Kathmandu, April 2

It has been around three years since the earthquake hit the country.

However, houses damaged by the devastating earthquakes of 2015 are yet to be reconstructed in Bhaktapur district.

According to Juna Basnet, deputy mayor of Suryabinayak Municipality, many people in the district are not able to rebuild their houses as they did not get the second and third instalments of the housing grant provided by the government.

During an interaction with the media organised here today, she said that of the total 7,212 earthquake victims registered in the municipality, 6,686 victims had already received the first instalment while only 768 had received the second instalment and 584 had got the third instalment. She also said that many households did not get the second and the third instalment of the housing grant due to some technical reasons.

Section Officer at National Reconstruction Authority, Bhaktapur, Prabha Aryal informed that 27,644 earthquake victims were registered in Bhaktapur district. Of them, 23,118 have already received the first instalment while only 2,560 households received the second instalment and 1,748 received the third instalment.

Santa Lal Lama, Chair of Kanjosham Rural Municipality-1 said that many quake-damaged houses were not reconstructed due to lack of land and blueprint. According to Lama, as many as 438 houses had been damaged by the earthquake in her ward. Of them, only 70 houses have been reconstructed till date and 200 houses are under construction.

In Lalitpur, 98 per cent of the quake-victims have received the first instalment while only 16 per cent houses have been reconstructed.