NRCS distributes second installment to construct private houses for quake survivors

Kathmandu / March 24: Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS) has so far provided 389 houses of the districts most affected by the earthquake with the second installment amount to construct private houses.

NRCS allocated Rs 58.3 million to provide the second installment to eligible households. They received Rs 150,000 each, according to Earthquake Response Programme implemented by the organisation.

The NRCS with the financial and technical assistance from red cross societies of various countries continues to provide technical and monetary aid in the areas of shelter construction, drinking water, sanitation, livelihood, income generation and primary healthcare for over 6,000 households of the disaster-hit districts, the organisation said.

NRA website gives wrong information about rebuilt houses

Meanwhile, the number of houses rebuilt after the earthquake uploaded in the official website of National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) does not match the same data of the Ministry of Urban Development.

The NRA, the government body formed to carry out reconstruction efforts after the Gorkha earthquake, is found giving wrong information about the number of houses rebuilt after the disaster.

According to NRA’s website www.nra.gov.np, the number of houses rebuilt after the quake is 41,311 which does not tally with the Ministry’s data. This number is displayed on the NRA website’s home page. Ministry Spokesperson Yamlal Bhusal said that the number of houses as shown by the NRA website has not been built after the quake.

As per the statistics updated by Ministry’s central project implementation unit until 3:45 pm Thursday, the number of rebuilt houses is 2,484 while the number of the under-construction houses is 40,359.

Likewise, 16,515 survivors rebuilt houses on their own before drawing the house rebuilding grants, according to information provided by engineers deputed in the districts under the Ministry. This data also does not match with the NRA’s data.

People of the quake-affected districts fear that NRA may finish its assigned task just in documents.

NRA executive member Dr Hariram Parajuli, approving the Ministry’s data, said Ministry’s statistics was authentic.

He is clueless regarding the source of data that NRA is displaying on its website’s opening page.

Meanwhile, the NRA has permitted the Non Resident Nepalis Association (NRA) to proceed with the construction of a model village at Laprak of Gorkha, the epicentre of the quake that hit the country to core on April 25, 2015.RSS