By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Apr. 23: The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) said that it had been able to attain significant achievement in reconstruction and rehabilitation in almost four and a half years of its establishment.
As of today, there has been 88 per cent progress in the reconstruction of private houses which is the primary focus of the NRA, Chief Executive Officer of the reconstruction body Sushil Gyawali said in a press statement on Wednesday on the eve of the 5th year of the 2015 earthquake.
Out of 781,176 beneficiaries, who signed agreement for the government grant, 494,044 (63 per cent) have already built their houses. And, 190,145 (25 per cent) beneficiaries are at different stages of their house reconstruction.
The number of beneficiaries approved for the third and final installment of the grant has reached 561,560 (72 per cent), it stated.
As for the reconstruction of schools, out of 7,553 schools, reconstruction of 5,598 (74 per cent) has been completed while 20 per cent are currently under-construction. Out of 920 heritage sites in 32 districts, the rebuilding of 402 heritages has been completed while 141 sites are currently under-construction.
Similarly, out of 1,197 health centers, the reconstruction of 56 per cent has been completed while 12 per cent are undergoing reconstruction.
“We have attained 68 percent progress in the reconstruction of the health centres. Resource arrangement has been a major challenge for the reconstruction of these health institutions,” it stated.
Altogether, 4,204 beneficiaries living in vulnerable areas have been provided with land in safer areas to reconstruct their houses while 8,744 landless people and landless settlers have been provided land to rebuild houses.
Moreover, the NRA has approved the plan of constructing 43 integrated settlements and nine of them have already been constructed while the detailed project reports of 27 integrated settlements have been approved and are currently under-construction.
Besides, out of 762 km of roads that required reconstruction after the earthquake, reconstruction of 443 km has been completed while 319 km of roads are in their final stage of completion.
Since the establishment of the NRA, the government has spent Rs. 381 billion in the post-quake reconstruction until now, including Rs. 309 billion from the government and donor agencies and Rs. 72 million through various non-government organizations.
The NRA stated that the current lockdown enforced for the control and prevention of coronavirus has seriously impacted the works of reconstruction and rehabilitation.