Coping With Insecurity and Fear

"A mountain is safer than this. Up there, climbing, I sometimes feel afraid, but not like this. This kind of danger is not in my hands."
Bikash Suwal, Nepali trekking guide

Nepalese Buddhists light incense sticks at the Boudhanath Stupa during Buddha Jayanti, or Buddha Purnima, festival in Kathmandu, Nepal, Monday, May 4, 2015. Hundreds of people have visited Buddhists shrines and monasteries in Nepal’s quake-wracked Kathmandu on the birthday of Gautama Buddha to pray for the country and the people who suffered during April 25 earthquake. (AP Photo/Bernat Amangue)

Fear is the emotion that floods Kathmandu. The death toll of Saturday's 7.8-magnitude earthquake has now grown to well over seven thousand. That includes six foreigners and 45 Nepalese, found on a popular Himalayan trekking route. The intense pulses of seismic energy unleashed by the cataclysmic quake crumpled ancient temples in Kathmandu. Many buildings constructed in the wake of a modern building code imposition also collapsed.

It has become clear to many in the Nepalese public that the flaky concrete and brittle metal pillars left after building collapses reveal a level of corruption and government enforcement rotten through indifference to regulations. Building experts speak of the corruption as an open secret, pointing to the unlicensed five- and six-story buildings rising in recent years. "We pay like this", Bahadur Khadwada, owner of the Kalika Guesthouse said, rubbing his thumb with his index finger. "They go away."

Bribery, casual tax law enforcement and a lack of land-use controls speak to buildings vulnerable to seismic disasters.  The very geology of Nepal complicates matters, since the city is on the ancient bed of a lake, and urban growth has led construction spreading out toward risky geological terrain. Scientists have warned in recent months that modern buildings constructed in haste would be vulnerable.

And then there's the problem of landing and distributing international aid in the country. Nepalese authorities were forced to close the main airport to large aircraft delivering aid to millions in the wake of the earthquake. Temporary closure was required because of damage to the main runway from the large military and cargo planes flying in aid supplies, food, medicines and rescue workers.

Relief material brought in from China lie at the Tribhuvan International airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, May 3, 2015.   (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Cracks have appeared on the runway along with other problems at the only airport capable of handling jetliners. "You've got one runway, and you've got limited handling facilities, and you've got the ongoing commercial flights. You put on top of that massive relief items coming in, the search and rescue teams that has clogged up this airport. And I think once they put better systems in place, I think that will get better", explained Jamie McGoldrick, UN co-ordinator for Nepal.

The full extent of the damage in the country remains unknown, with reports filtering in from remote areas, many of which remain cut off from access. A spokesman for the British charity Oxfam, said the main problem were delays, "but these have more to do with the challenge of moving large volumes of goods than customs", responding to the Nepalese government having finally eased customs and other bureaucratic hurdles on humanitarian aid, following complaints from the United Nations.