Kavre/Hetauda, April 17

Almost three years have passed since the devastating earthquakes hit the nation. However, reconstruction work has failed to gain momentum in Kavre and Makawanpur.

Of the total beneficiaries who had signed the agreement for housing grant, only four per cent have reconstructed their houses in Kavre.

According to Kavre District Project Implementation Unit Office, of the total quake victims who received the second instalment of the housing grant till April 13, only 25 per cent have completed house construction and subsequently received the third instalment. Only 4,905 quake victims have received the third tranche in the district till date.

A quake victim can receive the third instalment only after the house construction is over. As many as 3,954 households received the third instalment through government bodies while 951 received the grant through NGOs. A total of 5,268 quake victims have already registered applications for the third tranche of the housing grant. According to the unit office, only 30 per cent victims out of the total quake victims who had received the first instalment until April 13 have got the second instalment till date.

Of the total 20,771 quake victims who applied for the second instalment of the housing grant, 1,982 have received the second tranche in Kavre. As many as 67,764 quake victims had received Rs 50,000 each as the first instalment of the grant. Of the total quake victims verified, grant agreement has been signed with 92 per cent victims.

National Reconstruction Authority Office District Coordination Unit, Kavre, maintains that paucity of skilled manpower, poverty, and lack of youths in villages have resulted in sluggish reconstruction work in the district.

Similarly, participants at a programme organised in Hetauda today said that reconstruction work had failed to pick up pace even three years after the devastating earthquakes.

Participants at the exhibition and workshop organised by National Reconstruction Authority and Urban Development Ministry, among others, opined that reconstruction work was moving at a snail’s pace. They argued that many quake victims were yet to receive the first instalment of the housing grant in Makawanpur.

Makawanpur District Coordination Committee Chief Raghunath Khulal said that many employees were not serious about completing the reconstruction work on time. “Quake victims without landownership certificates have a lot of problems. These should be addressed immediately,” he added.

Makawanpur has 31,817 beneficiaries entitled to housing grant. Of them, 24,887 have signed the agreement for the grant with National Reconstruction Authority. As many as 6,930 quake victims are yet to sign agreement for housing grant.

A total of 23,629 victims have received the first instalment of the housing grant in Makawanpur. Of them, 22,211 received the grant through government bodies, while 1,418 received the grant through NGOs. Representatives from NRA Makawanpur and Ministry of Urban Development also expressed their views at the programme.