Barpak (Gorkha), April 23 Kalimaya Gurung, 65, of Barpak, Gorkha, who lost her twenty-six-year-old son in the great earthquake of April 25 last year, has been staying in a temporary shelter for the past one year with seven family members. “I had heard of the government promise of help for quake victims and hoped that we would be able to shift to our own house before the start of monsoon this year, but to no avail. One year has gone by and we’re still staying here,” she lamented. Kumar Gurung of Barpak has been living in a temporary shelter on a piece of land rented from his neighbour for the past one year. “I wonder if the state coffers have gone dry as the government is dilly-dallying in making good on its promise. Otherwise, why would the government give nothing of the money it had pledged even after one year?” asked the quake victim, who has been paying Rs 1,000 as monthly rent for the land on which he has built a temporary shelter to house his family. READ ALSO

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Kalimaya’s and Kumar’s cases show failure on the part of the government to hand over its pledged grant amount to quake victims. This has annoyed locals. Some are even venting their ire against the state by passing acerbic comments against the leadership. While 90 per cent of the 1,416 quake victim families in Barpak are still awaiting the state-pledged grant, the remaining 10 per cent have started reconstructing houses on their own. However, most of the houses that have been reconstructed by the victims are not quake-resistant. “So far I’ve received Rs 15,000 to build a temporary shelter and Rs 10,000 as winter clothes allowance. We’ve somehow lived this one year but as the state has failed to provide us the pledged amount for reconstruction of houses, I don’t know how we will survive this monsoon,” said Kumar, expressing apprehensions about the upcoming monsoon and the havoc it will cause. “How will we carry out reconstruction in the monsoon even if the government provides us the grant then?” he asked. For Ram Bahadur Gurung of Barpak, living in the temporary shelter was been quite an ordeal. “It was very difficult for my entire family to adjust in that tiny shelter,” said Ram Bahadur, who along with his family, is living in a simple house that he recently built by paying from his own pocket after he didn’t get the government-pledged grant. Further, the tremor victim informed about preparations in the village to observe Earthquake Memorial Day on April 24 (Baisakh 12) this year. “We’ve also a programme in which the president will unveil a memorial park on that day. We’re thinking of asking why the fund has not been released,” he said. The plight of Shukaram Gurung is, however, a little different as the 34-year-old was crippled by the quake. “I already owe 400,000 rupees as loan. How am I going to pay it back?” asked the victim, adding, “After the quake battered us, everyone, including the government talked big, but so far hardly anyone has done anything.” According to Shukaram, he is running a tea shop to earn for his family. “There were many organisations that assured help for the education of my children and survival of my family, but here I’m all by myself to fend for my family,” Shukaram bemoaned. On the other hand, the elderly of the village are concerned about the destruction of cultural and other monuments of the village due to the quake. “Earlier our village was known for its uniqueness, but the quake has destroyed everything,” said Arjun Gurung, adding, “Earlier there were houses which were made in the same way here. Those houses were artistic, but now that people are making houses on their own, nobody bothers about the artistic quality of the houses and the unique identity of the village,” he said. According to Barpak VDC Secretary Chet Prasad Ammai, visiting President Bidhyadevi Bhandari will inaugurate the reconstruction of houses in the village by reconstructing the house of local Gopal BK on April 24 (Baisakh 12). A total of 72 persons lost their lives to the quake in Barpak alone, while more than 350 were injured. Among the injured, some were rendered crippled. As per the Census of 2011, Barpak has a population of 7,732.