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Govt leaves out genuine quake victims
Govt leaves out genuine quake victimsHarihar Singh Rathaur
The house of Shree Krishna Chepang is barely standing. The April 25 earthquake toppled its mud and stone walls and mangled the wooden pillars. The iron-sheet roof retained its position, but the house is uninhabitable. A slightest wind buffet could bring down the entire structure.
But when officials visited Chepang’s house at Pida VDC-6 in Dhading district for inspection, they decided the house was partially affected. Chepang was busy relocating his eight-member family to safe location when the officials from the district administration visited for inspection.
For him, the house is destroyed— not damaged or partially affected, as the authorities claim. But when he visited the VDC office to ask for earthquake relief, he was told there was no government dole for the people whose houses were partially affected.
“I know some people in my village whose houses were spared by the earthquake and still received Rs 15, 000,” Chepang said.
He has filed an application at the VDC office, requesting re-inspection of his house.
Like Chepang, there are several earthquake survivors in Dhading who were deprived of relief amount because their houses were categorised as partially affected. There are many fake earthquake victims who have received relief amount, though .
Many well-to-do families having connection with local politicians and government officials in the district have received earthquake victim ID cards and relief amount.
Ashok Adhikari and his wife both received ‘A’ grade quake victim’s ID cards in the district headquarters, though their house was not affected by the quake. The house is perfectly safe with a restaurant currently in operation. The local administration, however, has categorised the house as quake-destroyed.
Similarly, former Vice-chairman of Neelkantha VDC Homnath Rijal received Rs 75, 000 posing himself and his sons as earthquake victims. Another Govinda Lamsal of Muralibhanjyang in Neelkhantha-8 also received Rs 75, 000 as relief without being affected by the earthquake.
According to the census of 2011, there are 73, 851 households in the Dhading. However, more than 83, 000 households in the district have received around relief amount of Rs 22,000, claiming they have separated from their families or migrated in the area.
The earthquake has mostly affected the 24 VDCs in northern part of Dhading, but the local administration has taken much of the relief to other areas.
Secretary of Nepali Congress Bhakta Bahadur Lama said the District Disaster Management Committee (DDMC) has not monitored the irregularities while distributing the relief amount.
Information Officer of the DDMC Bhola Gautam blamed that the VDC officers provided the recommendation letters to people stating that their houses have been destroyed by the quake without any inspection.
“Although the Commission for the Investigation Abuse of Authority (CIAA) warned not to provide relief amount to fake people, local authorities denied the CIAA request and recommended 20, 000 more quake victims to provide relief amount,” said Gautam, adding that the
number of quake-affected households will reach 105, 000 in the district.