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Cross Country Checkup

Is the global community getting better at responding to disasters such as in Nepal?

Nepal earthquake: Nepalis are struggling to recover after a devastating quake. The international community is pouring in with support, but bottlenecks and other logistical challenges are slowing progress. Are we getting any better at helping in disaster zones?
CBC Radio ·
A street in Kathmandu, Nepal after the April 25 earthquake. (Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)
Cross Country Checkup1:53:00May 3, 2015 - Nepal earthquake response

Nepal: People in cities and rural areas are struggling to recover after a devastating earthquake.  The international community is pouring in with support, but bottlenecks and other logistical challenges are slowing progress. What are your thoughts? Are we getting any better at helping in disaster zones?

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INTRODUCTION

It has been a week since a major earthquake struck the mountain nation of Nepal. It brought buildings down on people in cities and rural areas throughout the country. The death toll is still rising …so far it is close to 7,000 dead with another 14,000 injured. The international community responded quickly, pouring aid into the capital's airport in Kathmandu, but progress has been slow due to bottlenecks and logistical challenges. In a country that is landlocked, and without any developed road system, communication and travel is exceedingly difficult. The main highway between the two largest cities is perched on the side of a mountain and now impassable due to landslides and rubble.  It is still unknown how people are faring in the more remote regions where it can be a challenge even to land a helicopter.

The world has responded.  Nepal's immediate neighbours India and China were quick to jump in with aid ...and Canada too has offered $5-million dollars and mobilized its Disaster Assistance Response Team, better known as DART. 

But as we found out in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake in 2010, good intentions and charitable acts are frequently not enough to save the lives of people caught in such disasters. In places where infrastructure is poor to begin with, an earthquake can render it non-existent. Just getting aid to those who need it quickly is not always possible.  

Government resources already stretched in normal times can become overwhelmed. For example, with all that was going on, there was nobody to meet the first planes loaded with supplies when they landed at tiny Kathmandu airport. Vital supplies are still being bottlenecked at the airport. 

We'd like to hears your views on this.

What was your reaction to the news of the earthquake?  Do you have any connection to Nepal?

This is a country familiar to Canadians especially hikers, mountain climbers and adventurers.  Several Canadians were caught in the earthquake and some have lost their lives.

Are you satisfied with Canada's response?  What about the way you see the relief effort unfolding now?  It is still early days but it is often a time when the needs are greatest. What are your long-term concerns?

Our topic today: "Your thoughts on earthquake in Nepal? Is the global community getting better at responding to disasters?"

I'm Rex Murphy  ...on CBC Radio One ...and on Sirius XM, satellite radio channel 169 ...this is Cross Country Checkup.

GUESTS

Vishal Arora
​Freelance journalist working in South and South east Asia  and columnist for Asian Pacific Magazine, The Diplomat.
Twitter: @vishalarora_in

Mr. Kali Prasad Pokhrel
Nepali Ambassador to Canada

Michael Den Tandt
Political columnist for the National Post, based in Ottawa.
Twitter: @mdentandt
​
​Mark Turin
Chair, First Nations and Endangered Languages Program, Associate Professor, Anthropology, University of British Columbia
Twitter: @markturin

LINKS

CBC.ca


National Post


Globe and Mail


Malaysian Insider


The Diplomat



Guardian



Telegraph



CIA World Fact Book

TWITTER & EMAIL