GORKHA, Aug 18: A total of 33,405 families in Gorkha district affected by last year's devastating earthquake have received their first installment of the quake grant.
According to the District Development Committee (DDC), Gorkha, it has deposited Rs 1.67 billion to the bank accounts of the earthquake victims. “We have already deposited the quake grants in the bank accounts of the victims. Now the banks are distributing it,” said Satish Kumar Bhattarai, Planning, Monitoring and Administrative Officer at the DDC.
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“Every victim would have their first installment grant on hand within 10 days. They will be able to start building their homes within a month,” added Bhattarai.
Although the DDC claimed that it has already deposited the grant tranche to the victims of about 40 Village Development Committees (VDCs) in the district, many of the victims have not started building their homes. This has rendered technicians deployed by the government to help victims build quake-resistant houses without work as their services have not been sought. Those technicians said they have been jobless since the past three months.
Local Development Officer Narayan Acharya said technicians deployed by the Ministry of Urban Development would soon be busy once the monsoon season is over. “Quake victims are currently preoccupied with agricultural work. That's why they have not started building homes, but they soon will,” he said.
The Ministry of Urban Development has deployed 125 engineers, 40 sub-engineers and 47 assistant sub-engineers in 60 VDCs and two municipalities of the district. As per their plan, one engineer will look after the construction of 750 quake-resistant houses, according to Shyam Kishor Singh, chief of Gorkha chapter of Urban Development and Building Construction Divisional Office.
