Enhancing Critical Infrastructure and Risk Management Capacity in Nepal

According to the World Bank, Nepal’s road and power (electricity) infrastructure quality is ranked among the lowest in Asia. Every year, monsoon floods and landslides wreak havoc on the nation’s critical infrastructure, affecting millions of citizens due to loss or disruption of critical services.

Between April 2024 and September 2024, national highways across the country were reported to have been damaged in over 800 locations due to floods and landslides, resulting in over 100,000 hours of disruption. Although data is unavailable for rural areas, we can presume that damage severity in such areas is much higher, with unprecedented impacts on local economy and the society.

The damages brought into light the deep-rooted vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure in Nepal, strongly echoing the call for effective risk management.

Ms. Hiradevi Silwal, a resident of Dhading district in central Nepal, talked to us about recurring landslides along the district road that connects her neighborhood to the national highway. “Small landslides have been occurring more frequently near my home, and it’s mostly along the roads. While our home and land has not been affected until now, we fear that the landslide will increase in the future and reach us”, said Ms. Silwal of the perceived threat.

When asked how her life was affected by such incidents, she further added, “Movement is completely disrupted, as buses, cars and ambulances can’t pass the landslide. Even motorbikes are hesitant to travel due to the threat”. Local authorities, on the other hand, face data gaps to assess risks, identify impacts and plan for remedial action. They heavily rely on conventional methods to collect information, including phone calls or social media messages from impacted residents to locate incidents and assess impacts. This process is time-consuming, severely affecting their ability to respond quickly during emergencies and to proactively engage in risk mitigation.

“With our current budgets and resources, we are only able to repair and maintain a portion of our roads periodically and must sanction our works accordingly. By the time we receive information and proceed with repairs, the damage will have increased and result in much higher impact that could have been avoided”, says Mr. Krishna Dhakal, Sub Engineer, Neelkantha Municipality. 

To address these challenges, Asian Institute of Technology, with funding support from ADPC’s Climate Innovation Challenge (2022) and iCARE Innovations Fund (2024) developed, tested and operationalized CRISTA (Climate Resilient Infrastructure for Social Transformation and Adaptation) in Nepal. The system has been installed and is active in four municipalities in Dhading district of Nepal.

The system comprises of a web-based computer dashboard and a crowdsourcing android mobile application. Using a baseline GIS database (eg. hazard maps and infrastructure vulnerability assessment) and real-time incident reports submitted by local community members (see photo) via the mobile application, trained authorities can monitor the health and status (including damages or disruptions) to road and power infrastructure components and implement appropriate response measures. The system also allows authorities to send notifications, alerts and warnings to community people to support them in preparedness and anticipatory action.

Alongside system development, the project implemented targeted training programs and awareness campaigns to help the beneficiaries access and use the system. More than 400 community members and 21 officials from the four municipalities have been trained. User guides and operating procedures have been developed to help local authorities operationalize the system. Outreach events, including meetings and workshops were held to disseminate and demonstrate CRISTA to over 600 people, including elected and government officials at national and local levels, media and partner organizations to prepare the groundwork for nation-wide scale up.

Early positive impacts of the system are already being observed. More than 400 citizens in the project municipalities have registered and used the system, generating more than 600 incident reports during the 2024 monsoon period. The system has established itself as a crucial tool for community members to communicate with local authorities regarding critical infrastructure risks and damage, and for local authorities to locate incidents and respond proactively to mitigate risks and reduce disruptions.

“Whenever there are any road blockages or failure of electricity, we always find it difficult to identify whom to contact to address the problem. We are delighted to have the CRISTA application to directly send reports of such incidents to the concerned authorities, and hope that this will make the response from local authorities much faster”, says Ms. Radhika Sanjel, Benighat Rorang Rural Municipality, Dhading

Highlighting how the municipalities plan to utilize the system, Mr. Ram Kumar Shrestha, ICT Officer at Neelkantha Municipality states, “The CRISTA system helps us identify risks and damages to critical infrastructure and mobilize our resources for response and risk management. Once we fully institutionalize the system, we expect more citizens to register, send us reports using the mobile application and benefit from the alerts and notifications.”