Any potential interruption to UNHAS service will leave at least 146,000 people in remote communities devastated by the 25 April and 12 May earthquakes without the support they require to survive through the monsoon and beyond, including emergency shelter and food and livelihoods support, it said in a statement on Monday.

Monsoon rains and the landslides further limit or even cut off access to communities, making airlift service more crucial by the day.

“Airlift support is crucial for ongoing relief operation,” said Jamie McGoldrick, Humanitarian Coordinator in Nepal. “Without it, humanitarian partners won’t be able to continue providing vital assistance to communities in far-flung areas, most of which were severely affected by the earthquakes. UNHAS has been proving essential to overcoming several logistical challenges, now compounded by the monsoon, and will remain indispensable as we move in the weeks to come with preparing these communities for their survival through the upcoming winter.”

To date, 139 remote communities currently inaccessible by road have been served by UNHAS helicopters. UNHAS says that it needs US$ 18 million to continue to support the ongoing relief operation until the end of October 2015.

To date, only US$ 8.8 million (or 49 per cent) has been received, leaving a US$ 9.2 million shortfall. If the gap is not met soon, deliveries will cease at the end of August. “Because of great need in remote areas, exacerbated by the recent monsoon weather delays, we currently have a significant backlog,” said Edmondo Perrone, Logistics Cluster Coordinator. “We have pending requests to move about 650 metric tons of emergency supplies, and new requests for the movement of cargo continue to be received daily. About 35 organisations are waiting for airlifts, which emphasises how desperate the need is for this service right now.”

UNHAS, the World Food Programme managed service, provides the entire humanitarian community involved in earthquake response with free airlift services, both cargo and passenger. It delivers supplies to remote communities on behalf of the government, as well as more than 135 NGOs, UN agencies, donors, the diplomatic community and other humanitarian partners. Since its establishment, and despite adverse weather, UNHAS allowed for moving more than 2,600 humanitarian workers and 1,457 metric tons of humanitarian supplies across the country. Its fleet has been utilised 30 percent more than was originally envisioned, as the need was much greater than anticipated, leading to depletion of funding reserves.

WFP begins assessing rural roads

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has begun a joint engineering assessment of secondary rural roads that have been blocked by recent landslides with local authorities.

 The assessment will help authorities understand the requirements to reopen these roads.

Massive landslides last week have left much of the northern part of the district with limited or no road access, and this is disrupting deliveries of food and other emergency supplies in response to the 25 April earthquake.

“This district is one of the worst quake-hit areas and the situation has been exacerbated by recent monsoon rains,” said Stephen Anderson, Emergency Coordinator for WFP in Nepal in a statement. “This assessment, which is complementary to the Government of Nepal’s ongoing reconstruction efforts is a first step in repairing critical infrastructure needed to allow the free flow of commerce, services and relief supplies.” “When we understand how bad the damage is to roads, bridges and other infrastructure, it will help the government and stakeholders appreciate the needs and gaps—and agree on who is best suited to undertake repairs.”

In its first step, WFP is surveying 70km of roads, including the road from Melamchi to Photang which serves the western section of the district, and the road from Reifi to Gumba. Both roads have been cut off or damaged by landslides.

The surveys will complement government efforts to repair national highways and other roads in the district. “We cannot distribute food from Charikot,” said Michael Ryan, a WFP engineer. “This is creating a backlog in the supply chain, and slowing down food distribution. There is a critical need to support government efforts to open the roads – not just to deliver emergency supplies but also to connect communities to other services, such as schools and hospitals.” Surveys are being undertaken with the district disaster relief committee. They are being conducted on foot, as all roads are inaccessible by vehicle.

Mountain people affected most by earthquake, says report

The per capita disaster impact of the April 25 earthquake and its subsequent aftershocks was highest in the mountains and lowest in inner Tarai among the 14 most affected districts in the country.

The poor socio-economic conditions of the mountain people who already live under conditions of poverty, inequality and vulnerability of various natural disasters was further amplified after the earthquake as their three key main sources of livelihood—- agriculture, animal husbandry and tourism were particularly badly affected, according to findings of a working paper on post-earthquake disaster.

The Strategic Framework for Resilient Livelihoods in Earthquake-Affected Areas of Nepal prepared by the National Planning Commission (NPC) and International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) identified that less developed and poor communities, many of which are in mountain areas, endured a larger portion of disaster impacts. Of the total 5.4 million livelihoods affected by the earthquake in 14 major districts, poor women and disadvantaged groups suffered more in terms of death, injury, displacement and impacts on other livelihood assets.

As per the findings, the average value of per capita disaster effect was highest in the mountains at Rs 219,503 and the lowest in inner Tarai at Rs 50,813, with an average of Rs 130, 115 in the 14 most affected districts.

About 135,200 tonnes of foodstuff, 16,399 large livestock, 36,819 small livestock, and 460,762 poultry animals have been lost in the Gorkha earthquake.

The agriculture sector suffered total damage and loss of Rs 25.5 billion, with maximum losses of 86 percent in the mountains and hills in 14 districts.

The fragility of the mountains compounded with poor attention from the government and concerned bodies to incorporate issues in mainstream development plans and programmes led to increased risks in the mountains during earthquake, said Bimala Rai Paudyal, a member of NPC and one of the reviewers of the framework.

Mountain voices are never heard seriously, she said. “Our development goals are always focused on the places and people who are accessible. We lack adequate knowledge about context specific issues of mountains and its people,” according to Paudyal.

The reconstruction and rebuilding phase after the earthquake has given us ample opportunity to remodel our development efforts and come up with context specific policies and programmes that would benefit the majority of the livelihoods. The activities focusing on resilience of the mountain ecosystem and the communities dependent on its resources is a key intervention to protect the mountains from future disaster risks, the report stated.

“We cannot come up with a blanket approach while addressing the post-disaster development. Mountain-specific plans and policies are the need of today and the government should urgently address this concern,” Paudyal said.