Earthquake victims in Jajarkot have begun leaving their homes. After the government decided not to reconstruct the houses of earthquake-affected families who own more than one house, many have started to abandon their settlements. Citizens who had hoped the government would rebuild the private houses destroyed by the earthquake have now been left disappointed.
Earthquake victims who had been living in temporary shelters with the support of the Rs. 50,000 provided by the government for temporary housing, and waiting for reconstruction, have begun migrating to various places including Nepalgunj and Surkhet after the government decided not to support the reconstruction of houses belonging to those who still have at least one safe house remaining.
Tej Bikram Shah of Bheri Municipality Ward No. 3 said that after five houses in Pipal Danda of Khalanga, the district headquarters, were destroyed by the earthquake, his family lived for two years in temporary shelters, enduring cold, heat, and floods/landslides during the monsoon. He said that due to the lack of a house this year, the family had to celebrate festivals outside the district. Although he had hoped to rebuild the house with subsidized loans from the government, he said he has been left stranded after the government failed to provide such support.
After the new procedure stating that houses owned outside the district will not be reconstructed came into effect, people have been forced to leave the village in despair. All houses destroyed by the earthquake lie in ruins. When the government’s reconstruction guidelines themselves excluded them, despite earlier hopes, the settlements have started turning empty. Even after being homeless for two years, people who hoped the government would rebuild their houses and allow them to resettle have now been left disappointed, said Vijaya Nagarkoti of Bheri Municipality Ward No. 3.
Earthquake victims of Bheri Municipality and Nalagad Municipality have been freezing in the winter cold. Since they have to live in temporary shelters, families are suffering. After local governments failed to prioritize reconstruction, the poor, economically vulnerable, and marginalized have been forced to spend winter nights warming themselves by the fire.
Earthquake victim Hitler Singh Rathour also complained that after the houses collapsed, people had nowhere else to go and had to build temporary shelters with the government’s grant, but even after two years, the local government has ignored reconstruction efforts.
Earthquake-affected residents of Rawatgaon in Ward No. 1 and Thaple Pipal Danda in Ward No. 3 of Bheri Municipality, who had built their houses on steep slopes, are also suffering. Likewise, in Pali, Kalpat, and Chiuri villages of Nalagad Municipality Ward No. 1, areas predominantly inhabited by Dalit and Janajati communities, most earthquake victims earn their livelihood through daily wage labor.
Birendra Chadara of Nalagad Municipality Ward No. 1 said that poor, Dalit, economically weak, and high-risk families are facing severe problems due to the lack of safe housing.
Since the government failed to prioritize reconstruction on time, about 48,000 earthquake-affected households have been living at risk. Although there was an assurance to rebuild stone-and-mud houses, people have become worried after the Detailed Damage Assessment (DDA) report categorized many of them under repairable structures.
Chief District Officer Raju Prasad Paudel said that citizens have suffered due to delays by the local governments. According to him, there is no issue with the availability of funds deposited at the District Disaster Management and Risk Reduction Committee for reconstruction. He said the local governments have been urged to complete necessary processes as soon as possible so that the funds can be released.