The five-member family of Lalita Khatri, a permanent resident of Thanagaun in ward 2 of Darma Rural Municipality, lived under a tarpaulin tent and a temporary hut for about two and half months after the November 3 earthquake damaged their stone-and-mud house. They had been displaced as the wall of their house developed cracks in the disaster and was declared unfit for habitation.

Lalita’s family, however, returned to their quake-damaged house taking risk after the temporary hut could not protect them from the biting winter cold. They returned home a few weeks ago after a minor repair. “We know well that the house is not quite safe to live in. But we had no alternative as it was difficult to stay under the flimsy tin-roof hut,” said Lalita.

Bhum Bahadur Khatri, from ward 6 of Bagchaur Municipality, received Rs25,000 as the first tranche of the housing reconstruction aid and built a temporary hut using zinc sheets. Stating that the cold was unbearable and it was quite difficult to live in the congested shelter, his family returned to the old house although it was badly damaged by the earthquake.

All four walls of Bhum Bahadur’s house had developed cracks and the wall on the rear had given way. They started living in the house after minor repairs.

Not only Lalita and Bhum Bahadur but many quake-displaced families in Darma, Bagchaur and Kumakh Rural Municipality returned to their houses which are at high risk. The victims complained that they were compelled to return to the damaged houses as they suffered from various cold-related ailments under the flimsy tents and temporary huts.

The 6.4 magnitude earthquake hit Jajarkot, Rukum West and Salyan on November 3 damaging around 8,000 public and private houses. There have been at least 157 reported deaths from Jajarkot and Rukum West. According to Karnali Provincial Police in Surkhet, some 34,501 houses were destroyed in Jajarkot, the epicentre, 16,909 houses in Rukum West and 2,000 houses were destroyed in Salyan.

The federal government, according to the Temporary Housing Construction Grant Procedures for Earthquake Affected Households-2023, provides a total of Rs50,000 in two tranches to each displaced family whose house was completely or partially damaged and has become inhabitable. However, many earthquake-displaced people are still languishing under flimsy tarpaulin tents and huts due to delays in the distribution of housing aid.

In Salyan, around 1,000 displaced families constructed the temporary huts after they were provided the first tranche of the housing reconstruction aid. But they started returning to their old damaged houses as the temporary huts could not shield them from the cold.

More than 300 displaced families have returned to their quake-damaged houses in Darma. Similarly, around 200 families in Bagchaur and 100 families in Kumakh are back to their quake-damaged houses.

“There is no possibility for the reconstruction of the damaged houses anytime soon. We started falling ill due to the cold under the temporary huts. We obviously fear staying in the damaged house. But we have no alternative once we fall ill from the cold,” said Mohan Damai of Darma.

According to Tarake Khatri, chairman of ward 2 of Darma, around 400 houses were either destroyed or damaged by the earthquake in the ward. Among them 365 families built temporary huts after receiving government aid. “More than 200 families returned to their damaged homes after minor repairs. Only those victims whose houses were completely destroyed have been staying in the temporary huts,” the ward chief said.

Likewise, hundreds of earthquake victims in Jajarkot and Rukum West returned to their partially damaged houses risking their lives. They said they chose to take the risk of living in the hazardous houses rather than risk falling ill from the cold.

Lack of proper shelter has made many displaced people ill, with reports indicating as many as 36 cold-related deaths in Jajarkot and Rukum West. The elderly people, children, postpartum mothers and people with chronic illnesses are the hardest hit due to the severe cold.