But Lamichhane of Kakani, Nuwakot district, who has been building a house at Goldhunga- 3 in Kathmandu, is now lamenting his decision. The devastating April 25 earthquake has caused a huge damage to his under-construction house.
Over 5,500 houses were destroyed and over 20,000 houses were damaged in the earthquake in Kathmandu Valley alone. Officials at KMC say the number of destroyed and damaged houses would cross thousands if the newly declared municipalities in Bhaktapur and Lalitpur districts are also taken into account. They said a majority of the houses in the capital have been built violating the building code."Had I only built a two-story house as approved by the municipal authorities, I would not have incurred such a huge loss," rued Lamichhane who is now bringing down the upper one-and-half story of his house on his own. He informed that it would take over Rs 1 million to bring down the structure he built illegally.
Lamichhane has not been able to sleep properly and has lost his appetite after the quake damaged his house. He visited the municipality office several times following the quake asking the officials there to send engineers to inspect his damaged house. But the municipality officials gave him the phone number of engineer's association instead. An engineer from the association then inspected his house and asked him to bring down the illegally built structure.
Likewise, Kamal Rimal of Goldhunga -2, Kathmandu, still hesitates to sleep inside his home at night. Rimal, who until recently had been living under a tent has been removing the top floor of his four-and-a-half story house. He informed that engineers have suggested to him to remove the top floor and all other illegally constructed structures. "I got my house inspected by several government engineers. They told me to get bring down illegally built structures, though the quake has posed no serious threat to the main structure of the house," informed Rimal.
KMC officials informed that houses that have been built violating the building code have suffered more damage in the quake. "Most of the houses have been built violating the building code. They have either modified the structures or have built additional structures," said KMC Spokesperson Santa Ram Pokhrel. He concedes that the concerned authorities, including KMC, failed to implement the building code. "Had the building code been implemented strictly, the damage would have been less severe," added Pokharel. Pokharel informed people are thronging the KMC ward offices asking the authorities to remove illegally built structures of their houses.
"Either knowingly or unknowingly people have violated the building code. We Nepali people take pride in violating the law," he said. He also said that KMC officials might have been bribed to approve faulty building designs.
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