Earthquake survivors of Gairibisauna and Mahadevsthan VDCs in Kavre who received construction materials as housing reconstruction aid instead of cash have constructed 53 three-room houses in the last two months.

“We have completed the construction works in time due to availability of construction materials. We might have spent the money for other purposes if we had got cash,” said quake victim Ramkaji Danuwar of Gairibisauna.

The villagers have completed constructions of 25 houses in Gairibisauna alone. Around 90 percent of the works of the 37 remaining houses in the village have also been completed.

The German government has assisted construction materials worth Rs 300,000 to 127 quake-affected families through the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Nepal, organisation of the LWF Department for World Service, in Gairibisauna and Mahadevsthan VDCs.

Ritubarna Silwal, coordinator of LWF Nepal, said they have distributed construction materials worth Rs 100 million in Mahadevsthan, Jaishithok, Baluwapati, Nayagaun Deupur and Gairibisauna VDCs.

The construction materials were provided to impoverished communities, Dalits, single women and minorities, he said.

The LWF has helped quake victims to construct 387 houses in the district.  The organisation had ferried galvanised zinc sheets, cement, bricks and other construction materials in the villages. There’s no lack of masons and carpenters in the villages as the organisation has also trained the villagers for the jobs.

“Though we have no such guidelines, providing construction materials to quake victims have been effective in housing reconstruction,” said Shivaram Gelal, under secretary of the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), during an inspection.

The LWF had taken permission from the NRA to help in reconstruction works.

The NRA has already distributed the first instalment of the aid to 59,761 households in the district. Engineer Ashok Adhikari said 768 families have started to construct houses after receiving the aid. The quake-affected families who received

construction materials from the organisation will not get instalments of housing reconstruction aid.