Nepal should use updated, upgraded building codes in post-disaster construction: Experts

Nepal should use updated, upgraded building codes in post-disaster construction: Experts

Published 8 May 2015

Urban planners and disaster experts who have been arriving in Kathmandu to inventory, assess, and make recommendations have been urging the Nepalese authorities to “Build it back better.” There are plenty of examples of post-disaster construction built significantly safer, using low-cost traditional materials and methods. Nepal has last updated its building code in 1994.

The death toll from the Nepal earthquake will reach 10,000 or more, as emergency responders continue to uncover death bodies from the ruins. Hundreds of thousands of homes have collapsed, six of Kathmandu Valley’s seven UNESCOWorld Heritage sites and more than fifty-seven other temples and palaces have been reduced to rubble or have suffered deep cracks.
Residents are now moving to rebuild homes. In the collapsed village of Sankhu, twelve miles east of Kathmandu, villagers pick up bricks, stone blocks, and timber to reuse for the eventual rebuilding. “We have to rebuild. As soon as possible,” said local resident Gunkeshari Dangol.
“It is our pride. It is our duty,” added Bhesh Narayan Dahal, director general of Nepal’s Department of Archaeology. He predicts that with international aid, Nepal’s medieval and more recent monuments can be rebuilt in five to seven years.
ThePhiladelphia Inquirer reports that urban planners and disaster experts who have been arriving in Kathmandu to inventory, assess, and make recommendations have been urging the Nepalese authorities to “Build it back better.” There are plenty of examples of post-disaster construction built significantly safer, using low-cost traditional materials and methods.