The National Reconstruction Authority has instructed stakeholder concerned to expedite reconstruction works of private housing in Kathmandu Valley.

During a meeting on Monday, NRA Chief Executive Yubaraj Bhusal directed the representatives of the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction Division offices of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur and other agencies to speed up the rebuilding process. The meeting also discussed promoting integrated housing system under the house pooling approach for encouraging the quake-affected families to begin building their houses. It was decided to raise awareness about the provision that allows the families to become retrofitting beneficiaries from grant recipients. Many of the families had registered themselves for government grant for rebuilding houses despite slight damages to their houses.

Explaining the cause for a delay in reconstruction inside the Valley, Bhusal said, “There seems to be confusion among beneficiaries as to whether they are entitled to government grant for retrofitting their houses if they had applied for a full grant. Those families later realised that rather than rebuilding their houses, they could go for retrofitting. This confusion has stopped them from moving ahead.”

Likewise, those families living on the land of Guthi and struggling to pay royalty for using that, and many families living in a single house have not begun rebuilding their houses, noted Bhusal. For the families living in a shared housing, the NRA has urged them to apply for a joint-ownership certificate and build multi-ownership house with government’s financial assistance. “If four families have been living in one house, the NRA would provide them with Rs1.2 million–Rs300,000 to each family in government grant to rebuild their houses,” Bhusal said. (PR)