The VDC has already published an estimate of the number of houses that were completely damaged by the quake. In lack of field assessment, the VDC has relied solely on the application of the VDC residents filed seeking earthquake relief funds given to those whose home is either damaged beyond repair or completely damaged by the earthquake. This has forced the VDC office to its estimates time and again. Now it is preparing to publish the data of the destroyed houses for the fourth time."We were preparing to distribute quake relief materials after the publication of the first data," informed Nil Kantha Lamichhane, the VDC secretary. "After publication of the first data, however, many locals came to us with application saying their houses were not enlisted. Then we revised it for two more times," he said, adding they are now preparing to revise it for the fourth time.
The VDC office had started distributing cash reliefs from July 27. After the distribution, locals have been filing applications for the relief claiming their houses were also destroyed.
The numbers of houses sustaining complete damage were recorded at 443 in the first data. The number then reached 610 houses in the second one. Then 618 more houses were added in the third data. Now the numbers have reached 1,228 after the revision, according to Lamichhane. "We are still receiving applications from the locals," he added.
He also suspects the involvement of fake quake victims. "Some people whose houses are not damaged may also be filing the applications to claim the 15, 000 rupees relief amount," said Lamichhane. "Some locals, however, may also be genuine victims. During revisions around 20 - 30 genuine quake victims were found to be excluded from previous list."
Khil Bahadur Magar of Tinghare, Darechowk-3, has been included in the data only during the third revision. He was given quake victim certificate after a technical team from the district monitored his house during the third review. The technical team had shown reluctance to consider his application.
Lack of clear instructions from the government has led to the confusion, Lamichhane said. "The problem wouldn't have arisen if the government had set a deadline and sent qualified technicians in every VDC for field observation," Magar said.
"If the government had spent some money to hire qualified technicians, the number of houses claiming complete destruction might have been decreased by at least 100," he said. "It would've highly benefitted the government. However, no such action was taken."
According to the District Disaster Management Committee (DDRC), the same problem persists in other VDCs as well. "We are not given clear deadline for submitting the data. This has led to its continuous revision and applications from locals claiming to be quake victims has kept on increasing," said Local Development Officer Bharat Mani Pandey.
The DDRC distributes red cards to earthquake victims whose houses are completely damaged. Similarly, those whose houses have sustained partial damages receive yellow card. Victims with red cards receive Rs 15,000 while those with yellow cards receive Rs 3,000.
According to data provided by the DDRC, 5,579 households in the district are yet to receive yellow cards. Similarly, DDRC is yet distribute red cards to 591 households. So far, 2,900 red cards and 4,550 yellow cards have been distributed.
According to the DDRC, 13,620 houses altogether from 16 VDCs of Chitwan, Bharatpur Sub-metropolitan, Ratnagar, Khairahani, Chitrawan, Madi and Naryani Municipality sustained damages in the quake, among which 3,491 houses are damaged completely.
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