Kathmandu, April 24

Twelve months have elapsed since last year’s devastating earthquake, but families rendered homeless by the disaster are still living in temporary shelters, under the bridges and in unsafe buildings as 600,000 households remain without permanent shelter, Save the Children said.

A press statement issued by Save the Children in the capital today said it released a new report revealing that most of the marginalised and vulnerable communities did not receive any aid during critical emergency response.

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The statement added that not a single formal rebuilding program has been launched in the past 12 months, mainly due to the sheer scale of the disaster and massive logistical challenges in rural mountainous regions.

“Save the Children has been preparing its shelter program for months now, which includes training 6,000 masons in safe rebuilding practices and preparing cash grant of 12 million dollars for 6,000 households that will allow vulnerable households to commence rebuilding. When we are given the green light, we will be ready to go,” Borja said.

She said the mountainous terrain of Nepal, poor condition of roads and fuel shortage added to the difficulty in reaching the most isolated and vulnerable communities for reconstruction.

Despite these challenges, Save the Children has reached over 580,000 earthquake survivors so far, and continues to work on the ground offering much needed support where it can, read the statement.

“Reaching the far flung remote and badly affected areas was almost impossible with roads cut off due to landslides while many villages were only accessible by foot,” Borja said.

Save the Children has prioritised schools for the quake-affected.

With more than 28,000 classrooms destroyed, over 7,000 schools need to be rebuilt.