We have failed to preserve the aesthetic beauty of our monuments during the  reconstruction: Govinda Raj Pokharel,  former chief executive officer of NRA

Kathmandu, April 24

Saturday marks five years of the 2015 earthquakes that rattled the country taking lives of thousands and damaging physical infrastructure worth billions of rupees. Moreover, the five-year tenure of the National Reconstruction Authority, the government agency formed to complete post-earthquake reconstruction and rehabilitation works, is set to end in December.

However, as is usual with all government-related works, reconstruction activities are far from over and the authorities concerned have started looking for ways to pass the buck for the delay.

In recent days NRA officials have started blaming the ongoing lockdown for the delay in reconstruction works, but the fact is that the lockdown has been in force only for the past one month, while thousands of quake-hit people are still awaiting the government’s relief. Moreover, reconstruction of major infrastructure damaged by the quake, including the iconic Dharahara and the historic Rani Pokhari, is yet to be completed.

Had there been no lockdown, NRA would have accomplished its tasks before the deadline ends in December, claim NRA officials hinting that the tenure of NRA is likely to be extended by another one year based on existing legal provisions.

Statistics show that out of 781,176 beneficiaries who have signed the agreement for the government grant, 63 per cent or 494,044 beneficiaries have already built their houses, while 25 per cent or 190,145 beneficiaries are in different stages of reconstructing houses. Only 72 per cent of housing grant beneficiaries identified by the government have availed the third or final tranche of the grant to construct houses.

As for reconstruction of schools, reconstruction of 74 per cent or 5,598 schools out of 7,553 schools damaged in the earthquakes has been completed. While NRA claims that a number of other schools are being reconstructed, it said some schools had insufficient land for reconstruction, thereby affecting the reconstruction works.

Out of 1,197 health centres damaged by the earthquakes, reconstruction of only 56 per cent or 669 such centres has been completed, while 12 per cent or 145 are undergoing reconstruction.

Reconstruction of 349 of the 415 government buildings affected by the earthquakes has been completed so far.

The NRA has approved the plan of constructing 43 integrated settlements and nine integrated settlements have already been constructed, while the detailed project reports of 27 integrated settlements have been approved and construction has begun. This means 79 integrated settlements are being constructed in the earthquake-affected districts.

The reconstruction of roads damaged by the quakes is also not satisfactory. Out of 762 kilometres of roads that required reconstruction after the earthquakes, reconstruction of 443 km has been completed so far.

Govinda Raj Pokharel, former chief executive officer of NRA, believes that much more progress in the reconstruction could have been achieved by today which was missed due to different factors, including delayed decision making, late budget allocation and lack of coordination between the government agencies. “The reconstruction progress is not bad, but inadequate.”

“We have, however, failed to preserve the aesthetic beauty of our monuments during the reconstruction,” he admitted.

However, NRA officials claim that the country has made significant progress in reconstruction and rehabilitation works in the four-anda-half years of the establishment of NRA. “Using disaster as an opportunity to work, the NRA adopted the principle of ‘Build Back Better’. Today, hundreds of earthquake-resilient structures have been built in 32 earthquake-affected districts and many more are undergoing reconstruction,” claimed Sushil Gyewali, CEO of NRA.

Since the establishment  of NRA, the government  has spent Rs 381 billion in the post-earthquake reconstruction till date, including Rs 309 billion from the  government and donor agencies and Rs 72 million through non-government organisations.

Gyewali said reconstruction progress was satisfactory considering obstacles that Nepal had to face, including political instability, blockade along the southern border and lack of human and financial resources. “However, with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic NRA is likely to face problems related to financial resources in the future,” he added.

He added that NRA’s tenure was likely to be extended by at least one more year. “We are planning to table the proposal to the NRA Advisory Council, which is chaired by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli,” he said.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on April 25, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.