After the earthquakes last year up to 2.7 million people across 21 districts have been living in drought-like conditions. Local water sources have dried up due to heavy tremors. According to the Department of Water Supply and Sewage (DWSS), 3,067 water sources have been completely damaged in the 14 most-affected districts, while 4,836 other sources have been partially damaged. In places like Thokarpa VDC of Sindupalchowk district, the locals spend six hours a day just to fetch enough water to drink. Many families of Thokarpa have already migrated. But why hasn't the work of restoring these vital water sources even started? Apparently, officials at the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) and the DWSS are quarrelling over who should rebuild the water sources. The government has already allocated Rs 2.13 billion for the DWSS to explore new water sources and repair damaged ones. So the money is not the problem; the problem is confusion over who should undertake the work on the ground. It's disheartening to witness government agencies quarrel over such fundamental issues—11 months after the first big earthquake on April 25th.It is not clear whether the NRA has completed its detailed study of the affected areas, a task it had promised would be over by the first anniversary of the April 25th earthquake. But since the authority does not seem to have a policy of releasing timely information on its progress, people are in complete dark on what is actually happening. This makes them suspect that despite the around US $4 billion that was promised by various donors in the immediate aftermath of the earthquakes, very little work has been done. Since the NRA, as the name implies, was formed with the one and only purpose of rebuilding damaged infrastructure and rehabilitating those who lost their homes, the NRA top brass must take the ultimate responsibility for the inordinate delay. If the concerned government agencies all did their work without any prompting, we wouldn't need an agency like the NRA. If anything, its existence has made it convenient for concerned government bodies to pass the buck on everything related to the earthquakes on the authority.
The NRA must give a better account of itself. It must tell the people what it has been doing in the past five months of its existence. In what ways has it helped expedite reconstruction and rehabilitation? Why is the work to avail even basic necessities like drinking water to affected populations yet to start? Sometime ago, the NRA had directed all donors to channel their aid through the authority. But how can the donors trust an organization that has done seemingly nothing to help earthquake victims? Or, if it has, has failed to properly communicate what it's doing? Restoring the supply of potable water should have been among its first priorities. If this is the way the reconstruction authority will function, perhaps the country doesn't need one at all. This may sound like a harsh judgment. It's because hundreds of thousands of lives are on the line here.
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