NRA website gives wrong information about rebuilt houses

KATHMANDU: The number of houses rebuilt after the earthquake uploaded on the official website of National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) does not match with the data of the Ministry of Urban Development.

The NRA, the government body formed to carry out reconstruction efforts after the Gorkha earthquake, is found giving wrong information about the number of houses rebuilt after the disaster.

According to NRA's website, the number of houses rebuilt after the quake is 41,311, which does not tally with the Ministry's data. This number is displayed on the NRA website's home page.

The Ministry's spokesperson Yamlal Bhusal said that the number of houses as shown on the NRA website was wrong.

As per the statistics updated by Ministry's central project implementation unit until 3:45 pm on Thursday, the number of rebuilt houses is 2,484 while the number of the under-construction houses is 40,359.

Likewise, 16,515 survivors rebuilt houses on their own before drawing the house rebuilding grants, according to information provided by engineers deputed in the districts under the Ministry. This data also does not match with the NRA's data.

People of the quake-affected districts fear that NRA might have finished its assigned task just in documents.

NRA executive member Dr Hariram Parajuli, approving the Ministry's data, said the Ministry's statistics was authentic. He, however, was clueless regarding the source of data that NRA was displaying on its website.

Meanwhile, the NRA has permitted the Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) to proceed with the construction of a model village at Laprak of Gorkha, the epicentre of the quake that hit the country to the core.