NCC, UNDP observe reconstruction and livelihood initiatives

 Kathmandu, Feb. 14

A joint team of Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) conducted a monitoring visit in Panauti Municipality and Roshi Rural Municipality of Kavre, where the two organisations have been supporting reconstruction and livelihood initiatives for communities affected by floods and landslides of September last year.

The monitoring team led by the President of NCC, Kamlesh Kumar Agrawal and UNDP Resident Representative, Kyoko Yokosuka, reached the location to assess the progress of grant-assisted projects.

In December last year, the NCC and UNDP signed a partnership agreement to support communities in Roshi and Panauti affected by the disaster.

According to a statement issued by the NCC on Sunday, the monitoring focused on cash-for-work programmes and climate adaptation initiatives in the affected areas. The cash-for-work projects include the cleaning and restoration of irrigation canals, community roads, drainage systems and agricultural land and removing debris such as soil, rocks, and logs.

These activities have also contributed to job creation for the local people.

The monitoring visit also reviewed progress in the capacity-building of communities, climate change adaptation, and disaster risk reduction. Agrawal expressed satisfaction with the ongoing work and assured of continued collaboration and support in the future, read the statement.

Likewise, Yukosuka expressed her delight over UNDP’s collaboration with the NCC in assisting flood-affected communities.

The monitoring activity included the participation of local representatives, while the Chief District Officer of Kavre was also briefed on the progress of the ongoing reconstruction and livelihood 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 15 February 2025.  

PM asks authorities to complete post-quake reconstruction

Kathmandu, Dec. 22

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has instructed the concerned bodies to complete the remaining works of the post-quake reconstruction.

Speaking at the 21^st meeting of the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA)'s Steering Committee on Wednesday, he assured that there wouldn't be shortage of budget for the remaining works.

He also thanked national and international agencies, including the political parties, governments of all levels, academic community, media personnel, local community, non-government organisations, civil society and all earthquake victims, for their direct and indirect support in the reconstruction drive.

Vice Chairman of the committee and CPN (UML) Leader Subash Nembang suggested keeping the experience and learning of reconstruction in institutional memory. For that, all knowledge and learning obtained during the reconstruction process should be transferred to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRMMA) and made more autonomous and powerful, he said.

Likewise, the committee has thanked the NRA leadership and the entire NRA family for successfully completing the works related to the reconstruction of the structures damaged by the earthquake of 2015 and the rehabilitation of the displaced families.

Chief Executive Officer of the NRA, Sushil Gyawali, said that disaster resilient development should be taken as an integral part of the national development plan and the NDRRMA should be provided with necessary legal management and manpower.

The meeting also made decision regarding the transfer of functions and rights, liabilities, assets, accounts, documents and other details under NEA.

The NDRRMA will now facilitate, coordinate and monitor the reconstruction and rehabilitation works being operated by the NRA.

Similarly, responsibility of preparing an integrated report about the recurrent and capital expenditure and audit reports under the NRA is also given to the NDRRMA.

In addition, the agency will also look after the seismic housing reconstruction projects being implemented as per the agreement with the World Bank.

The Department of Urban Development and Building Construction under the Ministry of Urban Development will look after the physical construction work of the Dharhara Tower, Singha Durbar, Ranipokhari's Shantibatika section, Harihar Bhawan and Ranodwip Durbar under Narayanhiti Museum. Ranipokhari will be handed over to the Kathmandu Metropolitan City.

The documents have been handed over to the concerned ministries and departments in the last week of August under the Central Project Implementation Unit (Building), Central Project Implementation Unit (Education) and Central Project Implementation Unit (Grant Management and Local Infrastructure).

The meeting expressed satisfaction over the successful conclusion of the 'International Conference on Reconstruction of Nepal' held in Kathmandu from December 7 to 8 in the midst of the epidemic of COVID-19.

Minister for Education, Science and Technology, Devendra Poudel, and Minister for Urban Development, Ram Kumari Jhakri were also present at the meeting. Likewise, Chief Secretary Shankar Das Bairagi, Chief Executive of NDRRMA Anil Pokharel and other officials were present at the meeting.

The tenure of the National Reconstruction Authority is coming to an end on December 26, according to the provisions of Section 3 (3) of the Earthquake Affected Structures Reconstruction Act, 2015 and the corresponding decision of the Council of Ministers of the Government of Nepal last December. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 23 December 2021. 

Reconstruction summit concludes

Kathmandu, Dec. 9

The three-day International Conference on Nepal’s Reconstruction (ICNR) 2015 organised to share the country’s learning and experiences in the post-quake reconstruction with the world concluded on Wednesday.

The ICNR has addressed various thematic areas of recovery and reconstruction, including private housing, cultural heritage, social and public infrastructure, livelihoods and economic recovery, and financing.

It was organised to share Nepal’s experiences in emergency response, reconstruction and recovery, and learn from global experiences and good practices in earthquake risk reduction and management processes.

It also aimed at jointly developing key recommendations for disaster risk prevention, preparedness and management, and develop consensus on the needs, possibilities, and means of disaster risk management for the future.

The organiser of the event, National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), said that the conference was successful to achieve these goals. 

Ministers, ambassadors and representatives of friendly counties and delegates of multilateral agencies appreciated Nepal’s timely execution of the reconstruction campaign and said that the world could learn from Nepal’s experiences.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, and delegates from the agencies of European Union, United Nations, ambassadors from various countries and representatives of international organisations had congratulated the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) and Nepal government.

They also pledged their continued support to Nepal in future disasters and for economic development.

Speaking at the inaugural programme of the conference, President Bidya Devi Bhandari said that Nepal would give priority to the development of resilient infrastructure learning from the lessons taught by the quake.

She appreciated the courage of Nepali people and support of international community in the rescue, relief and reconstruction drive.

Chief Executive Officer of the NRA, Sushil Gyawali, said that the Nepal’s learning in the post-quake rebuilding is well documented and the body of knowledge built during the past six years could be a useful resource for future initiatives.

The NRA has completed the basic reconstruction and rehabilitation works of infrastructures damaged on April 25, 2015 earthquake during almost six years of its establishment and has already handed over the responsibility of remaining works to concerned ministries, departments and agencies.

The first ICNR was organised in 2015 which had drawn the pledges of Rs. 425 billion for post-quake relief and reconstruction. However, actual pledge stood only at Rs. 325 billion.

However, the government estimated cost of the reconstruction stood at US$ 4.9 billion.

The government had established the NRA on 25 December 2015 to carry the post-quake rebuilding and the national reconstruction campaign was launched in January 2016. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 10 December 2021. 

President Bhandari stresses on resilient structures

President Bidya Devi Bhandari said that Nepal will develop all physical structures and infrastructures strong enough to endure any disaster. "The quake has taught us an important lesson in terms of disaster preparedness and resilience, so we must not forget the lessons it taught us," she said while speaking at the inaugural session of the ICNR 2021.

According to her, the damage and loss in the quake was primarily because of the weak infrastructure, and creating resilient infrastructure can lower the risk during the disasters.

President Bhandari appreciated the courage of Nepali people and their support in the rescue, relief and reconstruction drive.

 "The reconstruction work was a massive task amidst limited resources, complex geographical condition and state restructuring process. However, meaningful cooperation among the national and international agencies and support of people led the reconstruction campaign to success," she said.

She appreciated all national and international partners, donors and agencies which extended their support to the reconstruction process.

The first ICNR in 2015 had drawn the pledges of Rs. 425 billion for post-quake relief and reconstruction. However, actual pledge stood only at Rs. 325 billion.

"We can now proudly say that the people at the epicentre, Barpak, and all affected areas have returned to their own houses while the historical structures like Dharhara, Ranipokhari and Durbar High School have been resurrected with more beauty and resilience," stated President Bhandari.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Narayan Khadka thanked all donors and supporters. "About US$ 4.9 billion was estimated for the post-quake reconstruction which was beyond the capacity of the government. International community came forth to offer us the much-required support for the reconstruction and rehabilitation," he said.

Minister for Finance Janardan Sharma said that the government had moved ahead with the policy of integrated settlements in safer locations.

The government had established the NRA on 25 December 2015 and the national reconstruction campaign was launched in January 2016.

The NRA has completed the basic reconstruction and rehabilitation works of infrastructures damaged on April 25, 2015 earthquake during almost six years of its establishment and has already handed over the responsibility of remaining works to concerned ministries, departments and agencies, read a statement issued by it in October.

I has handed over the remaining works to the concerned government agencies.

The three-day conference is being organised to share Nepal’s learning and experiences with national and international communities and is being organised with the slogan of – “From Reconstruction to Resilience".

The conference also aims at strengthening relationship between government and multilateral agencies, bilateral agencies and civil society considering the way forward on resilient Nepal, and inform the government about the disaster-related laws and policies.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 9 November 2021.     

'Nepal's post-quake reconstruction unprecedented'

Kathmandu, Dec. 8

The international community has termed Nepal's post-quake reconstruction campaign successful and 'unprecedented event' in post-disaster management.

Speaking at the International Conference on Nepal's Reconstruction (ICNR) 2021 organised by National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) and inaugurated by President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Wednesday in the Capital, they expressed satisfaction over the timely completion of the reconstruction of private houses, heritages and infrastructures damaged in the 2015 earthquake.

Meanwhile, through the conference, Nepal has sent appreciation to the supporters, donors and collaborators of the reconstruction.

Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, congratulated Nepal government and people, and said that the northern neighbour would continue support to Nepal in rehabilitating livelihood. He also pledged to enhance vaccine cooperation. However, he maintained that there would not be any political conditions for any Chinese cooperation to Nepal.

Expressing happiness over the near-completion of the reconstruction in a video message, Minister Wang said that China supported Nepal in the reconstruction of the projects like Nine-Storey Palace, Arniko Highway and Durbar High School.

Indian Minister for External Affairs, S. Jaishankar, also remembered in his video message that India started supporting Nepal government six hours after the quake struck the country.

"India will always come forward to support Nepal and its people in need. India has supported the reconstruction of about 50,000 quake-damaged houses in Nuwakot and Gorkha districts," he said. 

 

Remarkable success

Speaking at the conference, Ambassador of the United States of America to Nepal, Randy Berry, said that his country has been helping Nepal in combating disasters and climate change. "The USA has provided support of US$240 million to Nepal after the 2015 quake," he said. According to him, Nepal has achieved a remarkable success in the post-quake reconstruction.

Neil Buhne, Regional Director for the UN Development Coordination Office, said that Nepal is extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change as well as floods and landslides and expressed concerns that vulnerable people experience the major setbacks during the hard times.

Japanese Parliamentary Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, Honda Taro, congratulated Nepal over the success of the reconstruction campaign. "This is not a small feat. Japan knows what it takes to recover and the hardships that accompany the process of reconstruction," he said.

According to him, Japan had pledged the support of US$260 million at the first edition of ICNR in June 2015. Japan has long been supporting Nepal in the field of disaster reduction and risk mitigation.

European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic, said that the European Union had supported Nepal in training the human resources for building back better and provided engineering support to the government.

 

Meaningful partnership

World Bank's Country Director for Nepal, the Maldives and Sri Lanka, Faris H. Hadad-Zervos, said that there was a remarkable progress in reconstruction in private houses, schools, health facilities.

"This was possible through the effective partnership among the government agencies and international organisations," he said.

Vice President of the Asian Development Bank, Shixin Chen, UNICEF's Regional Director for South Asia George Laryea-Adjei, and Director General of SDC, Patricia Danzi congratulated Nepal and suggested to promote resilience in public and private construction.

The international delegates said that resilience has been built in the past six years since the devastating Gorkha Earthquake 2015. They also suggested to strengthen the local governments in terms of disaster management and relief operations.

 Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 9 November 2021.     

Second edition of ICNR to kick off today

 Nepal to tell reconstruction success story to the world

 Kathmandu, Dec. 7

The International Conference on Nepal's Reconstruction (ICNR) 2021 is starting on Wednesday in the Capital. President Bidya Devi Bhandari is scheduled to inaugurate the second edition of the conference on post-quake reconstruction.

The first conference was held in the June 2015, in the aftermath of the devastating Gorkha Earthquake on 25 April the same year that killed 8,970 people and damaged about 800,000 houses, cultural heritages, education and health facilities and development infrastructure.

International guests and delegates have begun to arrive in Kathmandu on Tuesday. The organiser of the event, National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), said that conference is being organized to share Nepal’s learning and experiences with national and international communities and is being organised with the slogan of – “From Reconstruction to Resilience".

The conference also aims at strengthening relationship between government and multilateral agencies, bilateral agencies and civil society considering way forward on resilient Nepal, and inform the government about the disaster-related laws and policies.

Various research papers will be presented at the ICNR on different aspects of reconstruction like private housing reconstruction, rebuilding of cultural heritage sites, reconstruction of public infrastructures, initiatives on livelihood and economic recovery and governance.

Various issue-based parallel sessions will also be organized during the three-day conference. There will be separate sessions for political parties, journalists, non-government organisations, private sector and other stakeholders. A dedicated webpage (www.icnr.nra.gov.np) is also developed and published targeting the the conference.

Leaders from the reconstruction bodies in New Zealand, Pakistan, India, France, Japan, Switzerland, Canada, and the United Kingdom will participate in the deliberations during the conference. It will be attended by the representatives of the bilateral and multilateral agencies.

The NRA has initiated the preparations for the conference since a year ago. It has organised various seminars, workshops, published research articles in international journals, created a mobile app, and managed the logistics for the conference.

The reconstruction body was established on 25 December 2015 with a 5-year mandate. It was got a year's extension till 24 December 2021.

The NRA has completed the basic reconstruction and rehabilitation works of infrastructures damaged in the April 25, 2015 earthquake during almost six years of its establishment and has already handed over the responsibility of remaining works to concerned ministries, departments and agencies, read a statement issued by it in October.

I has handed over the remaining works to the concerned government agencies.

The first ICNR in 2015 had garnered support of Rs. 321 billion from the international community. Out of this amount, agreements have been signed for Rs. 313 billion which is 97.5 per cent of the committed amount.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 8 November 2021.   

Half quake-hit families recover their productive assets

Kathmandu, Nov. 27

More than half of the households in the districts affected by 2015 Gorkha Earthquake have reported complete recovery of the productive assets.

Preliminary results of a study by the Central Department of Economics (CEDECON) at the Tribhuvan University showed that 51.6 per cent of the households reported complete recovery of the productive assets such as crops, cattle, cattle shed, poultry and farm while 46.9 per cent families could recover their properties partially.

The study titled 'Natural disaster and asset recovery: Empirical evidence from Nepal's earthquake' was conducted by a team led by Dr. Nirmal Kumar Raut, Assistant Professor at the CEDECON.

The study has primarily evaluated the recovery situation of productive assets such as crops, cattle, cattle shed, poultry, and farm of the rural households and the effectiveness of assets protection strategies they resorted to during the recovery process.

"This study finds that in terms of assets protection strategies, aid/relief and migration/remittances as effective strategies for partial recovery of lost productive assets while political network, particularly a friend or a relative as an elected local representative, helped households recover their assets completely," said Dr. Raut.

While some people reported that the political connections were instrumental for them to obtain grants and other support from the government, the study concluded that pre-existing socio-economic inequalities may have deprived the disadvantaged from receiving the reliefs, aids and participations in the recovery programmes.

Dr. Raut said that disaster risk reduction policies and guidelines should also incorporate plans and specific strategies to economic recovery including recovery of productive assets. This will help expedite the recovery process.

The study is based on the resurvey of 50 per cent samples from nine quake affected districts, 34 rural units and 680 households surveyed in Nepal earthquake data collected by the Central Department of Population Studies at the TU in November and December 2015.

The quake had killed about 9,000 people and damaged more than 900,000 houses, thousands of education and health facilities, and many public infrastructure.

Speaking at the result dissemination programme on Saturday, Dr. Bishnu Bahadur Bhandari, National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) member, said that Nepal's reconstruction process had created many good examples.

"The decision to deposit the money directly to the bank account of the beneficiaries of the disaster has helped in expanding the reach of and access to banking and reduction in corruption. This will have a long-term positive impact on Nepal's economy," he said.

Likewise, the NRA had practiced tripartite agreement in aid mobilisation. If any non-government organistaion wanted to work in the reconstruction work, it had to obtain approval from the NRA and work with the local bodies, said Dr. Bhandari.  

The NRA is working with about 390 organisations. Unlike in other quake-affected countries including Haiti, Nepal had formulated a guideline to mobilise the I/NGOs.

"The entire reconstruction drive couldn’t contribute much to the social reconstruction or recovery. It would have been better if the campaign was named as a recovery or rehabilitation," Dr. Bhandari said. According to him, empirical studies like this can be a guiding document in the recovery efforts in the future.

However, experts said that rural heritage was lost in the course of reconstruction. Although the NRA supplied housing catalogue included models of traditional and heritage homes, most of the families opted for easy and low-cost concrete houses.

Prof. Dr. Shiva Lal Bhusal, Rector of the TU, said that the university had suggested the government to carry out research through the universities.

"It is a good thing that many professors and teaching faculties are involved in research works while the university has directed the departments and institutes to allocate a certain amount of budget to research works," he said.

Prof. Dr. Shiva Raj Adhikari, Head of CEDECON, said that the study on asset recovery was a unique research in the post-quake rehabilitation since there are very few studies in terms of assets and their recovery.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 28 November 2021. 

Shelter for deprived families a govt priority: Jhakri

Lalitpur, Nov. 25

Minister for Urban Development, Ram Kumari Jhakri, Thursday said that the government has given priority to providing houses for the deprived families.

"Government has formulated a law to provide shelter to Dalits, Muslims and other deprived communities. People's Housing Programme (PHP) is being executed across the country to support poor families in getting a place of residence," she said while speaking at the third ‘Asia Shelter Forum (ASF)’ in Lalitpur on today.

The PHP was launched about 12 years ago which has built 24,000 units of houses in seven provinces and additional 35,000 houses are in the pipeline.

There is also a government programme to replace the thatched roofs with zinc sheets.

"About 168,000 beneficiaries are chosen for the programme and the grant is recently increased to Rs. 75,000 from the earlier purse of Rs. 50,000 per household," said Minister Jhakri.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Executive Officer of National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), Sushil Gyawali, said that right to shelter and housing is the fundamental right in Nepal.

According to him, the government had also supported in building houses for vulnerable people, including the elderly, single women, orphans below 16 years of age and disabled people with red and blue cards - complete and with severe disability.

Of about 18,000 deprived families that lost their houses in the devastating Gorkha Earthquake 2015, government built houses for more than 14,000 families.

He stated that the reconstruction drive has also helped in policy formulation for build back better, training of masons and other construction workers and awareness building.

Tri Ratna Bajracharya, President of Nepal Engineers' Association (NEA), said that the engineers are the backbone of national development, in disaster risk reduction and building safe shelters.

He pledged the NEA's support in providing services and training to the engineers and local governments.

Likewise, Anil Pokharel, Chief Executive Officer of National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), maintained that the principles countries should follow during the disasters are same everywhere around the globe.

"All governments across Asia think about sustainable policies for disaster risk reduction and management. Subnational governments must be roped in for creating policies and mitigation process," he said.

The two-day regional conference is being hosted by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) and National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) with the support from the ASF Organising Committee members.

About 200 participants, including the representatives from government and non-government bodies, private sector organisations and development partners, and individuals are participating in the conference in-person while about 350 are joining it via online medium, said Dr. Dijan Bhattarai, Spokesperson for the NDRRMA.

A field meeting will be organised for the international delegates on November 27 where they will have an opportunity to witness Nepal’s reconstruction efforts and cultural heritage preservation, and to interact with local government officials and community members.

According to the organisers, this regional forum will encourage continuous dialogue between governments, non-governmental organisations, and community based organisations to ensure sustainability and institutionalisation of best practices. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 26 November 2021. 

Preparations for ICNR 2021 at final stage

Kathmandu, Oct. 22

The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) said that preparations for the International Conference on Nepal's Reconstruction (ICNR), 2021 has reached the final stage.

On Friday, it launched a webpage (www.icnr.nra.gov.np) dedicated for the conference.

Dr. Chandra Bahadur Shrestha, Member of the NRA's Steering Committee and Coordinator of the ICNR 2021, said that it was challenging to carry out the reconstruction at a mega scale in a country like Nepal.

"We would like to tell the success story to the world as well as the future generations. Objectives of the conference are to record and disseminate learned lessons and best practices for Nepal's future generations and international community," he said.

The conference also aims at strengthening relationship between government and multilateral agencies, bilateral agencies and civil society considering way forward on resilient Nepal, and inform the government about the disaster-related laws and policies.

Chief Executive Officer of the NRA Sushil Gyawali said that the reconstruction body had handed over the responsibilities of the remaining rebuilding works to the other concerned government agencies.

International community and stakeholders had suggested us to organise an event to share the experiences and learning in the post-quake reconstruction, he shared.

He said that the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority would act as the successor of the reconstruction body. "By 2030, Nepal has aimed to create disaster-resilient Nepal. Planning and programmes are being devised for the same," said Gyawali.

However, he said that the greatest achievement made in the past six years was the awareness about the quake-resilient construction on the part of people.

Meanwhile, integrated settlement programmes in core city areas in the Kathmandu Valley could not be implemented as planned.  

"We had selected some areas for urban revival programmes – Khokana, Bungmati and Sankhu. Changes are visible in Bungmati, the city is gradually having the traditional look," said Gyawali.

However, house pooling could not be materialised as planned. A programme for the traditional city revival is decided by the Steering Committee of the NRA.

 

Three-day conference

The international conference is slated for December 7-9. Delegates will arrive on December 7 and there will be site visits and welcome dinner for the VVIP guests, said Dr. Shrestha.

The conference will begin on December 8. There will be separate sessions for political parties, journalists, non-government organisations, private sector and other stakeholders.

Leaders from the reconstruction bodies in New Zealand, Pakistan, India, France, Japan, Switzerland, Canada, and the United Kingdom will participate in the deliberations during the conference. It will be attended by the representatives of the bilateral and multilateral agencies.

It has been a year since the NRA began preparations for the ICNR and it has organised seminars, workshops, published research articles in international journals, created a mobile app, and managed the logistics for the conference.

 

Second edition

This conference is the continuation or conclusion of the first ICNR organised in the immediate aftermath of the devastating Gorkha Earthquake 2015. The first conference had been instrumental in managing resources needed for the post-quake reconstruction, primarily the rebuilding of the private houses.

Donors and friendly countries had expressed commitment of Rs. 410 billion for the rebuilding, of which Rs. 89 billion was spent on rescue and relief operations and other development activities.

According to the NRA, it had signed agreement for Rs. 313 billion with the donors which is 97.5 per cent of the actual commitment for the support. "The support we received during the difficult times following the earthquake is significant even in comparison with the other countries facing the same difficulties," said Gyawali.

The tremors had killed 8,970 people and damaged more than 800,000 houses across 32 districts in mid and eastern hills and mountains.

The government had enacted the NRA as an agency to carry out reconstruction of the private houses, health and education facilities and other infrastructure with a five-year term. Its tenure was extended by a year through a Cabinet decision last year.

More than 700,000 earthquake-resilient houses have been built since then. Cultural and historical heritages like Ranipokhari, Dharhara, palaces, temples and monasteries have been rebuilt.

The NRA will cease to exist from 24 January, 2022. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 23 October 2021. 

NRA completes handover of remaining reconstruction projects

 Kathmandu, Sept. 21

The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) has completed handing over the remaining post-quake rebuilding work to other concerned government authorities. On Monday, it formally handed over the remaining task in the culture and tourism sector to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA).

It had begun the transfer of the remaining task to the concerned agencies from last week.

Remaining work of private house and settlement development, and heritage and monasteries rebuilding is handed over to the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction (DUDBC), an agency under the Ministry of Urban Development.

The programmes including financial and technical management are now the responsibilities of the DUDBC.

Rebuilding of educational institutions is transferred to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the ministry has in turn handed over the programmes to the district offices.

Likewise, incomplete roads and bridges, as well as the reconstruction of the monasteries less than 100 years old are handed over to the Department of Local Infrastructure Development.

An NRA Steering Committee meeting on 25 August had decided to hand over the remaining tasks to the concerned agencies.

Likewise, the reconstruction body had asked the remaining beneficiaries to get the house reconstruction grant by mid-December this year. It had extended the deadline for many times in the past as well.

Deputy Spokesperson of the NRA Manohar Ghimire said that the NRA will now focus on the remaining construction of Dharhara, Singha Durbar, Ranoddip Palace at the Narayanhiti Palace Museum and Ranipokhari.  It will facilitate and coordinate in the remaining rebuilding work, and monitor the progress at the central level. However, decision about the heritages like Tri-Chandra College building in Jamal and Nepal Sanskrit University’s building in Basantapur is yet to be made.

All the information and knowledge system will be handed over to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.

To share the lessons learnt during the reconstruction drive in the past six years, the NRA will organise an international conference on Nepal’s reconstruction on 7-9 December, 2021.

“To institutionalise the knowledge produced during the reconstruction process, documentation work is ongoing. We are trying our best to preserve the learning and experiences,” said Ghimire.

The devastating earthquake in April 2015 had killed about 9,000 people, and damaged 866,087 houses, as per the updated statistics of the NRA.

The NRA had signed house reconstruction grant agreement with 827,340 households while first installment of the grant was distributed to 827,478 families.

Of them, 741,031 families have received the second installment and 694,565 families the third installment. Reconstruction of about 615,924 houses is completed. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 22 September 2021.

Reconstruction: An example of better execution

In a country where a project takes decades to start and more decades to complete, – for instance Melamchi Water Supply Project has more than 13 years' time overrun and after a decade of its announcement Budhigandaki Hydroelectricity Project has not completed land acquisition – post-quake reconstruction has set an unprecedented instance of successful project implementation.

Despite political wrangling over the leadership of the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) set up in the immediate aftermath of the devastating Gorkha Earthquake 2015, the reconstruction drive caught a desirable speed soon and it has achieved about 90 per cent progress in the five years after the establishment of the NRA.

The reconstruction body had the responsibilities to facilitate the rebuilding of the structures damaged in the quake including private houses, government buildings, schools, health facilities and infrastructures. Most of the damaged structures are reconstructed while the NRA is preparing the exit policy to handover the responsibility of the remaining work to the respective government agencies at various level. The five-year tenure of the NRA was to be completed on 25 December, 2020, the government through a cabinet decision had extended its existence by a year.

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. Earlier, it had organised a webinar to document the experiences and learnings from the reconstruction process in the country. Seven compendiums would be prepared from the processing of the webinar and presented at the international conference.

 

Private house reconstruction

Private house rebuilding is the most significant tale of the reconstruction process. About 69.7 per cent houses damaged in the quake were already reconstructed while additional 20.7 per cent are under construction which makes the total private house reconstruction progress 90.5 per cent. Approximately 560,654 houses are reconstructed. About 855,106 houses were completely or partially damaged in the powerful quakes that rocked the country on April 25 and May 12. The NRA had signed the house reconstruction grant agreement with 803,699 households and retrofitting agreement with 78,033 families. On the occasion of its fifth anniversary, the reconstruction body had said that Additional 168,083 houses would be reconstructed by the end of the current fiscal year 2020/21.

By Saturday, February 13, about 627,673 families have received the final tranche of the housing grant while 688,748 families obtained the second instalment. 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 61,075 houses is in the process of completion. The government had given Rs. 300,000 to each house for reconstruction and Rs. 100,000 for retrofitting. According to the Ministry of Finance, Rs. 5.62 billion is distributed to the beneficiaries of the reconstruction.

The budget is spent in the reconstruction and building of private housing, schools, health facilities, government buildings, heritages, road and water supply infrastructure. The NRA has planned to complete the private houses rebuilding by the end of this fiscal year. It 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 2021.

Although Rs. 300,000 grant was not sufficient to make a desired house, the amount was instrumental to motivate thousands of families to rebuild their damaged house while it was a great relief to the poor families that couldn't have built their house otherwise. In addition to it, the families at the areas that are at risk of landslides are shifted to safer locations. Such families have got Rs. 200,000 each to buy a plot of land to build a house. They were also entitled to the housing grant. Households that were financially weak have made a two room house and a separate improvised kitchen outside. Most of the houses damaged in the quake were reconstructed better with strict adherence to the 'build back better' policies and standards.

 

Devastating disaster

The first quake of 7.9 magnitude on April 25 with epicentre in Barapak of Gorkha district had immediately killed thousands of people damaged hundreds of thousands of houses and heritages while the 6.6 magnitude aftershock after two weeks reinforced the damage in 32 districts in central and eastern Nepal. About 9,000 people were killed in the earthquake. 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. The number was increased recently following the NRA's decision to include additional households as the beneficiaries of the reconstruction grant.

The quake also damaged about 7,553 schools destroying more than 49,681 classrooms, 326 health facilities, 465 archaeological heritages, 415 government buildings and 216 buildings of security agencies.

According to the estimates made in the aftermath of the earthquake in 2015, it would take about Rs. 938 billion for the five-year reconstruction and rehabilitation drive but after the mid-term review of the Post Disaster Recovery Framework (PDRF), the total cost of reconstruction has been estimated at Rs. 630 billion.

 

Heritages restored

Critical historical and religious heritages damaged in the tremors have been restored to their original shape. Iconic Ranipokhari and Durbar High School, the first public school in the country, are reconstructed. The Balgopaleshwor Temple in the middle of the Ranipokhari is reconstructed in Shikhara style giving it the original shape as built by the Malla king Pratap Malla. Reconstruction of Ranipokhari had taught an important lesson to the government and civil society – there should be a joint contribution and the civil society should continuously be vigilant during the process. The Ranipokhari had remained without water for almost three years as the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) Office, the Department of Archaeology (DoA) and locals were involved in the tug of war regarding the style of the temple and materials to be used in the construction.

Likewise, Dharhara reconstruction is moving smoothly and its 22^nd storey is being completed. The earlier Dharhara tower would be preserved in its damaged shape to make it a tourist as well as an archaeological destination while the newly built one will be a view tower. It will have parking at the basement, two lifts to go up and come down, digital presentation room at the 18^th storey and statue of God Mahadev as it was in the earlier Bhimsen Stambha.

The Dharhara is being developed as a complex where a two storey parking with the capacity of 400 four-wheelers and 700 two-wheelers, restored Sundhara (spout) with 24 hour water flow, money museum, shopping complex, restaurant and entertainment facilities.

Similarly, reconstruction of various heritages at the Basantapur, Patan and Bhaktapur durbar squares is completed. The United States of America, China, India, Japan and Korea had supported in the reconstruction of the historical and religious monuments. The COVID-19 pandemic had delayed the reconstruction of some structures in the durbar squares in the Kathmandu Valley and Nuwakot palace in Nuwakot district. The Nuwakot palace was used by King Prithvi Narayan Shah as his executive office before conquering the Kathmandu Valley.

According to the NRA, reconstruction of Bhairabhnath Temple palace is in the final phase of reconstruction. Bhairabhnath is one of the famous religious destination in Lumbini Province, 9 km away from Tansen. Lately, reconstruction of stupas and monasteries has also taken pace.

 

Education and health facilities

Another successful story of the reconstruction is the rebuilding of schools. Of the damaged 7,553 schools, only 139 are remaining to start rebuilding. Reconstruction of 6,085 schools is completed while 1,329 are under construction. But the same has not happened with the health facilities because more than half of the hospitals and health posts damaged in the earthquake are yet to be restored. Of the damaged 544 health facilities, only 326 are completed while the reconstruction work is not started for the remaining 228 buildings.

However, progress at the restoration of the government building is outstanding with only 7 building remaining of the 162 damaged.

The NRA had effectively coordinated with the government agencies, private sector companies and non-government ogranisations to effectively implement the reconstruction programme. Multitudes of institutions supported in house reconstruction and livelihood restoration as well as skill training and relief operations. About Rs. 372 billion was raised from the international community at the International Conference on Nepal's Reconstruction organized in the aftermath of the quake.

 

What went wrong?

The reconstruction programme was delayed in the very beginning as the two largest parties then Nepali Congress and CPN (UML) wanted to run it on their own. As the Chief Executive Officer appointed by then ruling NC through an ordinance had to leave the post as the party failed to ratify it by the parliament in a due time, UML appointed Sushil Gyawali as the CEO. Although Gyawali was briefly ousted, he had solely led the NRA to the path of the success.

However, many experts have blamed NRA for the creation of identical two-room houses across the hills and not giving proper attention to the ethnic and traditional elements in the reconstruction. Reconstruction of heritages in the Kathmandu Valley was delayed due to the negligence of the stakeholders like the NRA, DoA, KMC and civil society organisations. Had they hold consultations before launching the reconstruction of the monuments, it wouldn't have received the glitches and the rebuilding would have moved smoothly.

Similarly, the integrated settlements in the Kathmandu Valley couldn't be materialized. Much hyped Kilagal integrated residence programme miserably failed. At the same time, reconstruction of Bungamati in Lalitpur district was delayed by years and has recently caught speed.

 Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 15 February 2021. 

Five years on, NRA claims 90% progress but many monuments still lie in ruin

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. 

Reconstruction work gathers pace

Kathmandu, Dec. 5

As the tenure of the National Reconstruction Authority nears its end, house reconstruction has started gaining momentum.

In the first four months of the current fiscal year 2020/21, 46,270 private houses, 27 school buildings and 12 historic and cultural heritages have been reconstructed.

“Additional 6,600 beneficiaries have received the second tranche of the housing grant while 5,114 have received the final installment. The NRA signed retrofitting agreement with 685 families,” said the reconstruction body in a statement.

In the four-month period, 110 new beneficiaries were added and 1,350 have signed the house reconstruction agreement with the NRA.

A month ago, the NRA had announced the new and last deadline for families whose house was partially or completely damaged in the 2015 earthquake, asking them to obtain the housing grant. The new announcement extended the deadline for signing the grant agreement to mid-December and for obtaining the first installment of the grant to January 2021.

It also said that the families who received the first installment of the grant must start rebuilding their house and get it certified by the respective local body by mid-February 2021.

Meanwhile, the reconstruction of Durbar High School and Ranipokhari alongside Balgopaleshwor has been completed and they have been opened for the public. In addition to that, 22-storey Dharhara tower, which is under-construction, has got its 19^th storey done.

NRA Chief Executive Officer Sushil Gyawali said that about Rs. 7.84 billion was spent in the reconstruction sector in the four-month period.

Stating that the reconstruction body has about 7 months’ period to achieve the reconstruction target, he said that all efforts must be made to complete the remaining works.

“We need to motivate the beneficiaries to rebuild their homes as soon as possible and promote building back better,” he said.

Likewise, the reconstruction body has approved the request of 1,448 landless families to build their houses in places where they have been residing.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 6 December 2020. 

NRA sets new deadline to obtain housing grant

Kathmandu, Nov. 6

The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) has announced a new and last deadline for the families affected by the devastating 2015 earthquake to obtain the housing reconstruction grant.

A meeting of the NRA’s executive committee had decided to extend the window to sign the grant agreement with the beneficiaries by mid-December 2020 and secure the first tranche of the grant by the end of January 2021.

Likewise, the beneficiaries who have received the first instalment of the grant must start the reconstruction of their house and apply for the certification at the respective local bodies by mid-February 2021.

According to the NRA, all reconstruction and retrofitting beneficiaries must apply to their respective local body for the third or last installation of the grant by mid-May next year.

Since the tenure of the reconstruction body is going to end by January 2021, this would be the last deadline regarding the grant, said Deputy spokesperson of the NRA Manohar Ghimire.

“Therefore, we request to all reconstruction beneficiaries to sign the grant agreement with the government at the earliest and apply at the local bodies if they are yet to receive the instalment,” he said.

Retrofitting beneficiaries should apply at the District Project Implementation Unit (Building).

The house reconstruction beneficiaries are entitled of Rs. 300,000 which are distributed in three installments – Rs. 50,000, 150,000 and 100,000.

There are about 834,911 housing grant beneficiaries and 77,325 retrofitting beneficiaries. The NRA has signed grant agreement with 791,767 families.

Reconstruction of 507,623 houses has completed. Similarly, 784,950 families received the first tranche, 677,094 second and 605,083 the third tranche.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 7 November 2020. 

President inaugurates reconstructed Ranipokhari, Durbar High School

 Kathmandu, Oct. 21

Newly reconstructed Ranipokhari and Durbar High School, the two iconic historic monuments facing each other at the heart of the capital city, were inaugurated on Wednesday.

Both the heritages were badly damaged in the 2015 earthquake. They are among the first major monuments – among 800 damaged in the quake - to be reconstructed.  

President Bidya Devi Bhandari inaugurated the reconstructed structures and handed them over to the concerned authorities in separate functions held today.

On the occasion, President Bhandari prayed at the puja marking the installation of the newly reconstructed Balgopaleswar Temple in the middle of the Ranipokhari and offered sacred water to the pond.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Deputy Prime Minister Ishwar Pokhrel, Ministers and other dignitaries also offered holy water brought from various sacred rivers from different parts of the country, said the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA).

Ranipokhari has been rebuilt in its original style, look and technology, despite facing various hurdles and challenges.

Addressing the function, President Bhandari expressed her satisfaction over the NRA’s integrated master plan to develop the Ranipokhari area, including Ratna Park, Khula Manch, Tundikhel, Bhrikuti Mandap and Dasharath Stadium. “This master plan, along with under-construction Dharahara area, will provide people in Kathmandu with an extensive open area,” she said.

In his welcome address, Chief Executive Officer of the NRA Sushil Gyewali updated about various aspects of the post-earthquake reconstruction, including rebuilding of private houses and heritage sites.

“We are working to complete the retrofitting of the main façade of the Singh Durbar. We plan to complete to shift the Prime Minister’s Office to this new site by mid-December.” He also said that the main structure of 22-storey Dharahara would be completed by early next year.

The reconstruction of Ranipokhari was carried out under the aegis of the local users’ committee while the construction of Balgopaleswar Temple, the bridge and the beautification works have been done through a contracting company.

Besides involving the local community and cultural experts, the traditional artisans from Bhaktapur contributed significantly in rebuilding the basement of the pond.

Rs. 280 million was spent for the reconstruction of Ranipokhari and Balgopaleswar Temple.

 

 

 

Ranipokhari in Malla era style

Originally known as Nhu Pukhu (New Pond in Newari), Ranipokhari now wears a new look with the Balgopaleswar Temple in the middle of the pond built in Malla-era style called Granthakut or Shikhar more than 350 years ago.

Although many people see the temple as completely new, this has been reconstructed in the original style built during the reign of King of Kantipur Pratap Malla in 1669. Later, Rana Prime Minister Jung Bahadur Rana rebuilt the temple in Gumbaz style in 1803. After the devastating earthquake in 1933, Juddha Shumsher Rana again rebuilt the temple in Gumbaz style.

The earthquake had damaged the temple beyond repair. President Bhandari had laid the foundation stone for the reconstruction of Ranipokhari on January 16, 2016.

Almost two years after the foundation stone was laid, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) formed an 11-member expert group under the leadership of Bishnuraj Karki, former Director General of the Department of Archeology (DoA). This group suggested rebuilding the Balgopaleswar Temple in Malla-era style.

The group meeting chaired by the then Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation late Rabindra Adhikari decided to rebuild the temple in Shikhar or Granthakut style.

As the reconstruction got delayed due to various issues and concerns raised by the local community and culture experts, the government handed over the responsibility of rebuilding Ranipokhari to the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) on January 28, 2019. Soon after, the NRA formed a five-member users’ committee under the leadership of Ajay Ratna Sthapit to construct the basement and the inner wall to hold water on March 2. 2019.

The NRA had signed an agreement with CA/Tulsi Construction JV on July 9, 2019 to construct the Balgopaleswar temple and the bridge. The Gajur, pinnacle or spire, was installed on the temple on October 1, 2020.

 

Country’s first school gets a facelift

Durbar High School, the country’s first school, has received a major facelift after the workers from Nepal and China worked hard to rebuild the school facilities under the financial assistance of the Chinese government.

The old school which was established by the Rana regime in 1854 was already in a dilapidated condition and could not withstand the quake in April 2015.

Though the Rana regime built the school to provide quality education to their children only, the Rana Prime Minister Dev Shumsher Rana opened the school for general public in 1901.

The historic school has now been rebuilt with all the necessary modern facilities and the government hopes to improve the education standard in the school.

The Chinese government has spent around Rs. 900 million to rebuild the school in which 1,000 students can be accommodated now.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 22 October 2020.