Despite repeated pledges from Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal to swiftly distribute the first instalment of the private housing aid, more than 350,000 of around 800,000 households are still waiting for the aid.

The National Recon-struction Authority (NRA) has so far distributed the first tranche of aid to a total of 420,882 households out of total 533,182 households registered as “true beneficiaries” until Tuesday. An estimated 200,000 households damaged by last year’s devastating earthquake have not been included on the beneficiary list yet.

The delay in distribution of the first tranche of the aid amounting to Rs 50,000 has raised serious concerns from different quarters, including PM Dahal, upon assuming office, had instructed the concerned authorities to provide the aid to all the affected families within 45 days. After the officials failed to meet the mid-September deadline, he extended it to October 6, only to see the NRA give another miss.

Though the previous meetings had decided to work during the festivals, including the Dashain holidays, there was no work done at district level, said NRA Spokesperson Ram Prasad Thapaliya. He lamented that there had been some technical problems such as issues related to land ownership, family disputes which led to the delay. He, however, said that the damage assessment in Kathmandu Valley was almost complete and that the NRA had forwarded the details of 55,000 households for the housing grant.

Mechanism to facilitate timber distribution

KATHMANDU: The NRA and the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation have agreed to form a mechanism to facilitate the timber distribution process for rebuilding in all the quake-hit districts. The ministry has already formulated a working procedure to ease supply of timber from community forests, government-owned and private forests to the quake victims to rebuild their homes. The newly-formed coordination committee led by Hem Aryal, deputy director general at the Department of Forests, will monitor and evaluate the need and quantity of the forest products and timber for each household for the purpose. The department has already distributed around 500,000 cubic feet of timber to the quake-affected households in 15 out of 35 quake-affected districts. (PR)