Contamination and Impact

Mines

Nepal is affected by antipersonnel mines as a result of a decade of armed conflict ended by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2006. The Nepal Army laid 53 antipersonnel minefields.[1] As of February 2010, the Nepal Army had cleared 23, leaving 30 minefields covering an estimated 2.5km² still to be tackled.[2]

Two mine casualties occurred in 2009, despite systematic marking and fencing of contaminated areas. Civilians have been using many of the cleared areas to collect brushwood, graze their animals, and even, in one case, visit a shrine that was formerly within a minefield.[3]

Explosive remnants of war

The decade of conflict has also resulted in a problem of explosive remnants of war (ERW), especially abandoned explosive ordnance, as well as of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The Nepal Army and Armed Police Force placed explosive devices, including command-detonated IEDs, as defensive perimeters around military installations. As of March 2010, the army had cleared 130 out of its 273 command-detonated IED fields.[4]

A significant number of items of Maoist ordnance, especially “socket bombs” (improvised hand-grenades), remain in civilian homes. In 2009, around half of the total mine/ERW casualties occurred within homes as a result of these devices.[5] Community members are said to be reluctant to report this ordnance for fear of retribution.[6]

More recent violence involving autonomy-seeking groups in Nepal’s southern Terai region has been adding IED contamination, with new incidents being reported once or twice a week.[7] IEDs used in such incidents are newly-made, not those leftover from earlier conflict.[8]

Mine Action Program

Key institutions and operators

The Steering Committee for Mine Action and its Mine Action Technical Committee serves as the National Mine Action Authority (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. There is no national mine action center, although NAMACC operates as a sub-unit command within the army and in October 2009, the Ministry of Peace and Reconciliation set up a Mine Action Office to serve as a government focal point for mine action.[9] In addition, a Mine Action Joint Working Group (MAJWG), jointly chaired by the members of the UN Mine Action Team (UNMAT), continues to support operational coordination, especially of mine/ERW risk education  and victim assistance.[10]

A workshop in Kathmandu on 23–24 February 2010 developed a draft strategic mine action plan, which was due to be reviewed by the mine action task force prior to its adoption.[11] Clearance of all mined areas is expected to be completed during 2011.[12]

Recent program evaluations

A Cranfield University evaluation of UN support to the mine action program in 2009 found the Nepal Army “is clearing its antipersonnel minefields effectively, efficiently and safely” and had made “considerable progress” strengthening the middle management of its mine action component. It observed, however, that there was an absence of effective national accountability and governance as the NMAA was not functioning and the Steering Committee for Mine Action and Mine Action Technical Committee had not met. The report recommended that UNMAT should be funded until the end of 2011. It also urged UNMAT to provide external quality assurance and post-clearance quality control to the Nepal Army for clearance of command-detonated explosive devices.[13]

A UN interagency mine action assessment conducted in late 2007 was still awaiting comment by the government as of February 2010, but has been superseded by subsequent developments.[14]

Land Release

Clearance productivity increased significantly in 2009, with 15 minefields cleared during the year, compared to four in 2008. UNMAT planned to conduct training for the army in technical survey capacity for land release during the 2010 monsoon season to further improve productivity.[15]

Five-year summary of land release

Mine clearance in 2009

As of the end of 2009, mine clearance capacity consisted of three 25-person teams, of whom some 60 were deminers.[16] The Nepal Army hoped to add a fourth team in 2010.[17]

Mine clearance in 2009[18]

In addition, destruction of 18,308 items of explosive ordnance handed in by the former Maoist combatants was completed on 24 December 2009.[19]

Community liaison

There is no dedicated community liaison capacity in Nepal, although army engineer personnel are trained in risk education and are said to liaise with the community when engaging in land release.[20]

Quality management

Quality assurance of mine clearance operations is conducted by both the army and UNMAT, with exploratory lanes used as a form of post-clearance quality control.[21]

Safety of demining personnel

There were no demining injuries in 2009.[22]

Other Risk Reduction Measures

There is a highly active risk education (RE) program in Nepal, involving UNMAT, the Nepal Red Cross Society, the Nepal Campaign to Ban Landmines (NCBL), the Informal Service Sector Center (INSEC), and other national NGOs in delivering RE to at-risk communities across the country. In 2009, as well as providing support to NGOs engaged in delivering RE, UNICEF, in coordination with members of the MAJWG, drafted national standards on RE. UNICEF continued to support the INSEC’s surveillance system of victim-activated explosions. The surveillance system is said to have been helpful for prioritizing RE, victim assistance, advocacy, and demining activities.[23]

NCBL’s RE work is composed of providing education for youth and schoolchildren, integration of RE with victim assistance in 14 districts from mid-2009 and through 2010, as well as awareness activities through the release of an album of songs.[24]