From Julia:
This week I have been working on gathering information on earthquake resistant housing. I have found several very helpful resources and a few good pictures as well that I think will be useful during our presentation. I have also been looking for information on the urban/rural divide in Nepal after the earthquake. This part of my research appears to have much less information available. Since we decided last week that we would be the first group to present, I want to have all of my research done in the next few weeks so I can spend time preparing for the presentation.
From Laura:
In examining the use of GIS in disaster planning, it was pretty apparent that geo-intel is commonly used for disaster response. However, it seems that the kind of information used in planning aid dispersion tends to be rather simple relational information. The Incident Command Structure (ICS), the national method for managing disasters, already has capability to expand GIS analysis into planning methods for disasters. However, there seems to be a dearth of knowledge as it relates to using more quantitative methods to predict need in disasters. There seems to be little available on research relating to how to predict need following disasters based on geographical information.
With the rural/urban divide, I spent part of this week examining how the food supply chain was affected in the Nepal earthquake. The World Food Programme has some information relating to food security in Nepal, but it'll take a bit more research to look into all of the effects. Additionally, I found an article on the Economist this week that detailed some of the current geo-political issues affecting Nepal after the earthquake. Following the September 20th passage of the new Nepal constitution, protests have occurred over anger from the formation of new states which left some afraid that they would become even more politically marginalized. The bloody protests stand in stark contrast to April when Nepal was united in grief after the earthquake. The political acrimony partly comes from the government's lack of a plan for rebuilding the economy. In small rural villages, millions endured recent monsoon rains without proper housing, waiting for aid the government had promised. Further political resolution will require the Nepalese government to critically examine the exacerbated differences in the rural/urban divide.
From Sanam:
This week I collected more information about how geospatial techniques were used in rescue and recovery in NepalQuake. Also, information about how governmental, non-governmental and international agencies coordinated and collaborated to facilitate the rescue and recovery in the remote part of the country where no disaster related information were available readily. In addition, I looked for some literature on the earthquake resistant housing standards. Although, there are building codes available in some of the metropolitan town including capital Kathmandu, there is a very low level of implementation. The human settlement in steep slopes and traditional buildings were primarily responsible for the mortality in the rural part whereas low level of implementation of building codes in the urban centers are responsible for the most of the damages. During the literature collection, I found that the newly formed reconstruction authority has brought the new definition and classification of land use in the country which would be, if implemented well, the entry point to make communities safer and more resilient.
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