585,600 quake-hit households provided relief aid: Home Ministry
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Kathmandu / January 14: As many as 585,600 quake-hit households have received Rs 10,000 each from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) for the purchase of warm clothes to help them fend off the biting cold.
In a press conference organized by the MoHA here on Thursday, it was shared that the Ministry has already distributed relief aid in cash amounting to over Rs 5.85 billion to the quake-survivors in 14 worst-affected and nine quake-affected districts across the country.
The April 25 earthquake, according to the preliminary government estimates, destroyed more than 570,000 houses while 270,000 houses were rendered uninhabitable. Furthermore, the 7.6 magnitude quake with its epicenter in Barpark of Gorkha district is estimated to have affected more than 2.8 million people across the country, with nearly 9,000 lives lost and scores left injured, standing at above 20,000.
According to Rameshower Dangal, Chief of the Division of Disaster Management (DoDM), of the total Rs 6 billion allocated for the purchase of warm clothes for quake-survivors, the MoHA ran short for around half the amount for the same purpose.
Hence, the Ministry of Finance has been requested to release the remaining budget, shared Yadav Koirala, Spokesperson of the MoHA. The relief operation for the same has been facing problems financially as the quake-hit households have been flaring up the number of households, citing that they separated from the joint families. “The remote places in the quake-hit zones were accorded utmost priority during the relief aid distribution,” confided Spokesperson Koirala.
As per the Disaster Rescue and Relief Standard 2064, the bereaved families of those killed during the disaster are entitled to Rs 40,000 compensation and those whose house sustained complete damage in the disaster receives Rs 5,000 per household.
Those houses receiving partial damages get Rs 3,000. The bereaved families of those killed during the recent quake have been distributed Rs 100,000 per family, as per the latest decision of the Council of Ministers, the MoHA shared.
The Home Ministry, in addition to providing cash support to the quake-survivors, has also distributed some 500 sets of sleeping bags to families in the northern part of Gorkha district, braving the winter chill following the recent snowfall. RSS