On August 26, floods hit Nepal’s Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading districts, wiping away entire towns and communities.
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floods → hit → towns
Roads and bridges were washed away, and telecommunications networks were down.
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networks → wash → ?
The immediate focus was on rescuing people trapped under debris and providing relief to those affected.
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focus → rescue → those
A month on, the focus has now shifted to rehabilitation, rebuilding and long-term recovery.
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focus → shift → rehabilitation
The Hindu spoke to Dr. Nimesh Dhungana, Senior Lecturer in Disaster Studies and Global Health at the University of Manchester’s Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI), who studies disasters through the lens of governance, democracy and accountability, about recovery after the devastating flash floods.
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who → speak → floods
Dr. Dhungana describes himself as an accidental disaster researcher who started studying disasters after the 2015 Nepal earthquake.
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who → describe → earthquake
He also studied the Himalayan country’s response to the COVID pandemic.
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He → study → pandemic
Is there a difference between the way the government responded to the 2015 earthquake, the COVID pandemic and the recent flash floods?
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government → respond → earthquake
The government has a sense of moral responsibility [to save lives] when a disaster of this scale strikes.
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disaster → have → scale
One common element is that the state acts decisively and with the speed required in the aftermath of such disasters.
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state → act → disasters
It mobilises its emergency forces, led by the security forces.
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It → mobilise → forces
However, we are increasingly seeing that the state’s response is not matched by a sustained commitment to long-term recovery and reconstruction.
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response → see → recovery
That responsibility starts to fade, particularly when it comes to listening to affected communities and ensuring that their rights are protected during the long-term recovery and reconstruction process.
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rights → start → process
It is about transparency, engagement with the affected population and ensuring that they have a say in the recovery and reconstruction process.
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they → affect → process
Your work suggests that disasters expose government failures that have built up, or existed long before the disaster itself.
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that → suggest → disaster
What do you mean by this?
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you → mean → this
I think there is a long-standing debate about what constitutes a disaster.
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what → think → disaster
The recent floods have also forced us to revisit this basic question: what is a disaster in the first place?
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what → force → place
One way of thinking about it is as an event that is often unpredictable and attracts considerable attention from national and international media, as the recent floods did.
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floods → think → media
Another way of thinking about a disaster is as a process.
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way → think → process
It is something that happens because of long-term vulnerabilities.
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that → happen → vulnerabilities
Disasters are not caused by nature alone.
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Disasters → cause → nature
I think there is a growing consensus that a disaster is more of a process than just an event.
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disaster → think → event
Unfortunately, it is more comfortable to think of a disaster as an event, something beyond our control.
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it → think → control
We saw that with the 2015 earthquake and the pandemic.
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We → see → earthquake
This is not limited to Nepal; it is a wider issue.
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it → limit → Nepal
I think this is a problematic way of looking at disasters.
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this → think → disasters
It can absolve state actors of accountability.
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It → absolve → accountability
We need deeper introspection into the choices we make, our governance structures and institutions.
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we → need → choices
We should adopt a more rights-based approach to disaster response and rethink how we address longstanding inequalities and injustices.
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we → adopt → inequalities
The state is often quick to respond to disasters, but its approach is usually centralised and top-down.
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approach → respond → disasters
This undermines the roles and responsibilities of local bodies, which are the frontline responders.
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which → undermine → bodies
How do you balance the role of the local bodies and the federal government, especially when a massive disaster strikes a region, leaving the local communities wiped out?
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disaster → balance → communities
It depends on the scale of the disaster.
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It → depend → disaster
Given the scale of the disaster, Nepal needs support from outside, not just nationally, but also internationally.
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Nepal → give → outside
However, this is no excuse for not involving local representatives in the process.
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this → involve → process
Ward officials, elected representatives, local NGOs and community-based organisations, which are often at the forefront of disaster response, have greater knowledge of the local context.
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which → elect → context
In the Rasuwa floods, questions have been raised about their role being undermined by the centralised, top-down disaster response.
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questions → raise → response
Mobilising military and security forces for disaster relief is a way of centralisation.
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Mobilising → mobilise → centralisation
We need to think beyond security forces for the immediate response and recovery.
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We → need → response
…and 48 more, not listed.
The Aporia
