Accurate Information Is Also a Rescue Tool During Disasters

The devastating disaster in the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli areas has exposed not only weaknesses in Nepal’s search, rescue and relief capacity, but also serious shortcomings in information management. When different figures are released at different times for the dead, missing, rescued, hospitalized, displaced, blocked roads and damaged infrastructure, confusion spreads among affected families, the media and the international community. Because disaster situations change rapidly, revisions in figures are natural. What is not acceptable is failing to explain which figures are current, when they were updated and why earlier numbers changed.

During a disaster, a number is never just an administrative statistic. A single name on a missing-persons list may represent a family’s last hope. Incorrect names, duplicate records, delayed corrections or failure to remove an identified person from a missing list can deepen the suffering of already traumatized families. Nepal therefore needs a unified real-time information system linking security agencies, hospitals, local governments, district administrations and institutions responsible for identifying bodies. Cases under DNA examination, preliminary identification and fully confirmed identification should also be clearly distinguished.

Government agencies are currently releasing information through different channels, but the priority must be to integrate those channels into a single verified national system. The Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, the Home Ministry, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, Nepal Police, the Nepal Army, the Armed Police Force, health institutions and local governments should reconcile their information before releasing separate figures. Every update should clearly state the time of verification, the responsible source agency and the status of the data. If an earlier figure is corrected, the reason for the revision should also remain visible in the official record.

The same clarity is necessary regarding relief and international assistance. Aid that has been announced, aid that has arrived in Nepal and aid that has actually reached affected communities are three different things. A road that has been partially reopened is not necessarily safe for all vehicles. An area where search operations are continuing is not the same as one where the search has been completed. Without standardized definitions, even technically correct government information can create a misleading public impression.

The government should therefore establish a permanent practice of issuing an integrated national disaster update at fixed times. During a rapidly evolving crisis, verified updates could be released in the morning and evening, with emergency revisions issued when necessary. There should be a defined chain of information from local governments to districts and from districts to the national level, and all public agencies should work from the same verified database. Such a system would not serve only the current disaster. It could become part of Nepal’s permanent emergency infrastructure for future floods, landslides, earthquakes and other national crises.

The media and social media users also carry responsibility. Unverified death tolls, old videos, mistaken identities and emotionally charged claims should not be circulated as facts. But the most effective way to control misinformation is not to restrict information. It is for the state to provide reliable information quickly and consistently. Where official information is absent, rumor and speculation inevitably fill the gap.

During a disaster, the state does not provide citizens only with helicopters, food, medicine and rescue teams. It must also provide trust. That trust is built through accurate and timely information. Incorrect or delayed data can send relief to the wrong place, disrupt search operations, distort international assistance priorities and weaken public confidence in government.

Disaster information management should therefore no longer be treated as a routine public-relations function. Accurate information is as important to decision-makers as ropes, helicopters and excavators are to rescue teams. Nepal does not need multiple official versions of the same disaster. It needs one national picture verified by all relevant state institutions. In a crisis, accurate information is itself a rescue tool.