2 Municipalities in Sindhuli district.

Total VDCs affected in Sindhuli are 39, out of which 29 are badly
affected.

It was also observed by the team that Ward # 1, 5, 8 and 9 of
Kamalamai Municipality are badly affected.

Some of the badly (highly) affected VDCs are program areas such as
Bhadrakali, Bhimesor, Dandi Guranse, Jalkanya, Jha Ra, Kapilakot, Pu
Jha, Majuwa, Ranichuri, Ratanchura, Sitalpati, Kushesor Dumj

Almost all of the response material (tarpaulin) collected in the DDRC
store dispatched to the affected VDCs. It was reported that there was
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disturbance while distributing these tarpaulins because of the in
sufficient quantity. Police and district administration together with
DDRC distribution team is trying to resolve these disputes.

Several groups of community visiting local Plan Offices requesting
additional support on top of DDRC mandated response support.

DDRC has requested Plan to supply additional tarpaulin to distribute
if possible from our side.

DHO Sindhuli requested for some medicines/drugs for the treatment
to injured people.
4. Needs by sector
The government and its organisations are engaged in search and rescue operations including
providing health and treatment services. However, the following gaps in terms of coverage,
needs and immediate response have been identified in the field and also during interactions
with the government, people representatives etc. Briefly, the gaps and challenges in the
ongoing response are as follows:
Basic amenities: Immediate food, shelter, sanitation and hygiene facilities are not available in
the affected areas. Government and humanitarian agencies have hardly reached the most
affected areas and emergency response operations need to be started on priority basis to
reduce the human suffering. Markets are partially functional and most of the shops either
remain closed or without stock.
Health: Hospitals and pharmaceutical shops have remained open and medical personnel in the
urban areas are treating injured people in the camps and open spaces as hospitals are
congested. However, the situation in the rural and tribal areas is very pathetic as health centres
and health posts are far away from their settlements. Hardly health workers are visiting the
villages and people who got injured are left without with minimal or no treatment. There is a
need to increase the improved health interventions in the affected areas either directly or by
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partnering with health focused organizations.
Shelter: Nepal Red Cross society is providing relief and shelter materials to the designated
camps in Kathmandu valley and few of the affected districts. However, available shelter material
is very minimal and crating tensions in the community while distribution.
NFI: Non-food items such as hygiene kits, sanitation kits, medical kits and cooking kits are very
much required to ensure communities other needs are addressed as most of these items were
also covered by debris.
Protection: The most affected areas are high risk of child trafficking. Many children can be
assumed to have lost their care givers. Children face distress of losing home and belongings.
Escalation of domestic violence is a concern.
Education: DDRC in Dolakha, Sindhuli and Kavrepalanchok report that 70-90% of schools are
affected. Education has been suspended until 5 May. In many VDCs visited by the team
educational materiel has been lost, and schools are no longer serviceable.
5. Marginalized and vulnerable group
Assessment teams have observed that immediate risks are related to shelter, food security and
access to health services by the most marginalized communities such as Dalits, Ethnic
Minorities who are living in most vulnerable conditions and in scattered locations of the hilly
terrain. Field teams of Kavrepalanchok, Dolakha, Sindhuli and Makwanpur shared that due to
lack of accessibility to tribal areas many communities were yet to reach by the government and
aid agencies and it will further worsen their situation if the immediate relief not reaches to
these communities.
It was also reported by the assessment team that in one of the relief camps in the Kathmandu
town upper caste communities have displaced the lower caste groups from the government
run tents. It has an impact on services receiving by them in the camps though it is very
minimal.
The social exclusion of the most vulnerable and minority groups are also not getting proper
attention due to stigma such as the HIV AIDS affected children in one of the area in
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Kathmandu - Kirtipur municipality faces difficulties receiving the support from the relief
agencies as they are kept in the self managed temporary shelter in front of the school.
Besides, the rented families in the Kathmandu city core area are also reported became more
vulnerable as they are not considered as the entitled to get the relief items as they lack proper
document/evidence so far.
The challenges and risks will be continued in reaching out the most marginalized groups such
as Dalits, HIV/AID affected due to discrimination and especially ethnic groups due to
inaccessibility of the roads apart from internal conflict.
6. Projection

Aftershocks are happening on daily basis, keeping people in fear of new building
collapses. As tremors will become weaker and less frequent

It is likely that death toll will continue to rise as the situation in the remote areas unfold.
Some of the areas affected are among the most vulnerable in Nepal, with high
prevalence of malnutrition, high maternal and child mortality. Children’s access to health
services, development and education were low already before the earthquake.
 If food security, shelter, sanitation and hygiene issues are not addressed in a timely
manner, it will lead to health related emergency.
 Then monsoon season will start in 1-2 months, which will further limit the accessibility of
remote VDCs, and distribution of relief goods will be further hampered.
 Lack of access to food, shelter and basic commodities might lead to frustration and
deteriorating security situation. Failure of relief can get political repercussions.
Communities have already started protest and road blocks in many places due to
delayed response from the government. It was also observed in the field that the
communities are not allowing government representatives and political party leaders to
enter in to their village as they are very angry with the government’s response.
 It can be expected that it will take long time for basic services such as education and
health to recover. In the meantime it will be necessary to provide interim solutions for
continuation of services. Also there will be large needs for rehabilitation.
7. Response Capacity of national and local authorities and civil society actors
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
The government has declared emergency and has mobilised its major players to be part of
response including Nepal Red Cross, Nepal Army, Armed Police Force and Nepal Police in
the rescue work. A high level Natural Disaster Risk Management Committee (NDRMC) under
the Chairpersonship of the Minister of Home affair coordinates the operation from the
central level. The committee is represented by members from different departments. A
disaster relief committee in the district level is headed by the Chief district officer (CDO).

Plan Nepal is an active member of the consortium of I/NGOs working on Disaster Risk
Management both at the national level and district level.

All international humanitarian organizations, bi-lateral agencies and UN are very active and
activated all clusters in the country. Regular coordination meetings are happening. The UN
operation in Nepal is coordinated by UNOCHA/UNRCO.
8. International response capacity within the country

As of 30th April, UNDAC/ foreign rescue missions deployed around 1000 members for
rescue operations. The government has appealed that it needs more logistics including
medicines and equipments than rescue teams.

India has sent six helicopters for rescue and China has sent cargo planes with rescue team
and relief materials. Other countries sending their support include USA, Canada, Australia,
Bhutan, Poland, France, and Israel.

Nepal’s parliament members promised one months salary.

A Flash Appeal was launched for US$415 million to support the provision of vital
humanitarian relief for people affected by the Earthquake.

India promised 100,000 tents and sending rescue mission. Indian parliamentarians also
promised for one month’s salary. Similarly, China, Quatar, Norway, UK, and Australia has
promised aid to Nepal. In addition to it, South Korea promised US$ 1.1 million and ADB has
assured US$ 30 million.

Most of the key INGOs are also active in Nepal. INGOs such as Plan, Save the children,
OXFAM and World Vision, UN agencies, CSOs are active in Nepal.

However, keeping in view of changing scenario in the ground, it is certain that the more
resources are required in the pre-text of identification of increased number of casualties,
injuries and loss of properties of the affected population.’

Plan is playing an active role in the consortium meeting at the national and cluster level
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9. Operational Environment
Availability of relief material within the country is a major challenge apart from difficulties of
terrain, monsoon, and repeated shocks.
Procurement of food / non food kits is a major
challenge in Kathmandu as most of the shops remain closed and stocks are decreasing due to
closure of major highways as a result of the landslides.
Though highly in need, tents are in short of supply. The situation is worsened as it is raining
almost every day. Despite government’s repeated appeal and warning, shops remain closed and
public transportation is hardly in operation.
District administration is unequivocal in
maintaining that they will look at food relief and have urged civil society to look at other
components so as not to increase chaos.
The government has called for actions, not promises or words as there is urgent need to reach
the affected population to reduce the human suffering.
Roads linking to food supply areas are often blocked due to landslides that happen after
several shocks. There are few vehicles plying in the road as people are scared. More 60% of the
affected areas affected by power supply which has an impact on telecommunication although
not damaged, power cuts and traffic congestion have resulted to poor access to
communication including internet communication.
10. Humanitarian Country Team’s strategic Priorities
 Shelter
 Food and Nutrition
 WASH and Health including MNCH, SRH
 Protection
 Education
 NFIs
11. Analysis and recommendation on what needs and gaps Plan should respond to.
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Considering above the priority needs in the district visited by the RNA team are as follows:
1. Shelter and NFIs: A top priority with a three pronged strategy – immediate, transitional
and recovery to build back better. Family NFI kits such as Hygiene, WASH, Cooking and
Health Kits to also be distributed on priority basis.
2. Food Assistance and Cash Transfers: Dry food kits for each family for one month to be
distributed through food kits and cash transfers (where markets are accessible and
functional in long term). Targeted Nutrition support is also required for infants and
young children and pregnant and nursing mothers.
3. Child Protection: Establish Child Friendly Spaces/Temporary Learning Centres to address
protection issues. Psychosocial care and support for children and their care givers.
4. WASH: Sanitation and Hygiene has been identified as one of the priorities during the
assessment by the filed team.
5. Education including ECCD: No ECCD centres are functional, and consequently
temporary learning centres are the priority need. Psychosocial care and support for
children and teachers
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