RASUWA, Jan 17: About 45 percent of quake victims in Rasuwa, which is among the worst-hit districts by the 2015 earthquakes, are set to receive the second tranche of housing reconstruction grant after fulfilling the set criteria.

According to the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction (DUDBC), a total of 5,200 quake victims in the district have initiated the process for receiving the second tranche of the grant, which represents 44.71 percent of the quake victims in Rasuwa.

Quake victims said cold weather, festivals, various phases of the elections, shortage of laborers and shortage of construction materials contributed to the delay in rebuilding their homes. Now after fulfilling the criteria to receive the second tranche of the grant, they have finally filed the applications.

"Many things contributed to the delay in reconstruction. The top cause was the delay in the arrival of house designs in accordance with local weather and our culture," said Nabin Lama, a local of tourist-hub Gatlang village in Parwatikunda Rural Municipality. 

According to him, Gatlang village is known for houses made of wood. However, design for such house came very late. "As we were at the risk of losing our own culture, we had to deliberately delay the reconstruction until the design was out," said Lama, adding that shortage of woods was another factor contributing to the delay.

Phurba Tamang of Gosaikunda Rural Municipality-5 said a shortage of laborers caused a delay in reconstruction in their area. "After the earthquake, we realized that we have to build a quake-resilient house. However, there is a severe shortage of trained manpower," he said. "That was the main obstacle for us."

The devastating earthquake had destroyed about 98 percent households of the district. According to the DUDBC, they had signed a contract with 10,159 victims of the district regarding the reconstruction grant. So far, a total of 1,800 victims have received the third tranche of the grant, according to the office.

Over 2,000 quake victims in the district have constructed houses on their own without the contract of the quake grant. 

 
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