Quake victims accuse engineers of manipulating data

Hetauda, July 7

Scores of people in Raksirang, Makawanpur, have accused the government of excluding them from the list of victims of last year’s devastating earthquake.

The victims blamed the government of making the list public under political duress.

They have also charged engineers involved in data collection of demanding payola.

“My family has been excluded from the list because I could not offer the amount asked by the engineers involved in data collection,” complained Man Singh Sangtan of Raksirang - 5.

Locals have accused the engineers of preparing the data of victims randomly and abusing their authority.

Banastam Thing of Raksirang said that officials have listed partially damaged households in the list of completely damaged houses. “More than 75 per cent of data collected by state officials is bogus. We want the government to take immediate steps to correct this,” irate locals said.

The locals have warned they will occupy state offices at the district headquarters and use them to rehabilitate genuine victims. “Even houses constructed after the earthquake have been included in the detail of damaged structures,” said Sanjay Koirala of Raksing 7.

Meanwhile, District Development Committee has said it will launch an investigation on the charges. “If the allegations are found to be true during the investigation, we will take necessary action against the guilty,” pledged Local Development Officer Laxman Bikram Thapa.