It is a year now since the devastating earthquake on April 25 last year, apart from several strong aftershocks after that. As many as 8,961 people perished and over 22,302 were injured. About a million houses and structures were damaged or destroyed due to the massive earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale. The temblor and the aftershocks caused damage estimated at around $7 billion. This natural disaster is not surprising as Nepal lies in a seismic zone where there is always the danger of the big temblors and therefore we need to remain prepared for such emergencies to save human lives and property.  We should learn from these recent earthquakes that it can happen any time. Hence we should always remain on guard with the appropriate trained manpower and heavy equipment to be able to rescue valuable human lives even from concrete buildings.  The relief activities and reconstruction and rehabilitation have remained effete as a consequence of which many people are suffering.

This time the casualties could have been worse if the quake had not occurred during daytime and that too on a Saturday, and many people were able to run to safe places. There is an urgent need to be prepared for disasters like earthquakes since they are bound to occur. And they do not give much time to escape. The government and also the political parties showed how inefficient they were. Moreover, at a time when they should have been engaged on relief on a war footing there was a long row between them regarding the setting up of an authority and reconstruction modalities they should be adopting. This is indeed a matter of shame. Most of the buildings and houses that collapsed causing major tragedies was a result of not abiding by the building code. We should have seen to it that all those building houses and structures should have adhered to it. In other countries contractors and builders are allowed to construct houses whereas in Nepal people build the houses on their own without observing the building code.

It is high time we left aside politics in this tragic moment and put more efforts together to carry out the rehabilitation and reconstruction works

One year after the killer earthquake it is high time that people woke up and realized that more such powerful shocks are inevitable and Mother Nature can be very cruel. Even now many earthquakes above 4 Richter scale are being recorded. At this crucial juncture when they are needed the most the National Seismological Centre has laid off workers numbering 14 and only six of them remain. Although it is next to impossible to predict earthquakes there is dire need of heightening our preparedness so that we can keep casualties to the minimum like in Chile where they were able to do so because the buildings and other infrastructures were made to withstand earthquakes of higher intensity than the one that shook Nepal. The recent earthquake in Haiti meanwhile destroyed more life and property than in Nepal as the houses were not built to withstand strong earthquakes there. It is high time we left aside politics in this tragic moment and put more efforts together to carry out the rehabilitation and reconstruction works. Many earthquake victims are still living in tents without proper shelter. They had to undergo immense hardships during the winter and now they lack shelter for the rainy season.

TRC complaints

One-sixth of the 60-day period has passed for filing complaints at the Office of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which was formed one year ago with a view to completing its task of healing the wounds of the Maoist conflict. But so far the response has not been very enthusiastic. Only 1, 000 complaints have been collected. That is why speaking at a news conference in Dhangadi on Saturday, Member Shreekrishna Subedi called for all conflict victims to register their cases without fear and assured them that justice would be done to them.

Anybody who became a victim of serious crime or gross human rights violations would be only too eager to grab at the first opportunity offered them to redress the injustices done to them. The figures of more than 15,000 killed alone should normally see a lot of complaints being filed. Add to it the victims of serious physical or mental assaults and of deprivation of their property, among other things. The complaints should run to many thousands. That the response is not big means that the victims or their families and relatives are not confident that they will get justice. The victims might feel threatened too.