Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba had directed the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) to immediately complete the projects that were inaugurated by the previous government even before their completion.
The 20th meeting of the NRA Directive Committee led by PM who is also the chair of the committee had directed the officials to complete the projects as soon as possible.
“The government will extend every support required to complete the remaining works and effectively expedite the rebuilding drive,” said PM Deuba.
Established on 25 December 2015, the reconstruction body had a five-year term which is extended by a year till December 25 this year. It has made preparations to hand over the remaining rebuilding works to the responsible agencies which will continue the job till the end.
Chief Executive Officer of the NRA Sushil Gyawali said that the remaining works will be implemented by the respective ministries like Ministry of Education, Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of Health, and Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Likewise, the projects related to disaster management will be coordinated, monitored and managed by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA). Building construction and reconstruction and management will be implemented through the MoUD and line agencies.
The post-quake reconstruction project is considered as one of the most managed and successful projects in Nepal. To share the practice and success stories with the rest of the world, the NRA is set to organise an international conference on Nepal’s reconstruction as well.
By Wednesday, about 615,493 houses have been rebuilt while 721,334 families have obtained the second tranche of the housing grant.
Likewise, 664,445 households are found eligible for the third installment of the grant, according to the NRA statistics. The devastating 2015 Gorkha Earthquake killed about 9,000 people and damaged hundreds of thousands of houses, heritages, health and education facilities and infrastructure. The government had surveyed 1.03 million houses and found 866,060 of them eligible for the housing grant of Rs. 300,000. However, the grant agreement was signed with 820,340 families. The number was increased recently following the NRA’s decision to include additional households as the beneficiaries of the reconstruction grant.
The quake also damaged about 7,553 schools destroying more than 49,681 classrooms, 326 health facilities, 465 archaeological heritages, 415 government buildings and 216 buildings of security agencies. According to the estimates made in the aftermath of the earthquake in 2015, it would take about Rs. 938 billion for the five-year reconstruction and rehabilitation drive but after the mid-term review of the Post Disaster Recovery Framework (PDRF), the total cost of reconstruction has been estimated at Rs. 630 billion.
Source : TRN,
