Dhading, January 4

Earthquake victims of Dhading, who have been living in temporary huts, are having a hard time battling the bitter cold as the roofs of their huts leak and the ground is always damp.

The victims have been living in temporary huts as their lands developed cracks and their houses were damaged due to the April 25 earthquake.

They expressed their wish to leave the temporary shelters as soon as possible.

Lawmaker Dhan Bahadur Ghale of constituency No 1 said the victims feared to return to their respective houses after news came saying the remote village in the northern part of the district was very risky.

He added that the villagers refused to return to their houses though the teams of technicians and experts proved the place was safe.

As many as 2,200 families were displaced, and they have been living in temporary huts at 18 different places in the northern part of Dhading after the tremor. Though nine months have passed since the temblor, the local administration has no concrete plan to manage the displaced families.

Meanwhile, Dhading Chief District Officer Bishwo Prakash Subedi said he did not have much information regarding this as he was recently transferred to the district.

He said his office would take initiatives to implement the past decision of the District Disaster Rescue Committee after discussion with concerned stakeholders.

CDO Subedi informed that various teams were deployed to distribute the government-allotted relief amount of Rs 10,000 meant to buy warm clothes for quake victims in the villages.

“I have already sent a letter to the centre asking them to deploy technicians’ team to the quake-hit areas to study if the affected places are safe to live,” he said.

It has been estimated that property worth more than Rs 68 billion was damaged due to the earthquake in Dhading.

As many as 676 persons, including 385 female lost their lives while 1,393 persons were injured in the temblor and subsequent aftershocks in the district.