Nepal, July 30 -- Last year's monsoon was devastating for Kavrepalanchok district's Bethanchok Rural Municipality. Out of 78 people who died in floods and landslides in the district, 12 deaths were reported from Bethanchok alone. Due to the paucity of resources and aid, survivors are still forced to live in their crumbling homes; those whose houses were entirely swept away by the swollen Roshi River and landslides have not been able to rebuild. Meanwhile, quarrying mines-believed to be the primary cause of the devastation in the district-have already started operating. Given this, residents are now living with an impending double whammy of natural and human-induced disasters.

Bethanchok has three registered quarries and one crusher. But ...