By Chitra Mijar

Sindhupalchowk, Dec. 26: Fifty-three families of Majhi community have now started living in new well-built houses in Chautara Sangchowkgadhi Municipality-14, Bhyadi in the district.
People of the Majhi community, who had been living under sheds built using tents and tarpaulins for five years, look immensely happy for getting the beautiful houses to live in..
The maroon and white coloured three-roomed, one-storied houses are so attractive that they look as if they were built for shooting a movie.
Lifestyles of Majhi families, who live by fishing, have also changed drastically after they started living in the new houses.
Dinesh Majhi, Consultant of Unified Majhi Settlement’s Improvement Committee, said that the 53 houses were built in 28 ropanis of land, and each house, including a toilet, had occupied three anas (93sq metres) of land. A retaining wall is being built for the security of the settlement.
Drinking water has been brought to the community from two origins of Patikhola, which lies two kilometres away from the settlement. Every house is equipped with roof-top water tank, safety tank and sewage openings.
Management of drinking water system has helped in keeping the settlement clean.
A primary school lies adjacent to the settlement. A Children Park, community building and health post are under construction there.
The 2015 earthquake destroyed the Majhi Settlement and took away their originality. All the newly built houses of the Majhi settlement are earthquake resistant.
Maiya Majhi, a local of the settlement, said that she was happy to have a strong and earthquake resistant house to live in. Another local, Deepak Majhi, said that every family had built the houses for themselves.
The Majhi families had received Rs. 300,000 after being enlisted as beneficiaries, who had lost their houses in the earthquake. The families then built the houses by taking additional loan of Rs. 400,000.
Twenty nine families had taken loan from the Chautara branch of Laxmi Bank while the remaining families are processing for the loan.
They pay Rs. 7,000 monthly installment to the bank. They built 53 houses by being mason for each other and they used to pay the installment from the wages they received for building the houses.
The campaign to construct the unified Majhi settlement was initiated by actress Sweta Khadka in memory of her late husband Shree Krishna Shrestha under Swetashree Foundation.
Construction of the houses, under the Foundation had started on May 29, 2017. The Foundation has provided Rs. 6 million for the campaign.
Nirajan Thapa of the Foundation said that even though the amount was spent under running capital, the settlement had agreed to return the amount within certain time.
The unified settlement was developed in partnership of Swetashree Foundation, Reconstruction Authority and Bhyadi Community Improvement Committee.
Likewise, the government has provided Rs. 13 million for the construction of a road to the settlement.