Kathmandu, June 30

Only 4.8 per cent of the earthquake victims in Kathmandu have been verified for the second tranche of housing grant.

According to Kathmandu Metropolitan City, only 288 quake victims had applied for the second tranche of the housing grant, although a total of 5,111 quake-affected people in Kathmandu had received Rs 50,000 per house as the first tranche of the grant.

“Of 5,111, just 288 have registered for the second tranche and out of 288, only 247 applications have been verified by KMC,” DSP at the Disaster Management Department Dhanapati Sapkota told The Himalayan Times.

He said just around four per cent registration shows that either most of the victims have already finished rebuilding their houses or only 288 were genuine victims.

The government has allocated Rs 150,000 each for the second tranche of housing grant. Similarly, Rs 200,000 will be distributed in the third instalment.

According to the home ministry, a total of 36,973 private houses in Kathmandu were destroyed while 50,753 suffered partial damage.

The April 2015 earthquake killed nearly 9,000 people and injured nearly 22,000. The magnitude 7.8 earthquake on 25 April 2015 had left 8,856 people dead, 22,309 injured and185,099 houses damaged.

According to Assistant Professor of Engineering at Pulchowk Engineering Campus Dr Basanta Raj Adhikari, the Gorkha earthquake was unique as it caused heavy damage to the east of the epicentre. The seismic nature of the earthquake still remains mysterious for geo-scientists working in the region.