It has been a year since the seven family members of earthquake survivor Min Prasad Upadhyaya have been living under a flimsy tent at Ranipani village in Parbat.

Upadhyaya had constructed the tent with tarpaulin sheets two days after the devastating quake. Though Upadhyaya received Rs 15,000 from the government to buy zinc sheets to construct a temporary hut, he was unable to build on the land where stood his three-storey house, now a large pile of rubble.

He cannot afford to pay the workers to clear the rubble and he does not own other land .

“I was taking a nap when the earthquake struck. When I awoke, I was at the local health post. My house was gone,” he remembered that fateful day of April 25 last year.

In Parbat, the earthquake destroyed 35,000 houses while 10,000 houses developed severe cracks. Local authorities say around 2,500 families in the district are still living under poorly-built tents. These families have been waiting for the government help to rebuild their homes.

Binod Nepali of Silmi village said they have heard of the government’s aid plan

for the earthquake victims, but did not know when the aid was going to arrive.

“We hope the government will offer us help to rebuild our houses,” he said.

Jhankanath Dhakal of District Disaster Management Committee said it was

still unclear if the earth-quake victims in Parbat will receive the aid to rebuild houses.

He said the committee has already distributed Rs 40.5 million to the earthquake victims as immediate relief and there were no signs of additional relief coming for Parbat, which is not categorised as a district severely hit by the disaster.

“The government’s survey team has not visited Parbat, so we cannot tell if the victims will get the rebuilding aid,” Dhakal said.