E-Kantipur

KATHMANDU, SEP 20 - In an event of a catastrophic earthquake in Kathmandu, US military estimates that "4,000 metric tons (MT) of food and water, or 1,000 MT of just food," would be required per day. This will need to be supported by over 257 C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft missions per day to sustain the level of humanitarian operation.

The Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), Nepal's only air connection to the outside world, can currently handle only about 533 MT of cargo per day, and can support about 860 MT per day at its maximum capacity, according to the US military.

"The large mega-disaster from natural hazards really needs the support of military capacity. You have got huge demand for the logistical support from air operations to putting in temporary bridges and so forth. No other institution in any country can do it without the support of its military asset. It is a vital part of the response operation," said UN's Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Robert Piper.

The US estimate is based on the World Health Organization's 2007 projection that approximately "40,000 deaths, 95,000 injuries, and 600,000-900,000 homeless could be expected" in the event of a catastrophic earthquake in the Valley.

TIA's current capacity can support 40 (20 landings and 20 take-offs) C-130 and CH-47 Chinook transport helicopters per hour, according to the US military's assessment. The estimates were published as part of the final recommendations for Nepal Civil-Military Emergency Preparedness Seismic Vulnerability Procedures Workshop in July this year held in Kathmandu.

UN officials say that if Kathmandu Valley is cut off by road, Nepal will need support for huge airlift capacities. The government of Nepal has only about eight helicopters, and according to an official, that is not enough even to put a "tiny dent" in the size of the problem.

UN humanitarian officials say that if there is a massive earthquake, it will overwhelm a lot of the existing systems.

Nepal Army Spokesperson Gen Ramindra Chhetri said regional efforts are required to tackle major disasters as limited resources of the country will not be sufficient to undertake all rescue and relief operations. He said Nepal Army's collaboration with the US Pacific Command and other militaries in the region has been instrumental in "increasing cooperation to make plans to combat disasters."

Since last year, the British military and the Indian Home Ministry have also been involved in discussions to prepare a response plan.

Any disaster response will inevitably involve members of the Nepal Risk Reduction Consortium (NRRC) that includes emergency actors like World Food Programme (WFP), UN agencies, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Red Cross, US government, European Commission, the Australian government and the British government, among others.

If access by road is cut off for several weeks, there will be real problems of food stock to feed the Valley's estimated five million people until the first phase of a big emergency response is over.

The US military reckons that the TIA will be the primary means of bringing in aid after a large-scale natural disaster. They are also working on a scenario were the TIA may become inoperable. In the event the TIA is not functional, an alternative staging area for humanitarian operation will have to be found, said Sheila Roquitte, Director of the US Disaster Risk Reduction Office in Kathmandu.

In April 2011, the US Embassy in Kathmandu and the US Pacific Command (USPACOM) had asked the US Army Corps of Engineers' (USACE) Civil-Military Emergency Preparedness (CMEP) programme to perform seismic assessments of critical infrastructure at the TIA and development of an emergency response plan for the airfield in partnership with the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) and the Nepal Army. During the assessment, four critical bridges (New Bridge, Jaributi, Bhimsengola, and Sinamangal Old Baneshwar Bridge) were identified as highly vulnerable to major seismic activity. The team also identified structural and non-structural elements "residing at the TIA that needed to be upgraded."

"The current limitations in natural disaster response at the TIA are summed up by the lack of a detailed emergency response plan specifically focused on airport emergency operations as well as an intrinsic assumption that the current operational capacity is adequate, and that all airport personnel will be available for duty immediately," reads a draft recommendation report.

US officials say they are using their resources to "augment the Government of Nepal's (GON) disaster response equipment shortfalls with items such as Bailey bridges, earth-moving equipment, and rescue and field engineering equipment." The US military has been involved since September 2008 in preparing and planning a disaster response.

Coincidently, the US Army Pacific (USARPAC) and Nepal Army began a four-day Disaster Response Exercise & Exchange (DREE) in Kathmandu early on Sunday--the day the 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal.

"The Nepal Army and US Pacific Command have a great practical working relationship and are developing a joint "Concept of Operations" to ensure a synchronised military response, should one be needed," Roquitte said.

Posted on: 2011-09-21 03:00

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