An earthquake displaced man in Nuwakot has invested the government provided reconstruction aid to start a brick making business.

Arjun Tamang of Khanigaun VDC-3 decided to get into brick business after seeing that many families in his village, who lost their homes in the 2015 April earthquake, will be requiring bricks to rebuild homes.

As there are no brick factories in whole of Nuwakot, Tamang reckons if he runs a brick kiln, he would be able to sell bricks to those people who cannot afford to import bricks from Bara, Parsa and Nawalparasi.

“The price of bricks will be a lot cheaper if they are locally available,” says Tamang.  

Bricks cost up to Rs 17 apiece in Nuwakot these days.

Tamang’s says his plan is to take a loan and set up a small kiln in the village. With a brick kiln in place, he hopes to make at least 200,000 bricks per days and supply it to the villagers who were displaced by the April 2015 earthquake.

Most of the earthquake-affected households in Nuwakot are still living under temporary shelters. Very few have started rebuilding homes after receiving the first instalment of the aid (Rs 50,000) from the National Reconstruction Authority.

 Tamang is currently making bricks to build a two-storey home that he has planned for his family. His son, Kumar, assists him. “I will be needing around 20,000 bricks to complete the home and I’m getting close to making that many,” he says.