Remaking of Nepal

OLD AND NEW: The new 79m high Dharara tower is being inaugurated on Saturday by Prime Minister Oli. A small replica of the previous tower sits on a nearby traffic island. Photo: AMIT MACHAMASI

In the six years after the earthquake, Nepal has lurched from one crisis after another. Even as the country was trying to recover from the disaster, the Tarai was rocked by violence, and the six-month Indian blockade brought the economy to a standstill.

There was hope that the overwhelming NCP dominance after 2017 would lead to devolution and better governance. It did not. The power struggle in the ruling party peaked last year, just as the Covid-19 crisis hit. Together, they brought an economy that was just recovering back to standstill again.

Despite political interference and delays due to the pandemic, of the 858,000 homes destroyed, 69% have been fully rebuilt and three-fourths of families have received all three instalments of housing grants of Rs300,000.

Of the 7,553 schools destroyed by the earthquake, 6,085 have been rebuilt and 1,300 are under construction. Seventy percent of the 544 health posts and hospitals have been rebuilt. Of the 920 monuments and temples that went down, more than half have been rebuilt.

As the National Reconstruction Authority prepares to wind down, it is clear that it could have done an even better job if there had been less political interference and the pandemic had not delayed projects.

But it is at the people’s level where Nepalis have coped the best they can. Rising over the grief and bereavement to rebuild their lives. In this issue that marks the six years since 25 April 2015, Nepali Times brings to readers survival stories of individual fortitude, and community spirit that has helped remake Nepal.

Read also:

Miracle boy, six years after Nepal Quake, Monika Deupala

The spirit that is fire, Pratibha Tuladhar

Had a great fall, and lived, Shristi Karki

Rebuilding Kathmandu after the 1934 quake, Alina Bajracharya

Building back a beyul in Tsum, Sonam Lama

Langtang copes with quake and Covid, Kunda Dixit