Contamination and Impact

Nepal is affected by antipersonnel mines, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and other explosive remnants of war (ERW) as a result of a decade of conflict that ended with a peace agreement in November 2006.

Mines

Mine contamination when the conflict ended consisted of 53 fields of antipersonnel mines laid by the Nepal Army around military posts. By the end of 2010, clearance had reduced contamination to 17 minefields covering some 80,000m². In June 2011, the UN reported that clearance of all known minefields in Nepal had been completed.[1]

Improvised explosive devices and other explosive remnants of war

The decade of conflict has also resulted in an ERW problem, mainly IEDs. The Nepal Army, police, and Armed Police Force placed explosive devices, including command-detonated IEDs, as defensive perimeters around military installations. The police and armed police force have already cleared their IED fields. Of 270 IED fields laid by the Nepal Army that remained at the end of the conflict, 110 remained to be cleared at the end of 2010.[2]

Continuing violence by non-state armed groups, especially in the Terai region of southern Nepal, has led to additional IED use and new victims. According to UNICEF, of 41 casualties reported in the region in 2010, 36 (88%) were caused by victim-activated IEDs.[3]

Nepal also has a continuing problem with “socket bombs” (improvised hand grenades), which were produced in large quantities by Maoist supporters during the conflict and left in people’s houses after the conflict ended. Socket bombs accounted for seven of 22 incidents in 2010 but these incidents occurred in seven different districts. Other small improvised devices such as “Sutali bombs” (thread bombs) and “tiffin box bombs” also cause casualties.[4]

Mine Action Program

Key institutions and operators

The Steering Committee for Mine Action and its Mine Action Technical Committee serve as the NMAA. It created a mine action task force in October 2009 to make recommendations for future mine action and issued a draft national mine action plan. As of March 2011, the draft plan was still under consideration by the Steering Committee.[5]

NAMACC fulfills many of the functions of a mine action center, operating as a sub-unit command within the army. In October 2009, the MoPR set up a Mine Action Office to serve as a government focal point for mine action.[6] In addition, a MAJWG continues to support operational coordination, especially of mine/ERW casualty surveillance, RE, and victim assistance.[7]

The MAJWG, including representatives of government, security forces, UN agencies, the ICRC, and NGOs, was previously chaired by the members of the UN Mine Action Team (UNMAT)[8] but since August 2010 has been led by the MoPR.[9] Since October 2010, the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) has focused on quality assurance; it expected to end its activities in Nepal at the end of July 2011.[10]

Land Release

Nepal Army engineers cleared 16 minefields in 2010, slightly more than in 2009, but the area released totaled 1.6km², very substantially more than the area actually cleared, reflecting the large buffer zone included by the army within the fencing it installed around mined areas.[11]

Five-year summary of clearance[12]

N/R = Not reported

Mine clearance in 2010

The Nepal Army operated with three demining teams throughout 2010. A fourth demining team was trained in September 2010 but due to shortage of equipment it did not start operations until end January 2011.[13]

Mine clearance in 2010[14]

Safety of demining personnel

No demining accidents occurred in 2010.[15]

Other Risk Reduction Measures

UNICEF, the Nepal Red Cross Society, the Nepal Campaign to Ban Landmines (NCBL), the Informal Service Sector Center (INSEC), and other national NGOs were active in delivering RE to at-risk communities across the country.  In 2010, UNICEF and the Department of Education conducted RE in 1,100 schools targeting more than 380,000 children from the 20 most affected districts. UNICEF together with the Security Forces trained Nepal Police’s 12,000 staff members from 900 police stations, and Armed Police Force’s 11,117 staff members from 100 barracks in 25 most affected districts.[16]

Three waves of media campaigns comprising six public service announcement (PSA) spots and a documentary on “Mine Risk Education Heroes” have been broadcast through nine TV stations and 105 local and FM radios (in six languages). The PSA spots and documentary highlight the danger of explosive devices in Nepal, especially for children, and urge the general public to report information about these devices to local authorities. The campaigns were proposed through the MAJWG and endorsed by the MoPR.[17]