A month after the flood in Nepal, distress persists

A month after the flood, in the devastated valleys, thousands of bodies are still buried under the mud. “It smells really bad around the river,” explains Shanker Gaihre. “You can strongly smell human bodies,” adds this high mountain guide in Nepal who has just returned from the disaster areas.

“Rescuers are on site and there are also bulldozers building the road,” he said. Construction equipment is still clearing the roads, but heavy rains are making the work difficult. “It’s really hard for people.” Several villages are still cut off from the world. They must be resupplied by helicopter.

Humanitarian, health and economic impact

One month after the flood, 14,000 Nepalis are still homeless. Many sleep in tents, in sanitary conditions, which are always precarious. “If we take the case of water, it is a major reconstruction issue,” says Baptiste Chapuis, head of the international advocacy division at Unicef. “There are 64 water supply systems or infrastructures that have been damaged, more than 10,000 toilets that need to be repaired. Today, we are working on access to drinking water, on sanitation, that remains essential.” However, this reconstruction is expensive and NGOs like UNICEF are struggling to collect donations commensurate with the challenges.

As for one of the engines of the Nepalese economy, tourism, it is slowing down. Cancellations keep coming at Shanker Gaihre's trekking agency. “We already have eight treks canceled for the October and November season,” he laments. “It’s the high season for Nepalese who work in tourism, such as hotels, restaurants, guides like us. We are more and more afraid, we say that it is going to be a big crisis.” After the humanitarian crisis, it is now the economic crisis that threatens Nepal.