By Narendra Dhakal

Gorkha, May 19: People of Laprak village in the district are moving into their new houses five years after the devastating earthquake in April 2015 rendered them homeless.
Although the work of building the Laprak settlement has not completed yet, the victims have started living in the newly-constructed houses.
Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) has been constructing the houses in the village.
“The NRNA has not officially handed over the new settlement yet. However, we have given permission to the locals to live in the new houses as the rainy season is approaching,” said Santosh Gurung, chairman of Dharche Rural Municipality. Gurung himself is a local of Laprak.
Formally conducting a house-warming ritual, 75-year-old Kanchhi Gurung has recently started living in one of the new houses at Gupsi Pakha in the village after she received permission to shift from the Rural Municipality.
She had been taking shelter by building a temporary hut at a rented land. She had to build the temporary hut at the rented land after the villagers compelled her to leave the public land where she had made a hut after the quake.
“We allowed her to move into her new house by performing a pooja. She is very happy thinking that she would now die at her own home,” chairman Gurung said.
She has had no family member with her since her only son went missing many years ago.
Like her, many quake victims of the village have to live in temporary huts due to the delay in the construction of the settlement.
“The construction is still going on. Some other elderly people and pregnant women will be shifted to new houses within a few days. We have plans to move most of the families to the new houses by the second week of July,” chair Gurung added. The NRNA has almost completed the construction of 573 houses. However, the installation of doors, windows and toilets is pending.
“If the lockdown was not in place, we would have handed over the new settlement to the villagers on April 24 (Baisakh 12),” said Laxman Aryal, site manager of the NRNA. Baisakh 12 was the anniversary of the fateful day when the earthquake struck.
Aryal further said, “The workers who had come from outside the district have already returned to their homes due to the lockdown. Now we are discussing with the Rural Municipality to use local labourers to finish the remaining works.”
Katuwal used as informer
The Ward Office has used Katuwal (traditional informer) to circulate information among the villagers for shifting to their new houses.
“Please go to live in your new house at Gupsi Pakha. Clean your houses and around. Build toilet if you have not built it. Plant flowers at your house,” Katuwal circulated a message.
Ward chair Raj Gurung said that the villagers were swiftly transferring their belongings to their new houses and collecting firewood.“The locals have been handed over their houses on the basis of lucky draw. They have been asked to use their houses properly and protect them responsibly,” ward chair Gurung stated.
The locals are busy decorating their new houses. The construction of the settlement could not complete in time due to some negligence of the NRNA, the locals said.