Indian government, UNDP complete reconstruction of 50,000 earthquake-affected houses in Nepal

Dec 24, 2021

Gorkha (Nepal), Dec 24 (ANI): Dal Bahadur Bishwo Karma lost his vision permanently after a wild bull attacked him about a decade ago, and as if this wasn’t tragic enough…He had to live without a roof for over half a decade after the devastating 2015 Nepal earthquake---which took away his home too. It is only now, after the combined efforts of the United Nations Development Programme or UNDP and the Government of India that he has concrete walls around to give him a homely feeling. Dal Bahadur recollects how hard his life has been…which would become even more miserable during monsoons and winters when the rickety shelters were just not enough to resist the perils of weather… even blood relations abandoned him in the crisis. Dal Bahadur is one of the first groups of families that have been relocated in the Palungtar Municipality of Gorkha---which was the epicenter of the 8.1 magnitude quake. The reconstruction drive initiated with the Government of India with UNDP’s consultation has ended years of daily struggle for thousands of households in Gorkha and Nuwakot that were most affected by the earthquake.150 million dollars were allocated for the reconstruction in housing sector, 100 million as grant and 50 million in the form of Line of Credit. It has helped in the construction of 50,000 houses in Gorkha and Nuwakot districts of Nepal. The GoI has appointed UNDP and UNOPS as socio technical facilitation consultants for Gorkha and Nuwakot district in 2018.