April 24: Half of the houses damaged by the mega earthquakes of 2015 have been rebuilt, according to the National Reconstruction (NRA). Issuing a statement on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the devastation, the NRA said on Tuesday that 382,277 houses out of the total 762,307 with whom it had signed agreements for reconstruction have been rebuilt.

According to the NRA, 50 percent households have already completed reconstruction and have started living in their new homes, while 230,658 (30 percent) households are in the process of completing the reconstruction.

The NRA said it has been undertaking reconstruction of structures such as private housing, educational institutions, health facilities, and archeological heritages, buildings of security agencies, government offices, and roads, and drinking water. Among them, the NRA said it prioritized the reconstruction of private houses first.

The statement says that the overall progress in the reconstruction of private houses is 80 percent.

The NRA said that it is trying to solve the problems of vulnerable groups, landless and self-inhabitants while providing housing plots in safer locations for those living in unsafe places.

“We are in the process of conducting a final round of survey for grievance hearing. We have been saying from the beginning that, it's not the government that will construct the houses, but the houses will be built with the ownership of the related house-owners. The government will facilitate and provide financial and technical support,” the statement said.

Out of the 7,553 schools requiring reconstruction, 4,476 (59 percent) have already been reconstructed while 1,772 are currently under reconstruction.

Likewise, 643 (54 percent) out of 1,197 health institutions have been reconstructed while 145 (12 percent) are currently under reconstruction, according to NRA.

The NRA the collective effort has helped the country achieve much progress despite various challenges, including political transition, constitution-making process, blockade, establishment of the NRA only after eight months of the earthquake, and the frequent changes in the NRA leadership.

However, the biggest challenge in reconstruction and rehabilitation according to the NRA is the financial management.

A total of Rs 938 billion was estimated for the five-year reconstruction and rehabilitation plan. Of which, Rs 186 billion has been spent by FY 2017/18, and the revised projected expenditure for this fiscal year is Rs 123 billion.

Likewise, NRA expects to mobilize about Rs 200 billion through the government's regular budget program, as well as by the private sector and NGOs. This shows that the NRA will need an additional Rs 429 billion to complete the overall reconstruction works.

The statement said that the status of reconstruction will depend on proper financial management.

According to the NRA, the reshuffle of the government employees, which led to the transfer of many experienced reconstruction staff to provincial and local governments, has also affected the reconstruction works.