Tulashi lives at Suncity Apartments in Manohara with his wife and daughter. On April 25, as the 7.8 Richter scale earthquake shook Nepal, Tulashi was in his living room where his chandelier started swinging and its pieces started falling. Scared, he and his family walked out immediately. But after ten days of living in tents, they got back into their apartment on June 3.
"We showed our building to several teams of engineers, and also went to NSET (National Society for Earthquake Technology) and they all said it was safe to live in," says Tulashi. Though the government has given it a yellow sticker for repair and maintenance, the engineers have assured residents that there is not even five percent damage to the structure of the building.Tulashi also owns a four-story house nearby, but still chooses to live in Suncity apartments, despite the fact that his wife has problems walking because of an operation in the knee. More than 150 units of the apartment were occupied before April 25, and now, there are residents in about 50 of them, according to Tulashi's estimate.
Another reason Tulashi feels assured in his apartment is that it has been insured. So the cost of maintenance of the building will be borne by the insurance. At many other high rise apartments in the city, the situation is not as sunny as at Suncity apartment where residents continue to live despite fear.
Metro apartment at Kuleshwor is one of them. From the outside, the building looks quite dangerous. The walls at many places have developed holes, revealing the cupboards and beds inside. The cupboards could fall down any moment, and a green net covers the building for several floors. And yet, some of the eight storey apartments are currently occupied, and others in the process of being repaired for occupation.
"The government has given this building a yellow sticker," says Shrijan Shrestha, an engineer himself who lives on the fourth floor. "Though the walls are damaged, the structure is fine, so we can live here after some maintenance."
Shrijan informed that the structure of a building consisted of its beam, column, and slab. These are the elements that take most of the building's weight. They can be visually inspected first. And if the damage is not visible, engineers can assess damage by hitting structure with small articles. The kind of sound that they hear can give an indication of damage.
If the beam, column, and slabs are not damaged, walls can be repaired for they do not take much of the building's weight. "In fact, the heavier the walls, the more load on the building's structure," says Shrijan, "which is the reason this building has walls of 4-inch in most places." Only after the 4-inch walls fell did people start to realize that it would be better to have other materials than bricks in walls. Alternatives like concrete and steel sheets seem better options today.
Shrijan has lived in Metro apartments for four years, and is currently living at a relative's place while he carries out repair works at his apartment. He has to carry out the works himself since the building is not insured, so the maintenance cost is borne by the residents themselves. The cost of hiring construction workers is pretty high now. Shrijan admits that he had been looking for someone for a month before he found one willing to work who charges more than 20 percent of normal wage. Shrijan plans to shift back into his apartment once his repair work is finished.
"The building has not been handed over to the residents, so until now, the repair and insurance is the builder's responsibility," says Mangal Prasad Gupta, another resident of Metro apartments. He and his wife have not found the courage to live in the apartment yet, they pop in and out to get their things every once in a while. Mangal is waiting for the building's management to take some steps towards repair.
But there are many others who do not have the luxury to wait. Kanchan Shah is one of them. After the earthquake on April 25, she left with her two small children and elderly in-laws for her house in Birgunj while her husband stayed over at his brother's place in Kathmandu. But after 20 days, she came back to Kathmandu with her two younger children, while her eldest 11th grade daughter Sneha rejoined them from Delhi. "They have already missed school so much," she says, speaking of her 6th grade son and 3rd grade daughter. "And my husband also has a job that does not give leave."
From their balcony, Sneha can clearly see the cracks in one of the rooms of her apartment, which looks like it is in danger of falling. "Yes, we are scared every day," say Sneha and Kanchan. "But at the moment we do not have an option, and we put our trust in the yellow sticker."
Just deciding to live in their old residence is not enough; there are many other problems in continuing life for the residents of high-rise buildings. Kanchan's in-laws are still in Birgunj, because they are scared that in case of an earthquake, they cannot run away from the building. Her children do not want to go to school, and scared that there will be an earthquake while they are away from home. "But what can we do?" says Kanchan, "We cannot afford to put our life on hold forever!"
sewa.bhattarai@gmail.com
Related story
A place called home
