The two Prime Ministers will officially open the check post through video conferencing at 11 A.M.

The check post has been built incorporation with India in a bid to ease the cargo trade and movement of people between two countries.

Key Points of ICP:

• Cost of the project: NPR 140 crores
• Area used: 260 acres
• Modern facilities for immigration clearance of foreign passengers and cargo
• Can handle 500 trucks per day

Integrated Check Post (ICP) Biratnagar is the second ICP on the Nepali border and the first one was built at the Raxaul-Birgunj border.

Apart from this, both the Prime Ministers will talk on the progress of the ‘post-earthquake reconstruction housing project’ in Nepal.

Earlier, Modi Government has agreed upon providing USD 1 billion for the reconstruction of 50,000 houses in the Gorkha and Nuwakot districts of Nepal. So far, 45,000 houses have been rebuilt.

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In the process, the government has already laid out phase-wise plans for reconstruction of some heritage sites and important structures across the country.

Towards improving the living standards of the quake victims, the government has also begun reconstruction of damaged houses.

Schools are among the key public infrastructure hit badly in the April 2015 earthquake.

As the latest reports say, reconstruction of around 4,190 school structures has been completed across the country as of March 12, 2019.

While 3368 of them were taken by the school management committees (SMCs), 64 were assigned to contractors and 758 were supported by the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).

Still 2,043 schools including 1437 schools through SMCs, 314 through construction entrepreneurs and 292 schools through NGOs are in the process of reconstruction, informed the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) Project Implementation Unit (Education)’s Senior Engineer Uddhav Nepal.

Addressing a programme organized by NRAPIU (Education) and the Education Journalists’ Group (EJG) in Dhulikhel, Uddhav said the reconstruction of 41 schools has been completed so far and 113 more are under reconstruction in the region.

The authorities are aiming at the reconstruction of 154 schools in Kavre, Sindhupalchok, Dolakha, Ramechhap, Sindhuli, Okhaldhunga, Kathmandu and Bhaktapur areas at a total investment of  NPR 9.6 billion with the support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), USAID and the Government of Nepal.

According to the authorities, the reconstruction of 66 per cent of the schools selected for rebuilding has been completed in Dolakha, Ramechhap, Gorkha, Dhading, Lalitpur, Nuwakot, Rasuwa and Makwanpur districts.

Wish the completed school projects would soon resume their regular activities offering help to the needy.

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• Nepal Earthquake Reconstruction: Kasthamandap Approved, Rani Pokhara Delayed!

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Towards this end, KMC Mayor Bidya Sundar Shakya handed over a cheque worth Rs 50 million to the Kasthamandap Reconstruction Committee (KRC) on October 13, 2018 and informed that the work would start in the current fiscal.

It’s been more than three years that the site has been awaiting reconstruction, which couldn’t begin due to disputes among the Department of Archaeology, KMC and the local community over the execution process and financing.

The work hasn’t started yet despite the Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Rabindra Adhikari inaugurating the reconstruction work prior to the formation of KRC.

Speaking at a program, Mayor Shakya said the work would not stop anymore as the community is working collectively.

Meanwhile, the historical Rani Pokhara is also undergoing severe delays linked to bidding process that drew submissions failing to meet the project criteria.

“Documentation submitted by both the companies is not sufficient to meet the criteria for the project. So, another bidding is required which will take time,” informed Shakya.

There has been a heated discussion around the reconstruction of Rani Pokhara, where, the Department of Archaeology said the blue print for reconstruction was planned against the approved blueprint.

The locals had also protested against the use of concrete and modern materials in the reconstruction process.

It is really surprising to know that a total of 13 heritage sites and temples were destroyed and more than 37 such buildings were damaged in the April 2015 earthquake.

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The country has also seen a long-awaited political transformation and is hoping a lot from the new government towards the recovery and reconstruction activities.

Since then, Nepal has been struggling a lot and is still on path of recovery across various areas of development through the earthquake recovery program.

As a process, the country received a wide range of support from the global community and has so far received an international aid of USD 4.1 billion under the program.

On April 25, 2018, the world observed the third anniversary of Nepal’s devastating 2015 earthquake which took away the lives of almost 9,000 people leaving a loss of USD 7 billion.

Third Anniversary

Marking the day, various programs were held across the country as a homage to the victims of the earthquake.

In Nepal, the day started with a prayer meeting at the ruins of famous Dharahara tower in Kathmandu. The event was attended by hundreds of people including the Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

Speaking at the event, President Bidya Devi Bhandari recalled the tragedy the earthquake has caused resulting in thousands of human casualties and damaging physical infrastructure.

Later in a tweet, she called on authorities for early completion of reconstruction works.

In this regard, let’s take a look at some of the major moves taken to support the victims of the 2015 earthquake in Nepal:

Government-level Support

The Government of Nepal had set up the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) to support those who witnessed huge losses in the 2015 earthquake.

The power decentralization and strengthening of local bodies across the country, as proposed by the 2015 federal constitution and taken ahead by the recently-concluded elections, is expected to take the relief measures and recovery support process to the next level driven by the active participation of provincial governments.

This was evident in wider application of the earthquake recovery policy, which took a different turn after the August 2017 floods, wherein, the government adopted earthquake-related policies to the flood victims as well and also passed the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act, 2017.

Further in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority was also formed taking ahead the need for effective disaster management among the country’s populace.

The government had initially called for completion of the reconstruction activity by July 2018 and has also revised deadlines asking the victims to ensure completion of homes up to the plinth level by mid-July 2018 and the roof-line by mid-January 2019, says Dr Bhisma Bhusal, a NRA spokesperson.

Meanwhile, the owner-driven housing reconstruction program has also been started in consultation with the World Bank, the program’s largest lender.

Global-level Support

Supporting the government’s move, UNDP has also recently stepped up for its assistance on various aspects of the recovery program. It has pledged an all-round support to the victims of the worst-hit Gorkha district.

UNDP joined with the Government of India in March 2018 to assist around 27,000 home-owners to rebuild their houses damaged in the earthquake.

Upon a full-fledged implementation, this program will be the largest-ever post-disaster recovery program initiated by UNDP so far.

UNDP’s support involves on-site technical support with regard to government policies, quake-resilient features, construction technology, training of related skilled and unskilled personnel, process management, among others.

In the process, UNDP has also partnered with a large number of NGOs who assisted the organization in developing the Owner-driven Reconstruction Collaborative (ODRC).

The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) has also pledged its housing recovery support to the victims of Nuwakot District.

This program that involves technical and financial support by the Government of India is being seen as a move that reflects the South-South cooperation.

Besides, there is also a trend of more number of people sending their family members to go abroad and support them locally in reconstruction activity. Surprisingly, this activity has boosted up remittance revenues to Nepal.

The Asian Foundation reports a rise in dependence of quake-hit victims on remittance revenues to Nepal from 9 percent in 2015 to 15 percent in 2017 driven by the increasing number of migrants from quake-hit areas.

Existing Concerns

Despite the huge support, the support for quake-hit survivors is still a long way to go, says the globally-renowned Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Citing official reports, it says only 16 percent of the total international aid is used as part of recovery support.

After waiting a lot for the support, the communities themselves started rebuilding schools and homes.

According to the reports, the government has spent USD 1.1 billion out of the estimated USD 8 billion fund meant for recovery activity.

Meanwhile, a 2017 study by the Asia Foundation cites lack of financial resources among the house owners as a key reason behind the delay in completion of reconstruction activity.

According to the Housing Recovery and Reconstruction Platform (HRRP), the median cost associated with house reconstruction stands at USD 6,750, which is quite higher than the government grant.

The building construction costs in Nepal have increased with the occurrence of earthquake and have gone to next level post the announcement of reconstruction deadlines, thus resulting in increased labor and material costs.

Overall, financing reconstruction has been a major challenge for many victims hindering the progress of earthquake reconstruction activity, and an unfortunate trend of people rebuilding one-room houses to get the best out of government subsidies is also observed across the country.

On an End Note

Nepal is one country that is fast developing by making major strides alongside balancing key infrastructure challenges resulting out of climate change and other environmental challenges. Hope, new policies and the decentralized government functioning will address the public concerns associated with natural disasters at grassroot levels in a timely manner and through efficient disaster management systems.

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