Back to news
25 Feb 2016 | Solar Pumps

Solar-powered Lamps to Earthquake Survivors

1 min Read

70% Complete

Hundreds of earthquake-affected families in Ratanchaura and Baseshwor Village Development Committees (VDCs) of Sindhuli district are no longer sitting in darkness after receiving solar-powered lamps donated by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). Earlier in January, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation Nepal distributed lamps to 440 earthquake-affected households in Sindhuli, a district hit hard by the earthquake on 25 April.

ICIMOD’s Koshi Basin Program and Helvetas started an initiative to develop Water Use Master Plans (WUMPS) in Ratancharua and Baseshwor VDCs. WUMP promotes effective and equitable water management at local level. Both Ratanchaura and Baseshwor are pilot sites for WUMPs and were severely affected by the 25 April 2015 earthquake.

Since, 2014, under the Koshi Basin Programme (KBP), ICIMOD and HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation Nepal have initiated a collaborative action research to develop Water Use Master Plans (WUMPs) at the village development committee (VDC) level in three districts — Sindhupalchowk, Sindhuli and Saptari — of Nepal representing three ecological zones of the Koshi basin.

Families receiving solar lamps included earthquake survivors, marginalised families and women-headed households — all of whom have no electricity.

With the lamps, women are able to resume their adult literacy classes normally held in the evening. Children use their lamps for homework. Farmers use the lamps to check irrigation canals at nights which need constant monitoring.

The lamp distribution was organised on 23 December and was attended by most households within the VDCs.

The lamp distribution provided ICIMOD and HELVETAS an opportunity to see the  progress of WUMP in the VDCs. WUMP’s initiation has been progressing despite the impact of the earthquake in both VDCs.

Stay current

Stay up to date on what’s happening around the HKH with our most recent publications and find out how you can help by subscribing to our mailing list.

Sign Up

Related content

Continue exploring this topic

21 Jun 2018 Cryosphere
Cryosphere Information Hub for Bhutan

The National Center for Hydrology and Meteorology (NCHM) in Bhutan will soon have a Cryosphere Information Hub that will share ...

4 Aug 2022 News
Strengthening capacity for disaster risk reduction and management in the hydropower sector

The Hydropower Transboundary Working Group (TWG) under the Koshi Disaster Risk Reduction Knowledge Hub (KDKH) focuses on assessing multi-hazard vulnerability ...

1 Jun 2018 KDKH
Knowledge hub proposed for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in the Koshi basin

As part of a wider effort between Nepal, India, and China to strengthen disaster risk reduction (DRR) in the Koshi ...

15 Sep 2016 News
HI-AWARE at the ’33rd International Geographical Congress’, 2016

Amina Maharjan, agricultural economist, and migration specialist with HI-AWARE, participated in the 33rd , held in Beijing between 21-25th August ...

9 Sep 2016 HICAP
Outscaling community-based flood early warning systems in Assam

Every year, monsoon precipitation results in floods of various magnitudes inundating large areas of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Indus basins ...

30 Jul 2015 Water
Deepening spring hydrogeology knowledge

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in collaboration with theAdvanced Centre on Water Resources Development and Management (ACWADAM), ...

15 Sep 2016 News
Flood Mapping Made Easier in Bihar

Bihar, India’s most flood-prone state, is under constant threat of flooding. Every year, floods destroy lives, livestock, infrastructure and bring ...

17 Nov 2015 News
Soil Study in Mustang

  Up to 18 thousand gross tonnes of carbon are stored in worldwide soils, almost double the amount stored in all ...