Kathmandu, Dec. 26
While reconstruction of heritages like
Ranipokhari and Dharahara caught the attention of many including the media, the
real progress in post-quake rebuilding has happened at the reconstruction of
private houses.
According to the mobilisation of the
housing grant, progress at private house rebuilding is more than 90 per cent.
As much as 77 per cent of the beneficiaries that signed the grant agreement
with the government have obtained the final instalment of the grant and 85.7
per cent have received the second instalment.
According to the National Reconstruction
Authority (NRA), households obtaining the third and second instalment of the
grant are 613,613 and 681,327 respectively. It is said that the rebuilding of
558,799 houses is completed by Friday.
A family becomes eligible for the final
tranche of the grant only after completing the house up to the plinth level which
means the construction of about 54,814 houses is in the process of completion.
“Additional 168,083 houses would be
reconstructed by the end of the current fiscal year 2020/21,” said the NRA.
The devastating 2015 Gorkha Earthquake
had destroyed more than a million structures in 32 districts across the country.
The government had surveyed 1.03 million houses and found 834,911 of them
eligible for the housing grant of Rs. 300,000. However, the grant agreement was
signed with 794,977 families.
Chief Executive Officer of the NRA
Sushil Gyawali said in a programme organised to mark the completion of five
years of the reconstruction body the other day that the overall progress in
post-quake reconstruction was at 90 per cent.
About Rs. 339 billion is spent in the
rebuilding drive so far. Estimates made in the aftermath of the earthquake in
2015 said that it would take about Rs. 488 billion for the five-year
reconstruction and rehabilitation drive.
The amount is mobilised in the reconstruction
and rebuilding of private housing, educational and health facilities,
government buildings, heritages, road and water supply infrastructure, said
Gyawali.
He stated that the reconstruction body
planned to complete all the work related to the private houses rebuilding by the
end of this fiscal while the remaining work in other sectors would be handed
over to the concerned agencies. The NRA had set the deadline to obtain the
first instalment by the end of December 2020, second instalment by mid-February
2021 and third one by May next year.
The government had extended the tenure
of the NRA by one year. Earlier, it had a five-year term which would end by
December 25, 2020. To institutionalise the experience of the post-quake
rebuilding and inform the world about the good practices, the reconstruction
body is organising an international conference.
However, progress at heritage
reconstruction is slow. Of the damaged 920 historical and cultural monuments,
only half have been rebuilt so far. Seventy-eight are under construction while
the rebuilding of other 377 is not started yet.
Reconstruction of structures at the
Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square is in the final stage while it would take more than
two years to restore structures like stupas and Nuwakot Palace.
Reconstruction and retrofitting of 356
health institutions is also not started yet. The total target for the health
sector reconstruction and retrofitting was 544 and 653 facilities respectively.
Similarly, the reconstruction of security agencies’ buildings is also
witnessing slow progress as the reconstruction of 167 buildings is yet to
start.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 27 December 2020.
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