COVID-19 likely to delay reconstruction drive

Kathmandu, Apr 24

The coronavirus pandemic is likely to extend the time and cost of the post-quake reconstruction.

“If the crisis prolonged for another couple of months, the reconstruction drive will witness time and cost overrun,” said Sushil Gyawali, Chief Executive Officer of the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) while talking to The Rising Nepal on Friday.

Friday, Baishakh 12, marks the fifth memorial of the devastating earthquake.

A 6.9 magnitude earthquake that hit the country five year ago on  April 25 at 11:56 AM had killed 9,000 people and damaged about a million private houses and thousands of heritages as well as public infrastructure in 32 districts.

Work at the iconic Dharhara and historic Ranipokhari has come to a halt with the implementation of lockdown a month ago.

The government was planning to inaugurate the Ranipokhari, including the Balgopaleshwor temple that opens on the day of Bhaitika, toady after completing all the rebuilding work.

Likewise, preparations were made for the completion of Singhadurbar retrofitting and shifting the Prime Minister’s Office to the building and inauguration of Durbar High School. Dharhara would be at least two stories taller by now, said the NRA.

But the COVID-19 pandemic affected the rebuilding work sending the workers to confinement.

The preparations made to complete the rebuilding works and handing over the remaining works to the respective agencies would be affected due to this unexpected halt.

“Our primary focus is to complete the private house reconstruction. However, some significant work at the cultural heritages will remain incomplete. Likewise, implementation of master plan of integrated development of Dharhara, Ranipokhari and Ratnapark is to be started,” said Gyawali.

The delay might force the government to extend the deadline of the reconstruction body.  However, Gyawali reiterated that it would be early to talk about the extension.

Remaining works

Despite remarkable results in house rebuilding, the reconstruction of heritage has witnessed glitches.

Dharhara, Singha Durbar, Bal Mandir building, Babarmahal, Hariharbhawan, Shree Mahal and Kaiser Mahal are in the rebuilding process while work will be started at the Nuwakot Durbar Square immediately after the corona crisis is over.

The biggest tragedy of reconstruction is Bungmati in Lalitpur district. Even after five years of the disaster, the heritage city has not seen much improvement in reconstruction.

According to Gyawali, the government is mobilising the Indian support in the reconstruction of the city.

“Creating a model of reconstruction in Bungmati and Khokana has delayed the work there. In case of Bungmati, we have asked the local government to finalise the model of the houses to be rebuilt in the city,” he said.

Core-city malady

Houses damaged in the core-city areas of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur have not been rebuilt. Many house-owners are residing in other areas in the Kathmandu Valley and have not started the rebuilding work since government grant Rs. 300,000 is too small amount to start reconstruction.

Likewise, many houses in those areas are under multi-ownership and some of them also have disputes regarding the land area.

Develop disaster resilient settlement: President

President Bidya Devi Bhandari has emphasised on the development of eco-friendly and safe physical infrastructure and disaster resilient settlement.

Issuing a message on Baishakh 12, she said that since the country was at the risk of disasters like quake, floods, inundation and landslides, Nepal needed to pay attention to creating structures that could sustain catastrophes.

She drew attention of the concerned agencies to study all the structure and run a campaign for retrofitting of the critical infrastructure in the country.

“We have set an example by successful rescue, relief and rehabilitation work in the aftermath of the earthquake. We must continue this good tradition in the future as well,” said President Bhandari.

Nepal is a model in reconstruction: PM

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said that it was more difficult to fight with the invisible foe like coronavirus than the reconstruction of the physical infrastructure.

Entire country is in lockdown for a month and it has seriously affected the post-quake reconstruction work, he said in a message on Friday.

“In this war against the coronavirus, I hope that we will move ahead with patience and courage confronting the crisis as we did in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in 2015,” said PM Oli.

He assured that the government would implement appropriate policies, forge collaborations with the concerned stakeholders and arrange for better management and mobilisation of resources.

According to him, Nepal has been successful in checking casualties from the deadly virus due to timely steps by the government, public unity and support and mass understanding although about 200,000 people have died worldwide.

PM Oli urged one and all to unite for the fight against the coronavirus.

“Entire economy is in a halt. It has equally affected the post-quake reconstruction work. But the government is serious about continue the work with required caution,” he said.

PM Oli said that Nepal had achieved a significant progress in the post-quake reconstruction which could be a lesson for other countries across the globe.

He expressed concerns that some of the heritages were about to complete when the coronavirus pandemic affected their progress and work is halted.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 25 April 2020.