On 25 April 2015, Nepal was struck with a devastating earthquake of 7.6 magnitude with its epicenter in Barpak, Gorkha. The same day the government of Nepal declared an emergency in Nepal, requesting for international support. The loss of thousands of lives and a great amount of infrastructure damage caused by the earthquake affected millions of people living in Nepal.
‘Steadfast Nepal’ has actively engaged in sustainable reconstruction works in Nepal, shortly after the 2015 earthquake hit Nepal. It has given jobs to engineers and architects from Nepal providing them an opportunity to work on building safer, earthquake resilient homes for the earthquake victims of Nepal.
On the challenges faced by Steadfast Nepal in executing their construction projects in Nepal, the country office manager, Diana Silwal says, “ The demand to rebuild the houses was more than the actual damage done by the earthquake. Besides, obtaining government approval for the reconstruction work to begin was a very lengthy process.”
“ Our housing projects were based on districts heavily affected by the earthquake such as: Kavre, Dhading, Gorkha, Lalitpur, Nuwakot, and Kathmandu.” she adds.
From January 2022, the authority of reconstruction in Nepal has been passed on to National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) from the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA). NDRMA is now responsible for facilitation of reconstruction and rehabilitation works in Nepal and monitoring the ongoing Housing Reconstruction Project (EHRP) financed by the World Bank.
A per the government’s decision, the remaining construction works of Dharahara, Singh Durbar, Shanti Batika section of Ranipokhari, Harihar Bhawan and Ranoddwip Durbar within the Narayanhiti Palace Museum will be carried out by the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction (DUDBC) under the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD).
Previously, the National Reconstruction Authority has provided financial aid to a number of beneficiaries to build homes abiding by the guidelines provided by the government for earthquake resilient housing construction.
A reconstruction grant of Rs. 300,000 was provided to each beneficiary in a total of three instalments through the banking process. Rs. 100,000 was provided to the beneficiaries who are willing to strengthen their homes to make them earthquake resilient.
However, 634,000 complaints were filed by citizens who wanted to become one of the beneficiaries of the government’s financial aid. The hearings of the complaints registered by the citizens have been executed.
The citizens who were not granted relief after the initial hearings have a chance to appeal again to the government, which is currently in place.
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