{"id":20018470,"date":"2016-04-24T18:40:31","date_gmt":"2016-04-24T13:10:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thethirdpole.net\/?p=18470"},"modified":"2021-01-04T19:51:33","modified_gmt":"2021-01-04T14:21:33","slug":"photo-story-one-year-later-nepals-quake-survivors-still-homeless","status":"publish","type":"photo_story","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/uncategorized\/photo-story-one-year-later-nepals-quake-survivors-still-homeless\/","title":{"rendered":"One year later, Nepal\u2019s quake survivors still homeless"},"content":{"rendered":"

As morning dawned last week in eastern Nepal\u2019s Dolakha district, situated near the Tibetan border, Chandra Bahadur Tamang and his sons were rushing to the nearby forest. They had packed quilts, mattresses and cooking utensils for the trip, but this was not the trekking the rich people do in Nepal, but rather a trip of the poor, who had become poorer still when the devastating earthquake in Nepal last April<\/a> had destroyed their houses. \u201cWe are landless people,\u201d Tamang explained, \u201cWe had a small hut but the earthquake took it away. Now we are trapped between this roaring Tamakoshi river and the cracked hills.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Laxmi
Laxmi Shrestha waits for bus on landslide debris on the bank of the Sunkoshi River.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

See also – PHOTO STORY: Stories of survival after the Nepal quake<\/a><\/p>\n

To compound their problems, monsoon clouds are already moving from the Bay of Bengal, and should reach eastern Nepal by mid June. \u201cWe don\u2019t sleep when it starts raining,\u201d Tamang said. The mountains still bear the scars of the earthquake, and numerous landslides are within sight of where they live. Boulders the size of trucks are still lying on the roads.<\/p>\n

They have received little from the government, except a few tents, food and NPR 25,000 (USD 250) over the last year. \u201cWe have been told that grants will be provided to build houses but don\u2019t know where the money has reached,\u201d Tamang said in a low voice.<\/p>\n

Tamang\u2019s story illustrates the fate of most victims of the deadly earthquake that killed about 9,000 people in Nepal last April. Even those living in district headquarters are struggling. Eighty-four year old Sun Bahadur Shahi lives in Dolakha Bazaar, an old traditional town located just a few kilometres from the district headquarters, Charikot. He has been suffering from fever for a week and has no medication. He and his family have been living in a makeshift house on public land since the quake. \u201cThe government has asked to leave this place as soon as possible as it is near to road. We don\u2019t have a house, where can we go? We don\u2019t know why our own government treats us like enemies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A few metres away from Shahi\u2019s makeshift house, dozens of people were busy clearing away the debris of the destroyed houses. The few houses that remained standing after the quake are damaged. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) agreed to pay the wages of labourers so that they could clear the debris for the upcoming Machindranath festival<\/a>. A giant chariot is wheeled through the town during the festival, and the IOM paid enough to clear the debris from this specific route, and not more.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/ditaanggraeni.cartodb.com\/viz\/041aa150-f02d-11e4-b4d8-0e018d66dc29\/public_map<\/a><\/p>\n

The politics of reconstruction<\/strong><\/p>\n

In August last year, Govinda Raj Pokharel was appointed the CEO of the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA)<\/a> through an ordinance that had to be endorsed by the parliament within two months. Unfortunately the Nepali political parties failed to forge a consensus, and the NRA was therefore temporarily dissolved. In December, a new government was elected, and it replaced Pokharel with Sushil Gyawali.<\/p>\n

As the political parties fought over who would head the NRA, the earthquake victims were left with no help. Even after Gyawali was appointed, nine months after the earthquake, the NRA lacked the required human resources to implement its work. \u201cWe started with two people and now there are 86 staff working at the Authority. We are speeding up our work now,\u201d said Gyawali.  This is still only 40% of the total staff needed.<\/p>\n

It was only last week, almost a whole year after the earthquake, that the NRA started distributing NPR 50,000 (USD 500) per household in Singati village, as the first instalment of NPR 200, 000 (USD 2,000) for rebuilding houses.<\/p>\n

[iframe src=”https:\/\/magic.piktochart.com\/embed\/13193748-untitled-infographic” width=”100%” height=”620px”]<\/p>\n

Junga Bahadur Budhathoki was among few lucky ones to receive a first instalment. However he does not know what to do with it, as it is insufficient to build a house as per government standards.  The government have issued new earthquake proof standards<\/a> that villagers are now supposed to follow.<\/p>\n