The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) has extended the deadline for rebuilding the private houses till mid-November this year providing an opportunity to the earthquake victims who couldn’t rebuild their houses within the earlier deadlines.
A meeting of the Directive Committee of the NRA on Thursday led by its Chair Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli made the decision to this effect because many earthquake victims had not received the second and third tranche of the grant for various reasons, including COVID-19 pandemic.
The NRA has decided to complete the remaining reconstruction works within first four months of this Fiscal Year 2021/22. Established on December 29, 2015 for a five-year term, the NRA is in the last phase of its tenure. Earlier, the NRA had set a target to complete all works by the end of this fiscal year.
The meeting also decided to provide housing grants to the earthquake victims who have started reconstructing their house but have not completed and have not received any installment. Concerned local bodies will inspect such under construction houses and make recommendation for improvements if necessary.
The meeting also decided to hold the proposed International Conference on Nepal’s reconstruction (ICNR) on December 7-9 this year. PM Oli said better preparedness was the only means to reduce the loss of life and damage to properties during the natural disasters. He stressed on the need to make preparations to deal with land, air and water-based calamities.
Stating that human settlements near the river are always at higher risk, he said that every earthquake would create new glaciers and cause old ones to explode.
“Therefore, in order to cope with the disasters, a risk management and mitigation plan should be prepared considering the geography and understanding past and future events,” he said.
The meeting also proposed to set up an autonomous body for disaster management following the expiry of the NEA’s term, as well as the establishment of a research centre on natural disasters, including earthquakes.
Similarly, the NRA has also proposed to build an earthquake museum in the building of the former minting office at the Dharahara area.
As per the information provided in the meeting, out of the total 808,282 beneficiaries whose private houses were damaged in the massive earthquake of 2015, 99.36 per cent have already received their first installment and 88.62 percent have taken the second one.
NRA Chief Executive Officer Sushil Gyawali informed that the “National Building Code” has been amended keeping in view the authority’s experience in reconstruction.
Gyawali also said that the authority has already completed “landslide risk mapping” of the entire earthquake-affected districts and handed it over to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.
Source : TRN,
