Nepal Quake, 1 Year On: Government Has Rebuilt Precious Little

The violence of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake left countless towns and villages across central Nepal in a shambles. Almost one year later, a shambles they remain.

The country has made almost no progress in rebuilding hundreds of thousands of homes, schools and government buildings, as well as some 600 historical structures, including ancient Hindu and Buddhist temples, monuments and palaces.

Nearly a million children still have no school to attend. Millions of villagers were forced to winter in flimsy pop-up tents and corrugated tin shacks, erected haphazardly at high altitudes and across the rolling plains.

The government’s reconstruction agency has so far approved zero projects. Some citizens have started rebuilding on their own, but most are still waiting – either because they are afraid of running afoul of new, promised building regulations, or because they still hope to receive government grants.

Many of them are still living in rows of temporary shelters made from salvaged wood covered with corrugated metal sheets that are likely to be their only protection when rainy reason returns in two months.

Keshar Narayan, a farmer living with eight family members in a tin shed on the outskirts of Kathmandu, said:

This has been home for all of us for the past year and it looks like we are going to be here for a long time. All we hear is the government is going to give us money to rebuild our homes, but when is that going to happen? Our kids are getting sick and we have no money, job or a government that is going to come to our rescue. 

The government was quick to promise help after the 25 April 2015 earthquake – which killed nearly 9,000 people – but a year later, only a few families in Dolkha district have started to receive money. They have each received Rs 50,000, the first instalment of the Rs 200,000 promised by the government to each family that lost their home.

Dolkha was among the hardest-hit districts and the epicenter of another major quake that struck on 12 May.

As they wait for help, even prayer can be dangerous. Many in the deeply spiritual Himalayan nation seek comfort in now-ramshackle stone temples left standing askew, sometimes held up just by wooden beams.

Every time I come to pray in the temples, I am not sure if I will even leave in one piece. We have to risk our lives just so we can pray. We all are very angry... for a year, nothing has been done.

Shanti Shrestha, housewife, Kathmandu

The lack of progress isn’t for want of money. Nepal, facing an estimated $6.6 billion reconstruction bill, has received $4.1 billion in pledged donations so far.

The problem, officials and aid workers say, is tangled bureaucracy and government malaise. Some frustrated donors have simply given up.

We just lost a donor who wanted to give $400,000. Everything seems to be blocked because there are very lengthy government procedures.

Christian Manhart, UNESCO’s representative to Nepal

The UNESCO office alone has about $1.8 million budgeted for Nepal, still waiting to be spent.

The government has been embroiled in political infighting while facing months of ethnic protests in which more than 50 people were killed. Since the earthquake, there has been a change of government and a new constitution that took seven years to craft.

It took nearly nine months for Nepal just to set up a department to deal with quake reconstruction. But there are still no guidelines for approaching the task. It also isn’t clear which buildings are even being considered for reconstruction funds.

A Nepalese law requiring that government contracts go to the lowest bidder is also a problem, said Suresh Suras Shrestha, head of the world conservation section at the government’s Department of Archaeology, which is charge of monuments and heritage sites. The lowest bidder may not have the skills or knowledge rebuild structures dating back to the 5th or 6th century.

The donors who want to rebuild our monuments need to follow our rules and procedures. 

Suresh Suras Shrestha

They will also have to keep waiting to find out what those rules and procedures are.

The Department of Archaeology has defended its efforts, noting that its workers have reinforced some buildings that weren’t heavily damaged. It has also opened the public bidding process for 39 projects, and expects about $20 million in funding to be released for the first phase of work once the contracts are finalised. There is no clear indication of when that might happen. Restoring all monuments is expected to cost about $200 million.

Referring to the monarchs who acted as guardians of Nepal’s monuments until the monarchy was abolished in 2008, Hindu priest Ram Singh said:

The politicians just don’t care about our temples. If the king was still ruling, these temples and palaces would have already been built.

In Nepal, where the majority of the people are Hindu, these monuments and temples are important for cultural, religious and historical reasons. People visit temples regularly and go there for festivals, weddings and coming-of-age ceremonies.

Tired of waiting for government help, some local officials and communities are doing what they can on their own.

Residents of Bhaktapur are already rebuilding a 17th-century temple to the Hindu god Vishnu, relying on volunteer labor and funds.

It’s unclear how much it will cost, said local heritage department official, Ram Govind Shrestha, but local officials plan to solicit donations and start charging tourists for visiting.

“It is really difficult to look at our damaged heritage,” he said. “So we just decided to begin.”