LAMJUNG: More than three hundred families in Lamjung district received new homes after three years of the devastating earthquake with the help of Non-government organisations.

The areas in Dudhpokhari Rural Municipality of the district closer to Barpak in Gorkha, the epicentre of 2015 earthquake, had suffered enormous damage.

Nepal Earthquake Response Project coordinated by Committee for the Promotion of Public Awareness and Development Studies ( COPPADES), Lamjung, Lutheran World Relief and ElCA, America built a total of 200 houses in Dhudhpokhari Rural Municipality including 71 houses in Kolki, 77 in Dudhpokhari, 52 in Bichauri, informed Dikendraraj Kardel, Chairperson of COPPADES.  He added each of the earthquake-resistant houses has two rooms.

After receiving the new houses, the locals are now happy that their problems of living in sheds ended, a local Bhadri Maya shared, who is also a quake survivor.

It has been learnt that COPPADES has already granted Rs 200,000 to each family while the government is set to provide with Rs 100,000 to each of the 200 households.

Under the same project, two goats have been provided to each of the 400 households, two beehives to each of the 65 households, according to Chair Kardel.  He added that potato seeds were also donated and now the committee is helping in the construction of a tunnel for vegetable farming.

Only a small number of quake-affected families have received the third instalment of housing grant in Lamjung. Of the total 13,959 beneficiaries, only 220 had received the third instalment In the Fiscal Year 2074/75, according to Shiva Regmi, the earthquake-related focal person of the District Coordination Committee, Lamjung.

Regmi informed that a total of 4,295 people received the first instalment of the housing grant in fiscal year 073/74 whereas 8,836 received the first instalment in the FY 2074/75. There are also 828 others who have migrated and have yet to receive the first instalment of the housing grant, Regmi said.

Similarly, a total of 4,024 beneficiaries took the second instalment within the last fiscal of 074/75.

In Lamjung COPPADES constructed 200 houses while 100 others were built by Welfare and 53 others by Choice Nepal.