National
715 households in Gorkha rebuilt homes on their own
As many as 715 earthquake displaced families in Gorkha have constructed new homes at their own initiative.Sudip Kaini
As many as 715 earthquake displaced families in Gorkha have constructed new homes at their own initiative. With the delay in housing aid distribution, many families have gone ahead and rebuilt their homes, according to the engineers mobilised in the district by the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA).
The NRA has only distributed the first instalment of the housing aid (Rs 50,000) in the district so far.
According to the engineers mobilised by the NRA in Gorkha, while 715 families have completed rebuilding their homes, 423 others are in the process of rebuilding.
Only 246 families are waiting for the second tranche of the housing aid to complete their homes. They have used the first portion of the aid to dig foundation for their new homes.
In Namjung VDC, 182 families have already constructed their houses.
Engineer Sujan Shrestha said as the villagers have built the houses on their own, they might not meet the NRA specifications.
They will receive the second batch of the housing aid only after their new homes have been assessed, he added.
In Dhawa VDC, 99 families are rebuilding homes with the assistance of engineers.
The NRA has deployed 193 engineers in the quake-affected villages. In Barpak, the epicentre of the earthquake, around 30 percent of houses have been built.
However, the engineers working in the village said that the villagers have not built quake-resilient houses.
Local Mangal Ghale said around 1,400 families are still staying under temporary huts in Barpak.
The earthquake of April 25, 2015, had destroyed 58,000 houses in Gorkha. Of them, 50,000 families have already received first instalment of the housing reconstruction aid.