Palpa quake survivors yet to get house construction fund
More than two years into the earthquake of April 25, 2015 that left nearly 9000 dead and destroyed around 22 thousand houses, quake victims in Sahalkot in Palpa are taking shelter in tents for want of money to build new houses. Their long wait for succor to build new houses seems to be a dream for them yet with government’s announcement to provide reliefs to quake victims nowhere to be seen so far.
Although the government has claimed that it has been providing reliefs to quake victims, some of them in the village have yet to get succor. As a result, many of them are taking refuse in tents without any monetary helps to build new houses.
They have braved two winters and three monsoons since the quake struck two years ago. What is appealing that the victims are not sure when their hardships would end.
“I have lost my hope to get relief amount to build a new house. My grandson who was born during the quake has started walking now. We are yet to get the first tranche of housing grant,” said quake survivor Gobardhan Darji, 76, of Sahalkot Sukekot.
“I constantly worry about how to feed and provide accommodation to my 19-member family as I am physically weak and cannot work properly,” he said. Hardships of quake victims living in tents are coupled during winter and monsoon in particular as their accommodation fails to protect them from cold and rains. Elderly people, postnatal women and children have been affected most. Many of women were forced and are forced to deliver their babies in tents.
In the village alone, two persons were killed due to cold since the quake occurred.
“I am yet to start building a new house for I have not received the first tranche of the housing grant,” said another quake victim Tilbir Rana. According to the Nepal Reconstruction Authority, 61 houses were destroyed completely in the quake in the area.
More than two years into the earthquake of April 25, 2015 that left nearly 9000 dead and destroyed around 22 thousand houses, quake victims in Sahalkot in Palpa are taking shelter in tents for want of money to build new houses. Their long wait for succor to build new houses seems to be a dream for them yet with government’s announcement to provide reliefs to quake victims nowhere to be seen so far.
Although the government has claimed that it has been providing reliefs to quake victims, some of them in the village have yet to get succor. As a result, many of them are taking refuse in tents without any monetary helps to build new houses.
They have braved two winters and three monsoons since the quake struck two years ago. What is appealing that the victims are not sure when their hardships would end.
“I have lost my hope to get relief amount to build a new house. My grandson who was born during the quake has started walking now. We are yet to get the first tranche of housing grant,” said quake survivor Gobardhan Darji, 76, of Sahalkot Sukekot.
“I constantly worry about how to feed and provide accommodation to my 19-member family as I am physically weak and cannot work properly,” he said. Hardships of quake victims living in tents are coupled during winter and monsoon in particular as their accommodation fails to protect them from cold and rains. Elderly people, postnatal women and children have been affected most. Many of women were forced and are forced to deliver their babies in tents.
In the village alone, two persons were killed due to cold since the quake occurred.
“I am yet to start building a new house for I have not received the first tranche of the housing grant,” said another quake victim Tilbir Rana. According to the Nepal Reconstruction Authority, 61 houses were destroyed completely in the quake in the area.
Nepal’s most important Hindu temple stands on the banks of the holy Bagmati River, surrounded by a bustling market of religious stalls selling marigolds, prasad (offerings), incense, rudraksha beads, conch shells, pictures of Hindu deities and temples, tika powder in rainbow colours, glass lingams, models of Mt Meru and other essential religious paraphernalia.
Some shrines were damaged in the sprawling complex surrounding the temple during the 2015 earthquake, but the main mandir was unscathed. In the weeks after the earthquake, cremation fires burning continuously on the funeral ghats alongside the Bagmati river became a defining image of the disaster.
At first glance, Pashupatinath might not look that sacred – the temple is just a few hundred metres from the end of the runway at Tribhuvan Airport, overlooking a particularly polluted stretch of the Bagmati.
Sadhus and devotees of Shiva flock to Pashupatinath from across the subcontinent and many Nepalis choose to be cremated on the banks of the holy river. Even the kings of Nepal used to come here to ask for a blessing from Pashupati before commencing any important journey.
