More than 19,000 quake survivors two months ago, almost 18 months after the disaster that hit the country on April 25, 2015, signed grant agreements with the Central Project Implementation Unit of the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development in Bhaktapur district to receive the first instalment of housing aid. But they are yet to receive the designated Rs 50,000 yet. 

The government has increased the housing aid to Rs 300,000 from earlier Rs 200,000, as quake survivors are awaiting the first tranche of Rs 50,000 so that they can start rebuilding their houses destroyed by the quake. 

The first instalment, in principle, should have been provided to the quake survivors within five days from the date of signing of aid agreements. 

The delay has left quake survivors in Bhaktapur in dilemma. 

The number of households hit by the 2015 quakes though stood at 33,696, the National Reconstruction Authority had listed the 26,016 households as beneficiaries, according to Local Development Officer Dhruba Bahadur Koirala. 

Koirala attributed the delay in distribution of grant to lack of fund. “We have not been able to distribute the aid amount as we are yet to receive fund for the same,” said Koirala, adding, “We have requested the concerned authorities to release the fund at the earliest.”

In the meantime, the local authority has been flooded with complaints with over 7,000 households claiming to have been left out, he said. 

The respective VDCs in the district believe it could take around three months for the quake survivors to receive the aid.