"I lost a son and a grandson. I am living through a tragedy at this age. The entire family is in profound grief. Rebuilding our house is a distant prospect for us," said Adhikari.
As the earthquake destroyed all 124 houses in the village, everyone is living in makeshift huts and tents. They are all waiting for government support to rebuild their houses.
"Since the houses turned to dust, we lost everything. We now have to start again from zero," said Baburam Dawadi, 60, of the same village.
Dawadi said that the victims initially felt some sense of relief when they heard about the government's decision to provide Rs 200,000 to each family as reconstruction support. But they have been saddened by the subsequent delay.
"For a family that has to rebuild from scratch, a support of Rs 200,000 is significant. The government gave us hope but has failed to deliver," he said.
"They said the reconstruction has to be as per criteria set by the government if one is to receive the financial support. If we rebuild our houses now with loans or by any other means, it might not conform to the criteria and we might not receive the government support," Dawadi added.
Parbati Shrestha of Aarughat in Aaruchanaute VDC, Gorkha district was inside her three-storey house when it collapsed in the quake. Although she was injured they rescued her and the family provided her proper treatment at a hospital in Kathmandu. She is now back in Aarughat.
The Shrestha family has built a small structure and restarted their shoe shop on the premises. "We built this structure and restarted our shop with loans from friends and relatives as well as the initial relief of Rs 15000. We run the shop in the front of the hut and live behind it," she said.
Parbati thinks it would be better for victim families if the government extended its support soon.
Meanwhile, government officials say they have almost completed the spadework for the earthquake reconstruction. "We are all set to release a budget to the local bodies within a few weeks. Our ministry has been coordinating between local bodies and the Ministry of Urban Development," said Purna
Chandra Bhattarai, joint-secretary at the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development.
According to Padam Kumar Mainali, spokesperson at the Ministry of Urban Development, the ministry has already sent out the reconstruction criteria to the local bodies. "We'll hold various trainings and orientation programs for transferring reconstruction technology to the local level. We are a little behind schedule for the technology transfer. However, partner-driven programs have already hit the ground," said Mainali.
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