Forty-five houses have already been completed under the campaign, which began last week, according to Shrestha, who also served as the principal for Bhanu Higher Secondary School. He said that each house cost Rs 15,000 to build and he and Dr Piya have jointly donated Rs 1.8 million for the purpose. Shrestha said that they had organised a building training session for nine students from Patan Engineering College and 17 locals for the mission, prior to the start of the project. “After inspecting damaged houses in Dalit settlements in Depche, Gairi Gaun, Gurdum and Yampa villages in Bandipur 1 and 3, we decided to build houses for them,” said 71-year-old Shrestha. The construction started after the names of people from the Dalit and backward communities from the Bandipur were collected from the municipality office, he said. Shrestha’s family has also been helping out with the project.

According to 31-year-old Ram Nepali of Depche, who is engaged in the building process, the houses require eight 12-feet-long galvanised corrugated sheets, three spiral metal pipes, six three-feet-long rods and ropes to tie the sheets. “The tarpaulins we were sleeping under were damaged by the hailstorm. The state has done nothing so far,” said 28-year-old Depche resident Sita Nepali. “Mr Shrestha and Dr Piya have done us a great favour by building new houses for us.” Thirty-nine houses in her neighbourhood were levelled by the quake.