Retrofitting – Helping create more resilient communities

The volatility of life in Nepal

Nepal is home to our ageing veterans. It is also one of the countries in the world most at risk from natural disasters, particularly seismic activity. You will remember the devastating earthquake of 2015 and the impact it had on our most vulnerable Gurkhas in the hills of Nepal. It is not a question of whether another large earthquake will hit Nepal… its when.

The need to rebuild

Many of the buildings and homes in Nepal are built from stone, mud, timber and metal works. Historically there haven’t been any particular building standards to adhere to and those that are in place are difficult to enforce, meaning that unless something is done to reinforce or replace existing buildings, another earthquake of the same or greater magnitude than that of 2015, would, in short, be a disaster.  ‘Earthquakes don’t kill people, buildings do.” (Kishore Thapa, President of the Society of Nepalese Architects (SONA) The Kathmandu Post).

What can we do to help minimise damage and loss of life?

Aside from replacing unstable constructions, it is possible to strengthen their structure by retrofitting. Retrofitting means taking action to strengthen and adapt existing buildings to make them more resilient against the next earthquake.

Stability-increasing measures of retrofitting include:

– Inserting Seismic Gap Masonry into existing walls

– Demolishing old gable walls replacing them with fortified brickwork

– Repairing roofs

– Converting half-brick walls to full-brick walls

– Filling windows

– Adding floor and roof bracing

– Replacing any asbestos sheets with CGI Sheets

Retrofitting to help keep veterans and their communities safe

Over the past two years The Gurkha Welfare Trust has developed a disaster resilience plan, to help us meet the challenges of providing care for vulnerable veterans. This included a Seismic Vulnerability Assessment, where we conducted tests on our own building structures. It was found that immediate action would need to be taken to ensure the stability of six of our Area Welfare centres and the safety of our teams in Nepal who operate out of them.

Retrofitting in images

The importance of Area Welfare Centres

Many of our Area Welfare Centres are located in areas where there is a large Gurkha veteran population. They are the beating heart of our operation and a lifeline to vulnerable Gurkha veterans and widows. They play a vital role in providing welfare support for veterans and their families and the centres are also home to our team members, many of whom are former Gurkhas themselves.

AWC Syangja Pension paying week

The retrofitting of each of our Area Welfare Centres have been meticulously planned to the smallest architectural detail and we hope to be able to begin work soon.