Barpak (Gorkha), April 23

The great earthquake of April 25, last year caused huge loss of life and property in Barpak, but the residents here are lucky in the sense that unlike other quake-damaged places, Barpak has seen more development and financial and other assistance extended by philanthropists and different organisations in the aftermath of the quake.

To begin with, the Baluwa-Barpak road, which was earlier very narrow and inoperable for many types of vehicles, has been upgraded and even heavy vehicles can ply up to as far as Barpak village, the epicentre of the earthquake. The road that used to be often disrupted due to landslides, especially during monsoon, now has drainage and dams built at places. The District Development Committee of Gorkha and various donor agencies are supporting the road upgradation here.

Similarly, a newly built 2.5km ring road developed by World Food Programme around Barpak village has proved a boon to the villagers here.

“The ring road has really been a great thing for us as now we can take goods and commodities almost to our houses,” said local leader Hari Bahadur Ghale, adding, “Earlier, even if we wanted, there was no chance of a road being constructed here due to the cluster of houses. With the quake flattening those houses, it became possible to construct the road.”

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Besides, the WFP had also provided 150 kg rice and pulses to each of the tremor victim families here.

Likewise, after an FM station was set up by donors here, the locals are now bracing to operate it in a few days’ time. “Operating a radio from our village itself is a very welcome move as it will inform us about many things, including the development activities in our village and assistance for quake victims here, besides the news and information from neighbouring villages and elsewhere,” exclaimed a local, adding that a meeting held at the VDC office had decided to urge each family in the village to chip in 100 rupees to operate the radio station.

On the other hand, the village has shot to limelight ever since the quake as hordes of political leader, journalists, locals and representatives of donor agencies and various organisations are visiting this place every day. In view of the increased flow of people, about a dozen small hotels and lodges have come up here. There were just a couple of such facilities earlier.

“In fact, since the earthquake, many people are coming here, and the same has encouraged trade-related activities,” said Shukaram Ghale, a hotelier.

The other advantage of the devastating earthquake for the residents of Barpak has been in the field of drinking water. In view of the water problems faced by local residents, Care Nepal is preparing to develop a drinking water project here at a cost of around 40 million rupees.

“Once the plant is completed, it will benefit 900 households of five wards,” said local politician Dilsingh Ghale, adding that the plant will bring water to the village.

Barpak residents have also taken up vegetable farming and cattle rearing after the agriculture development office counselled them regarding the advantage of such farming and beefed up its assistance.