In Focus: Shelter - IOM Nepal

IOM NEPAL EARTHQUAKE RESPONSE IOM OIM

in Focus: IOM’s Shelter Approach in Areas Difficult to Access

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is a major player in providing humanitarian shelter. IOM continues to increase its role in the Global Shelter Cluster leading or co-leading approximately 1/3 of Shelter coordination mechanisms worldwide. Since 2005, IOM has implemented Shelter and NFI projects in more than 40 countries. Over the course of 2014, IOM distributed NFIs to 557,000 families, supported 220,000 families to build a new home, repaired 58,000 houses and delivered cash assistance to 63,000 families.

SHELTER RESPONSE IN THE NEPAL EARTHQUAKE

Kunchowk Syaule Pipal Danda

Sindhupalchowk Kathmandu

Following the Earthquake in Nepal, IOM sent a surge team of emergency response experts to support IOM’s existing staff of over 400 people. IOM is the national cluster lead for Camp Coordination and Camp Management, and has assumed district cluster lead for Shelter in Sindhupalchok, on the districts most affected by the earthquake.

IOM’s shelter response will prioritize the most vulnerable and those likely to be unreachable by road during the monsoon season. In particular, IOM will prioritize villages with poor road access which are now blocked because of the earthquake as they will have less coping mechanisms in place, village without any a road as well as those whose track road is normally washed out for more than two months. IOM will work closely with social mobilizers, the District Development Committees and District Disaster Rescue Committees, and local partners to carry out shelter initiatives in these areas. In the next three months, IOM plans to IOM aims to deliver efficiently and effective shelter support to 52,000 families RURAL ASSESSMENTS On 6-7 May, an IOM engineering team assessed the villages of Syaulebazar, Piaidanda and Kunchowk in Sindhupalchowk district, where they met the local authorities and the citizens. In the framework the assessment missions, IOM sought to evaluate the damage to shelters in areas difficult to access outside the Kathmandu Valley. Discussions with local populations have shed light on the need to extensively provide shelter kits and relief items before the monsoon season.

Most of the damaged structures were made of bricks or stones without mortar. With no structural columns, the shelters were not stable enough to withstand the earthquake’s vibrations, and the heavy roof materials of slate and sliced stones, exacerbated problem.

In the visited villages, multiple families are living in small groups with salvaged wood, bamboo, and corrugated galvanized iron (CGI) from their destroyed houses. Many need to stay close to their agricultural land which they depend on for food for survival. As interim solutions, families have constructed stand-alone sheds or have put CGI horizontally with the edge on the top of one agricultural terrace, with framing underneath, for extra support. Most of these sheds are far below SPHERE standards for space and are not waterproof.

To improve living conditions, IOM is looking to reinforce standalone structures made from salvaged materials including CGI, wood, bamboo, by ensuring walls are closed on all side with a door. In other cases, IOM is placing CGI on top of agricultural terraces to reinforce shelters. A frame is then constructed under the CGI sheeting using wood and bamboo. Quite often this version is open on one side with one wall being the vertical wall of the terrace. A tarp is placed on the existing structure to ensure it is waterproof, and the additional CGI enables the household to benefit from additional space.

Based on the assessment, IOM has noted the need for CGI sheets with a thicker gauge to support shelter construction as this material is more durable and earthquake victims are familiar using it. As CGI sheets are a relatively light material, IOM can deliver by hand when trucks are unable to reach. The DDRC officials in Sindhupalchowk also expressed his preference on shifting shelter distribution from tarpaulins to CGI sheets.

To prevent the CGI sheeting roof from being blown away by strong winds, metal brackets will also be provided to fix CGI sheets to timbers. Timbers and bamboo will be used as supporting structural materials, wherein IOM will distribute bamboo while timbers will be sourced from the community forest. Other required items such as ropes and nails will be provided by IOM to families.

KIRSHNA SHRESTHA FROM SYAULE Kirshna Shrestha lost his house made of stone, 26 gauge CGI sheets, slate, and bamboo. Immediately after the earthquake he made a shed from CGI and salvaged wood to shelter his family one nine. In October, he had put on a new 26 gauge CGI on his house with slate on top where the roof was facing the wind.

He said that the village had 130 households and he noted that 14 people in his village were working overseas.

Many of his neighbours houses were also destroyed. They are living collectively in quickly fabricated sheds using salvaged CGI, wood and bamboo. 60 people were sheltered in a construction of 16.5x7 (0.52 m2 per person), 15 people in a 5x5 shed (0.6 m2 per person) and 22 people in a 10x4 shed (0.55 m2 per person). This is far below the recommended Sphere standards for shelter, set at 3.5 m2 per person.

During the conversation, a crowd gathered and talked about building materials. They stated that they lack bamboo even though they have access to community forest.

The top priority remains CGI. Priority 2 is wood and bamboo and priority 3 is money.

Type A shelter construction where an agriculture terrace is used as a wall

When asked about how they would help vulnerable community members who could not build back themselves, there was a consensus that those with physical means would support those less fortunate.

Salvaging useful material from rubble in Sindhupalchowk CORRUGATED IRON SHEETING FOR RELIEF AND RECOVERY CGI lies at the heart of current needs for shelter before the monsoon season arrives. There are four or five large CGI manufacturers in Nepal. All currently have excess production capacity. The CGI domestic sales model follows the car dealership model. Producers sell to wholesalers, who are located in Kathmandu. Kathmandu wholesalers work with dealers in municipalities, each selling a specific brand. There have not been reports of trade at the VDC level so far.

Reports show that 26 gauge CGI appears to be the most popular type. It has been available with most dealers, even if some sellers did not have material available. Prices range from NPR 6,000 to NPR 4,500 for a total of 72 linear feet. A total of seven quotes from dealers have been collected to date. IOM is collecting data on more dealers on a daily basis in order to maintain an understanding of the local markets.

The government has a role in setting the price of CGI and the process of understanding this role better is ongoing. Price increases are supposed to be linked the new fiscal year which, in Nepal, happens in July.

COMMUNITY MEETING IN PIPAL DANDA 778 households are living in two wards located in Pipal Banda Village Development Committee. All the houses in the villages were destroyed except for three made with concrete pillars. These three households had relatives sending remittances from Kathmandu or the Middle East.

The community suffered many deaths and remains in a state of shock. 42 people were killed in the village. In the picture, a grandfather and father are wearing white clothes to morn their lost family members. When asked about the future, their response was: ‘we are not thinking’ [now]. After some reflection, one father said ‘we will put on tin sheets and stay for the monsoon and winter’.

They will not be able to invest much time in rebuilding their shelter because they are busy in the fields before the monsoon season begins. Many people do not want to leave their community and will pool resources to buy CGI from Chowtara to supplement the CGI they have salvaged.

It will take at least one to one and a half years build back their homes the way they had before. They want to build houses only one story high so that they are more resilient and safe. While building a house with pillars would be a goal, it would take at least five years to gather the resources to do so. Labor rates in Village Development Communities for housing reconstruction have been collected with technical workers receiving approximately NPR 800/day and unskilled workers receiving NPR 500-600/day.

CARRYING CGI FROM CHAUTARA A man walking with his two daughters carrying CGI from Chautara, approximately seven km away. They purchased nine pieces of eight feet 26 gauge CGI for 5200 rupees. They didn’t know which gauge to buy but were told that this is the kind they should buy. They negotiated a loan from a neighbor to buy the CGI. Multiple families reported buying CGI both pre-and post-earthquake through borrowed money. This money is loaned in six month cycles with the first month accruing a five per cent interest rate, the following four months at two, and month six at five per cent again incentivizing the recipient to pay back the loan by the end of month five.

Type B shelter construction with four walls built using non waterproof materials.

DIPENDRA BARATI FROM KUNCHOWK Dipendra Barati just finished his house in Kunchowk VDC last year. He had a five foot foundation and 1 foot thick rock walls.

The work was very precise and the house was still standing although significantly damaged. He is not sleeping in it. His CGI had wind-bracing and he used umbrella nails in the construction. In order to pay for the house he had worked in Kathmandu for 4 years as a driver.

SHELTER CONSTRUCTION IN KUNCHOWK Raju Thapa from Jaudada Ward 1 in Kunchowk Village Development Committee took the CGI from his old house and fabricated an emergency shelter which resembles an animal shed. He originally bought the CGI through a loan from a local NGO.

Type B shelter construction building four walls and a roof. Where CGI is old or has holes, or cardboard is used, shelter improvement consists on using tarps to make the roof waterproof

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