LALITPUR: MinErgy Initiatives, with the support from Engineers Without Border-Germany (EWBG), has distributed construction materials to build temporary shelters for 47 households of Godamchaur in Lalitpur.

Majority of the population in the area belong to Dalit community.

The April 25 earthquake had ravaged more than 100 houses in the village. Despite extensive damage of residential buildings, people from Godamchaur have not received any support from government or non-government agencies.

Most of the people whose houses were damaged in the quake have been living under tarpaulins and tents.

MinErgy will support the villagers to install temporary transitional shelters made of corrugated zinc sheets and iron rods to save them from monsoons rains, said the organisation.

The local community has also decided to pitch in for the construction of walls for the shelters by using salvaged materials from their destroyed houses.

Engineers from the organisation had carried out assessment of the buildings to determine the actual need of temporary shelters in the community. All the activities were conducted in close consultation with the local administration, representatives from different political parties and local people.

Architect Shayu Prajapati from MinErgy Initiatives said, “We provided materials and two days’ training to the community people to construct the temporary shelters. Now, the community people are making shelters on their own.”

Stating that they were closely monitoring the installation and construction process to ensure that the shelters were built correctly, she said, “We are not only distributing the materials but are also providing technical support for the construction.”

“We are planning to work on rebuilding project which will be more like building a model village,” she said.

More than 8,780 people were killed in the April and May quakes and more than 22,304 were injured. In the Kathmandu Valley, 1,733 people were killed.