Nature's wrath has always stroke the earth since the beginning. It is us human who have made our settlements in their path. The recent natural disasters, especially the quakes in Japan and New Zealand have brought the topic very close to home. Nepal lies in a geographical fault line, sandwiched between Austral-Indian and Eurasian Tectonic Plates. As we know, these plates are always moving and in state of tension. Whenever such tension is released, we experience seismic activities. Longer the period between such activities, the stronger is the magnitude of the tension released. And as it seems, here in Nepal, the ticking time bomb is way past the due date.
Nepal has always been a country of people and deities. We have laid our faith in gods to protect us from any kind of danger and misfortune, seen or unseen, with minimal effort from our part. So far this approach seems to have worked. While the world banking system almost came to a grinding halt, banks in Nepal were basking in their hay days. Apparently Nepalese can afford real-state, goods(imported) and services with costs at par with or higher than any first world nations even though the Central Bank is almost out of Foreign Reserve. In the past decade, Nepal has seen the unprecedented boom in the number of millionaires and at what cost. Certainly we are subjected to taxation and prices (tariffs) higher than any other in the region. So, why have our infrastructures and state facilities not kept up with the development? The only answer seems to be the rampant corruption. Inappropriate exploitation of natural resources like sand mining off the river basin and deforestation, substandard infrastructural development projects hogged by commissions and total disregard for ethics might have led the way to make riches, but it is just a matter of time for such unhealthy practices to come around and hunt us. It is ourselves that we have fooled at the end. As for the deities, it is them who made us in their image and not the other way around. Whatsoever we can't possibly buy our way out of nature's wrath because what nature does is balance things that we have distorted out of proportion.
It is not if but when the big one will strike. When it does most of us will be least prepared. The immediate effect would be structural collapse. People in the urban settings of Nepal have notorious habit of using mostly concrete and bricks for building houses which can cause serious fatality in case of debris fall. Also, most of the public infrastructures like hospitals, roads and especially bridges will be rendered useless. Power outages followed by communication breakdown will only add woes to the worries. It will not be the disaster itself but the lack of timely relief effort that would even more increase the casualties. International relief effort could take days if not weeks due to the geographical nature of the country and the deteriorated state of inland transport system. Aerial support would be limited and also not accessible to most of us.
Questionable structural integrity of the infrastructures and disregard for the building codes, alarming usage of resources like underground water and lack of preparedness for disaster relief might make the disaster in Japan less comprehensible if such were to strike here. Instead of just relying on deities and foreign-aids, the need of the hour is to hope for the best and prepare for the worst. To start with, we can maintain extra supply of drinking water and food (non-perishable) at all time. Also, maintaining a safe space (eg. reinforced structures) to prevent injury from falling debris will certainly save lives. To avert the maximum casualty, we have to keep fuel sources like cooking gas cylinders and petroleum products either turned off or safely put away when not in use. Having simple item like a whistle and torch light handy can mean the difference between life and death. Keeping oneself calm can also be the best action we can take at times. The only good thing to come out from the aftermath of the disaster is economic stimulus through government spending although the idea of which seems far too morbid to be discussed at the moment.
As the impending disaster is inevitable, our survival depends on how we cope with it and how well we are prepared. The same natural forces that created the Majestic Himalaya can also level it all out. Today, my prayers are with the people of Japan and hope they find peace and solace amidst the chaos. For the days hence, I am just not content with the Lord Pasupatinath looking after me, as I should be capable of looking after myself.
Nepal has always been a country of people and deities. We have laid our faith in gods to protect us from any kind of danger and misfortune, seen or unseen, with minimal effort from our part. So far this approach seems to have worked. While the world banking system almost came to a grinding halt, banks in Nepal were basking in their hay days. Apparently Nepalese can afford real-state, goods(imported) and services with costs at par with or higher than any first world nations even though the Central Bank is almost out of Foreign Reserve. In the past decade, Nepal has seen the unprecedented boom in the number of millionaires and at what cost. Certainly we are subjected to taxation and prices (tariffs) higher than any other in the region. So, why have our infrastructures and state facilities not kept up with the development? The only answer seems to be the rampant corruption. Inappropriate exploitation of natural resources like sand mining off the river basin and deforestation, substandard infrastructural development projects hogged by commissions and total disregard for ethics might have led the way to make riches, but it is just a matter of time for such unhealthy practices to come around and hunt us. It is ourselves that we have fooled at the end. As for the deities, it is them who made us in their image and not the other way around. Whatsoever we can't possibly buy our way out of nature's wrath because what nature does is balance things that we have distorted out of proportion.
It is not if but when the big one will strike. When it does most of us will be least prepared. The immediate effect would be structural collapse. People in the urban settings of Nepal have notorious habit of using mostly concrete and bricks for building houses which can cause serious fatality in case of debris fall. Also, most of the public infrastructures like hospitals, roads and especially bridges will be rendered useless. Power outages followed by communication breakdown will only add woes to the worries. It will not be the disaster itself but the lack of timely relief effort that would even more increase the casualties. International relief effort could take days if not weeks due to the geographical nature of the country and the deteriorated state of inland transport system. Aerial support would be limited and also not accessible to most of us.
Questionable structural integrity of the infrastructures and disregard for the building codes, alarming usage of resources like underground water and lack of preparedness for disaster relief might make the disaster in Japan less comprehensible if such were to strike here. Instead of just relying on deities and foreign-aids, the need of the hour is to hope for the best and prepare for the worst. To start with, we can maintain extra supply of drinking water and food (non-perishable) at all time. Also, maintaining a safe space (eg. reinforced structures) to prevent injury from falling debris will certainly save lives. To avert the maximum casualty, we have to keep fuel sources like cooking gas cylinders and petroleum products either turned off or safely put away when not in use. Having simple item like a whistle and torch light handy can mean the difference between life and death. Keeping oneself calm can also be the best action we can take at times. The only good thing to come out from the aftermath of the disaster is economic stimulus through government spending although the idea of which seems far too morbid to be discussed at the moment.
As the impending disaster is inevitable, our survival depends on how we cope with it and how well we are prepared. The same natural forces that created the Majestic Himalaya can also level it all out. Today, my prayers are with the people of Japan and hope they find peace and solace amidst the chaos. For the days hence, I am just not content with the Lord Pasupatinath looking after me, as I should be capable of looking after myself.