Dambara BK, an earthquake survivor from Sanibheri Rural Municipality-4 in Rukum West, decided weeks ago to construct a temporary shelter near her quake-damaged house by the peak of winter. But her plan could not materialise due to a shortage of manpower. Her husband is abroad for employment and she has been languishing under a flimsy tent with her two children, aged three and eight, after the magnitude 6.4 earthquake damaged her house on November 3.

“He [her husband] has sent some money for the purpose of building a temporary shelter but I could not get workers to construct the hut,” said BK, aged 35. “I don’t have other adult members in the family and I am busy looking after the children.”

The situation of Chamare Oli, aged 77, of Golchaur in Sanibheri-4 is no different. “I am old and my only son is abroad,” Oli said. “I asked him to come home but he said that he could not manage it. How can I construct a temporary shelter?” He added he could not even pull down the quake-ravaged stone-and-mud house that could crumble anytime.

The earthquake, with its epicentre at Ramidanda of neighbouring Jajarkot district, caused a huge loss of lives and properties in Rukum West as well. Aathbiskot Municipality and Sanibheri Rural Municipality were hugely affected by the disaster.

Man Bahadur Pun, ward chairman of Sanibheri-2, said that many families could not build temporary shelters due to the lack of construction workers in the quake-affected settlements. “Most of the people are busy building their own shelters and managing their quake-ravaged houses and sheds. Who will work for others this time?” said Pun. According to him, the villagers somehow help each other to build the temporary huts.

Based on the data available at the District Administration Office in Rukum West, a total of 19,934 temporary huts need to be built in the district. “The local units are still assessing the damage and finalising the number of beneficiaries,” said Prabesh Baduwal, the acting chief district officer in the district.

According to him, a total of 15,056 temporary huts have been built with government grants and other 791 huts have been built by the volunteers so far. Buduwal said that a total of 75 Nepal Army personnel and 35 Armed Police Force personnel have been mobilised in Sanibheri, Aathbiskot, Musikot, Tribeni and Chaurjahari local units with the purpose of helping the quake victims set up temporary shelters.

According to the Temporary Housing Construction Grant Procedure for Earthquake Affected Households-2023, a displaced family whose house is completely or partially damaged and has become inhabitable will receive Rs50,000 each in two tranches.

Mainly, the families who do not have adult members have a tough time rebuilding shelters. “The earthquake-displaced people have enough wood and timber to construct temporary huts. The zinc sheets can be bought with the grant provided by the government. But the quake-affected settlements have a shortage of workers in building the temporary structures,” said Dipendra Malla of Aathbiskot-11.

“Some volunteers of various political parties, organisations and individuals from various places visited the settlement for constructing temporary huts. But they were not enough as many houses were ravaged by the quakes.”

The local elected representatives are worried about the delay in constructing the huts for the earthquake-displaced families. “Cold is increasing day by day and many earthquake survivors are still living under the flimsy tarpaulin tents,” said Hukum Bahadur Pun, the ward chief of Aathbiskot-14.

“It seems that deaths caused by cold may outnumber the people who perished in the earthquake.” Pun urged the government and other agencies and organisations to expedite the construction of temporary huts and protect the lives of the affected people.

A total of 34 earthquake-displaced people, mainly senior citizens and minors, have died in Jajarkot and Rukum West so far.