Government Failure in Disaster Management: Evidence from Nepal Earthquake 2015

Abstract

The direct cost of the Nepalese Earthquake is estimated to be somewhere between USD $5 billion to USD 10 billion however if we consider the psychological cost then it will be far behind. In spite of strict controls of prices of commodity and wages by Nepal government, the price of the food and vegetables are much higher and due to the blockade of India Nepalese are even suffering more in the aftermath of the earthquake. The earthquake affected peoples in the country who are living in temporary shelters and awaiting for rehabilitation have started suffering from cold. More than 100s of people have started suffering from cold related diseases and 8 numbers of people have already died and numbers are rising. Government has initially committed to give Nepalese Rupees 15,000, Rupees 0.2 Million and Soft Loan at 2% interest rate, however Reconstruction Authority is yet to be formalized. This is the pure example of failure of Nepalese Government in management of post-earthquake. Government should understand that the economic impact will be higher if it takes too many months and years to address the earthquake affected people.