Rs. 600 bn mobilised in post-quake rebuilding of houses

Kathmandu, Dec. 25

More than Rs. 600 billion has been mobilised in the post-quake reconstruction of the private houses in the last four years.

About 482,323 houses damaged in the devastating 2015 earthquake were rebuilt while more than 189,000 are under construction.

Approximately Rs. 200 billion, Rs. 300, 00 each, has been given to the families who lost their houses in the disaster. Similarly, Rs. 100,000 each was given to about 69,973 families for retrofitting.

"According to our estimates, each family has added at least two third money from their side to build houses which put the total housing investment at Rs. 600 billion," said Sushil Gyawali, Chief Executive Officer of the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), speaking at a programme organised to publish a result of the study on construction sector impact on expanding the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the country in the post-quake scenario.

He said that the reconstruction had had strong forward and backward linkages as almost all the construction materials were produced in the country.

Former Member of the National Planning Commission, Prof. Dr. Govinda Prasad Nepal said that the reconstruction hugely contributed to employment creation and women empowerment in the rural areas.

The study found that of the four major sectors of the economy – agriculture, manufacturing, wholesale and retail, and construction, the share of construction sector expanded while other sectors shrunk.

Contribution of construction sector to GDP remained roughly constant before the earthquake while it increased after the earthquake, according to the report, suggesting the important contribution of the post-earthquake reconstruction to reviving the growth.

This study also showed that housing reconstruction alone created jobs equal to 255 million man-days which is equivalent to 1.42 million people being employed by the end of fiscal 2017/18. Currently, 550,000 people are working in reconstruction of houses with jobs equal to 100 million workdays being created. 

According to the report, the reconstruction process also helped promote financial inclusion by requiring the households to open bank accounts to receive the housing grant. National Reconstruction Authority records show that about 770,000 registered beneficiaries have opened bank accounts, out of which 30 per cent bank accounts belong to women. 

A total of 769,926 households received first tranche of grant. Out of them, as many as 621,449 beneficiaries received the second tranche of assistance and a total of 525,233 received the third installment of government’s assistance. The government has been providing Rs. 300,000 in grant to build a house to a beneficiary whose house was completely damaged and has no other houses.

Likewise, reconstruction of ,5063 public schools, 25,128 school rooms, 665 health institutes, 380 archaeological sites, 311 government buildings and 165 buildings of security agencies has also been completed, according to the authority. 

The study was conducted by the NRA, National Democratic Institute for International Affair (NDI) USAID and SEJON.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 26 December 2019.