Nepali community radios hold the government accountable in earthquake recovery efforts

A year after a devastating earthquake hit Nepal in April 2015, IMS’ advisor in Nepal, Binod Bhattarai, looks back at how local journalists in community radio held government accountable to their promises in the immediate reconstruction phase

By Binod Bhattarai, Advisor, International Media Support, Nepal

On 9 April Rachana and I were at the dinner table a few minutes past seven, when suddenly there was a groan and a jolt that seemed to have lifted the house and put it back amidst the clank of the kitchen utensils. Rachana, my wife, jumped from her chair and stood up as if ready to dash out, and down the stairs from our kitchen on the second floor. I stood up held her hand as she chanted Ram, Ram… (name of a Hindu deity).

The lift and shake stopped within a few seconds. It was a magnitude 4.5 earthquake with epicenter at Nakkhu, less than 2 kilometers from where we live. Quakes 4-4.9 magnitude are said to be “light” but at such a short distance, it was a forceful reminder of the magnitude 7.8 monster that had jolted Nepal on 25 April 2015 killing over 8000 people, and had damaged over half a million homes.

Instinctively, I turned the radio on and caught a newscast on Ujyaalo a local station. It said that was the 446th quake above magnitude 4 we’ve had since the Gorkha Earthquake of last year. There was one more aftershock on 12 April, after which the tremors seemed to have headed elsewhere – to Myanmar, Japan and then Ecuador.

I asked the Gopal Guragain, Executive Chairman, Ujyaalo FM, why the station was counting the quakes. “We want people to remember how vulnerable we are to make sure we are better prepared for the next one.” He added, “We’ve reported on recovery and reconstruction efforts for one full year and we now know better about the sufferings in remote villages. We don’t want that to happen again.”

Those reports from the villages were made possible by a locally conceived radio program designed to make sure there was accountability in the efforts of both government and international agencies helping people to rebuild from the rubble. International Media Support, a Denmark-based media development organization, responded to the request from Nepal to Jamani (Eyewitness in English). The support helped train and mentor reporters in 10 earthquake-affected districts to serve as the eyes and ears for the station on the ground. Their reports were then broadcast three days a week both in Kathmandu on stations in 10 earthquake-affected districts.

Jamani essentially told stories – of hope, suffering, coping strategies and effectiveness of recovery support – or the lack of it. Kathmandu-based producers took concerns from the districts to officials in Kathmandu and asked why things were not working and broadcast the responses. This somehow helped to get things done.

In one district people not affected by the quake had managed to get relief support because they had the political connections. After the story was broadcast about 100 people returned the US$150 they had received.

In another village, the real victims had not received the relief allowance because local politicians couldn’t agree on who should get it. A Jamani reporter investigated the story. Three days after the story was broadcast, the politicians agreed on the list of beneficiaries and people were able to receive the allowance.

Yet another story on the show helped to reunite a family five months that had been separated for five months after the quake. As the story goes, the wife and the daughter of a blind man had gone to the market when they were injured in the quake. They were helicoptered to Kathmandu for treatment while the husband in the villages waited for news. A Jamani reporter tracked down the injured at a Kathmandu hospital and broadcast the story on their wellbeing that the husband was able to listen. Later with donations from Nepalis working in the Middle East, Ujyaalo helped reunite the family.

The project ended in January this year but the reporters who were trained and their radio stations have continued to carry the program.

Radio is the most effective means of reaching people living in Nepal’s mountainous districts. The Danish government’s aid agency, DANIDA, had supported the establishment of many of these stations after the government began licensing private radios after 1997.

Nepal’s reconstruction journey has just begun. In March the Nepal Reconstruction Authority (NRA) began providing USD 2000 grants to villagers who lost their homes in the earthquake. This money is to be used to build earthquake safe houses, using government-approved designs. A small portion of this money comes from the pledges donors had made in June to provide $4.1 billion for the reconstruction effort.

“We want to be around when all that money comes to report on how it is spent,” said Mr. Guragain.

Binod Bhattarai is a media advisor for International Media Support in Nepal and is now also assisting the NRA in its communication.