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Race on to reach Nepal quake survivors before monsoon rains: Oxfam
Survivors of Nepal's massive earthquake are in a race against time to secure shelter and adequate sanitation before the monsoon rains begin in early June, international aid agency Oxfam has said
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urvivors of Nepal's massive earthquake are in a race against time to secure shelter and adequate sanitation before the monsoon rains begin in early June, international aid agency Oxfam has said.
'There is a huge risk of waterborne disease in Nepal - a country where cholera is already endemic,' Oxfam GB's head of water and sanitation, Andy Bastable, said in a release made available to The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
Oxfam said it has been working with the Nepalese government and partners to provide shelter, toilets and clean water in seven of the worst-affected districts. All relief efforts must be stepped up immediately to reach vulnerable people before the rains set in.
'Oxfam has been quick to deliver aid to desperate local communities and is building toilets and delivering clean water and hygiene kits to thousands of people,' Bastable said.
Oxfam reports tens of thousands of people had seen their homes flattened or damaged to such an extent that it is not safe for them to return to them. There is a danger of waterborne diseases in Nepal in the coming months. In rural areas, a shortage of toilets is forcing many people to defecate in the open. Damage to water pipes mean that some people are resorting to drinking untreated water.
Oxfam says there is also a chronic lack of adequate housing. The 7.8-magnitude earthquake and a series of powerful aftershocks damaged up to 90 percent of the houses in some areas. Families are living under tarpaulins and materials salvaged from the rubble.
"The scale of this disaster is only now becoming apparent. There were so many people already suffering before the earthquake and I am particularly concerned about single women, the elderly and lower-caste members of society in areas that can only be reached by foot," Oxfam country director in Nepal, Cecilia Keizer, said.
Earlier, Oxfam announced plans to reach 430,000 people with relief as quickly as possible through a US$32 million program, focusing largely on water and sanitation work. In the first week since the earthquake it secured around $22 million, mainly through the generosity of the public around the world, but it desperately needs more funds to continue this vital work. (ebf)(++++)
