In a bid to systematically relocate the settlements identified as vulnerable in quake-affected districts and manage the needs, the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) has formulated a new work plan which came into effect on Friday.

As per the work plan, beneficiaries from the areas identified as vulnerable settlements can migrate either to some other area in the same district or a nearby quake-affected district.

For those settlements that became vulnerable to disasters like landslides after the 2015 earthquake, the NRA is providing money to buy land in safer areas and build houses there on the basis of documents related to land acquisition, said Dhurba Prasad Sharma, an executive member of the NRA.

A meeting of the Executive Committee of the NRA chaired by its chief Govinda Raj Pokharel approved the work plan on Friday.

The work plan has defined vulnerable settlements as those settlements or families that were rendered uninhabitable by the geological survey report of the authority.

According to the work plan, such beneficiaries are requested to form a consumer committee comprising at least 10 families to find a secure area and develop an integrated settlement.

It also defines beneficiaries as the households incorporated in the list of beneficiaries through the private housing data collection and the families that are not on the list of beneficiaries but have been identified as vulnerable settlements. 

The beneficiaries must submit proof of land purchase to claim the government aid. The authority will provide land ownership certificates in the names of husband and wife in a combined form; none of them will be allowed to transfer the land to someone else for 10 years.

Sharma said that if the settlement is habitable following certain changes and security measures, the NRA will provide the beneficiaries with some amount as guaranteed by the ‘Guidelines on Grant Distribution to Private Houses’.

Separate programmes will be brought to develop infrastructure by preparing transfer and relocation plans for those beneficiaries wanting to establish integrated housing.