By Indira Aryal

Bhaktapur Jan. 29: It’s nearly five years since the massive April 2015 earthquake struck the country, but the reconstruction of individual houses in Bhaktapur district is still moving at a snail’s pace.
Bhaktapur, a historic town, 12 km away from Kathmandu, is progressively rebuilding in other sectors expect for private houses, experts said. Out of total beneficiaries, only 33 per cent had rebuilt their houses so far.
When passing through the alleys of Bhaktapur city, one can notice many buildings standing in support of wooden poles, while only a few have a new and fresh look in traditional style. 
Almost all the freshly reconstructed buildings have traditional looks assembled with Dachi Appa (Chinese bricks). Locals say they don’t want to lose the traditional look into unhealthy modern ones.  
However, the process of reconstruction of individual houses does not seem to be making progress as the government claims. 
Most of the houses in the core areas in the old Bhaktapur remain dilapidated and destroyed. People who are staying in the dilapidated houses said that they lacked money to reconstruct their houses. 
Shyam Keshari Silpakar, 65, of Tekafuku-2 in Bhaktapur Municipality, who is still staying in his dilapidated house, said

that she received Rs. 50,000 as grant from the government in the first tranche but that was not enough for them to start rebuilding her house. 
“We went to ask for the grant and they said they would provide us up to Rs. 300,000 for the reconstruction but that amount is insufficient even to pay the wages. How can that help us to reconstruct the whole house? We are looking for some loans so that we can rebuild the house.”
However, some of the locals have completed the reconstruction of their damaged houses. Narayan Das Prajapati of Nashmana-4 said that he rebuilt his house taking the grant from the government. 
“Though the process is lengthy, the grant does support to some extent,” Prajapati said. A family of six members had shifted to a rented flat soon after the earthquake but he completed the reconstruction two years ago. 
“We use all the traditional methods and government guidelines while rebuilding this house. We use Dachi Appa (traditional bricks) in the front face so that the house looks attractive,” Prajapati said. 
Laxmi Bhakta Khatri of Vakha Chwok-1 said that he received Rs. 50,000 from the government. However, he failed to reconstruct his house. He is staying in a rented apartment with his elder son and has no plan to reconstruct the house in the near future. 
According to Bibek Gautam, Research and Monitoring expert of Nepal Reconstruction Authority, 24,585 received the first tranche, but the number of those receiving the second tranche was only 10,212. 
Only 33 per cent of individual houses have completed reconstruction with the third tranche in the district. 
Dhurba Gaida, chief at the Local Infrastructure and Relief Fund Management Division under the NRA, said that Bhaktapur district was the district with least reconstruction among those in the valley. “They have many problems like tussle between landlords and tenants, tussle among the brothers and the line,” he said.
Gaida further said, “We are reaching every house in the ward asking the locals if we can help to reconstruct their houses, because we have to time for these things for long.” With their own problems, Bhaktapur is not getting satisfactory results in reconstructing individual houses, he added.
“Most of the people receive their first installment and do not follow for another installment mainly because they have some problem in reconstructing their houses,” Gautam said. 
Gautam said that most of the beneficiaries showed the financial problem to complete the reconstruction while some of them had family problems. A few of the destroyed houses were constructed in the land of Guthi and others have problem of access road, according to Gautam.
“We mobilise our men in every ward of the district to support them for the process of receiving grant, but only a few individuals are engaged in reconstruction,” Gautam said.