Friday, November 22, 2019

Almost half of quake-affected private houses not built

As the mandate of National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) is expiring on December 25, 2020, around half of the quake-affected private houses are yet not built.
“Reconstruction of 62 per cent of private houses that were damaged during the 2015 earthquake has been completed, while 24 per cent of such houses are being rebuilt,” NRA chief executive officer Sushil Gyewali said, presenting the post-earthquake reconstruction progress at the Parliamentary Development and Technology Committee today. “The reconstruction of 479,545 houses has been finished till date while reconstruction of 189,141 such houses is ongoing,” he added.
Gyewali, on the occasion, also claimed that reconstruction progress can be put at 86 per cent of quake-affected houses, if houses that are currently being reconstructed are also taken into account. “The NRA had inked housing grant agreement with 776,427 households,” he said, adding that under three tranches – Rs 100,000, Rs 150,000 and Rs 100,000 – the NRA is providing altogether Rs 350,000 as housing grant for the beneficiaries to rebuild their houses. “Some 99 per cent of housing grant beneficiaries have taken the first tranche of the housing grant from the government, while 80 per cent have taken the second tranche of housing grant and only 67 per cent of the beneficiaries have taken the third tranche of housing grant from NRA.”
The NRA has resettled 4,204 vulnerable settlements – out of 4,929 identified vulnerable settlements after the earthquake – to secured places. “The reconstruction of 71 per cent of 7,553 quake-affected schools has been completed, while 24 per cent of them are under construction,” he added. “The reconstruction of 58 per cent of 1,197 health institutions affected by the earthquake has been completed, whereas reconstruction of 14 per cent of affected health institutions is underway.”
Likewise, the reconstruction of 51 per cent of 753 cultural heritage sites – affected by the earthquake – across seven most affected districts has been completed, while reconstruction of 16 per cent of such cultural monuments is underway, according to the NRA. “Reconstruction of Ranipokhari, Dharahara, Singha Durbar and Kastamandap is ongoing at a good pace.”
Asking the NRA and the government to give due priority to enhance livelihood of quake-affected people and ensure availability of subsidised loan facilities to the quake victims, chair of the Parliamentary Development and Technology Committee Kalyani Khadka directed the NRA to give high priority to reconstruction of damaged houses.

Reconstruction update
Household surveyed – 1,036,568
Eligible for household grants – 820,610
Retrofitting beneficiaries identified – 69,973
Agreement signed with beneficiary – 776,427
Private houses reconstructed – 479,545
Private houses being rebuilt – 189,141
Vulnerable settlements identified – 4,929
Vulnerable settlements resettled – 4,204
Source: NRA

No comments: