National
Earthquake displaced in Palpa’s Sukekot yet to receive housing aid
Forty-six earth-quake-affected families at Sukekot Village in Sahalkot, Palpa, have still not received the housing reconstruction aid.Madhav Aryal
Forty-six earth-quake-affected families at Sukekot Village in Sahalkot, Palpa, have still not received the housing reconstruction aid.
They have been living in makeshift shelters for the past two years. Of the 48 houses in the village, 39 were destroyed and seven others were heavily damaged.
Sukekot was one of the worst quake-affected areas in Palpa.Umesh Kumar Gaha, one of the displaced villagers, said the government has shown no urgency to help them so far.
“Our situation has not changed a bit in the last two years. All we have done so far is wait for the aid to arrive,” he lamented.
Another villager, 75-year-old Dul Bahadur Soti, said they have not heard anything from the authorities after some government officials visited the village to assess the damage.
“The officials came and took pictures of our homes a long time after the earthquake. We have not heard anything since,” he said.
Bhum Bahadur Rana, the coordinator of the local ward citizens’ forum, said the Sukekot villagers were living in miserable conditions.
“Most of them were living in joint families before the earthquake, now they are forced to share one small hut for up to 22 people. Inside these huts, it is freezing during winter and the summer is baking hot. There is also very little protection against rain,” he said.
Durga Thapa, the senior programme officer of the District Coordination Committee, said since Palpa was not among the worst-affected districts, the National Reconstruction Authority had not placed the district in its priority for aid and recovery works.
“The earthquake-affected people in Palpa started signing the housing aid agreements with the authority only recently. The process has started from Chirtundhara village and the officials will shortly sign the agreements with the people in Sukekot,” he said.