Kathmandu, December 26 Eighty-six per cent of private houses that were damaged by the devastating earthquakes in 2015 have been reconstructed in the four years after the establishment of the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) — the consortium of post-earthquake reconstruction process. The figure, however, also includes houses whose reconstruction is under way. Amid a programme organised to mark the four years of NRA’s establishment, the authority informed that the reconstruction of 482,323 private houses out of 780,165 households with which NRA had inked the housing grant has been completed so far. Similarly, 189,041 quake-damaged houses are currently being rebuilt. As per NRA’s statistics, 5,380 or 71 per cent of 7,553 educational institutions affected by the earthquakes have been reconstructed till date. Similarly, reconstruction works of 1,787 institutions is currently ongoing. Similarly, of the 891 cultural heritage sites of 32 districts damaged by the earthquakes, the reconstruction of 387 sites has been completed, while reconstruction of 123 such sites is ongoing, as per NRA. Of the 1,197 health institutions affected by the quakes, reconstruction of 665 has been completed, while reconstruction of 149 such institutions is ongoing. On the occasion, NRA Chief Executive Officer Sushil Gyewali informed that the reconstruction drive is smooth and has made significant progress in recent months. As per him, Rs 335 billion has been invested in the reconstruction works so far. However, Gyewali outlined a few challenges as the reconstruction process moves ahead, including resource management. “The reconstruction work still has huge budget deficit. Along with this, challenges also lie in rebuilding of private houses in city areas and collecting the housing grant back from fake beneficiaries,” he said. As per him, NRA still has a deficit of Rs 300 billion to complete the entire reconstruction works, while the authority requires Rs 34 billion within this fiscal. “The government and other stakeholders should discuss ways to assure necessary budget for reconstruction and ensure that the post-quake reconstruction works move forward smoothly.”