Almost 15 months after the Jajarkot earthquake, the process of detailed evaluation of the structures damaged by the earthquake has started. Last year, on November 17, an earthquake occurred with Ramidanda of Barekot Rural Municipality as its epicenter.

According to the data of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, about 76,000 individual houses and 600 public structures have been damaged. The federal government has allocated 21 billion rupees for reconstruction in the budget of the current financial year.

Authority has entered into an agreement with Disaster Study Center, Engineering Studies Institute and Tribhuvan University on January 21 to carry out a detailed damage assessment (Detail Damage Survey) of the structures damaged by the earthquake. 4  Dr. Dijan Bhattarai, spokesperson of the Authority, said that 100 technical personnel will be employed.

Some technical related municipalities will also be mobilized and 19 engineers will be sent from the authority to assess the damage. According to him, the Ministry of Finance has sent 3.15 billion rupees to the authority's account in the first phase for reconstruction. He says that it will take one month to complete the assessment.

So far, 34,000 temporary houses have been built in Jajarkot, 32,000 in Rukum West and 1,300 in Salyan. 154 people lost their lives in Jajarkot and Rukum West due to the earthquake. After the earthquake, 44 people died in Tripal and the temporary Tahara, while 12 earthquake victims died in the landslide.  

As the government delayed the reconstruction, the second winter of the earthquake victims has also passed in the dark . Amar Bahadur Pariyar of Thaple in Jajarkot Khalanga said that the temporary shelter has become difficult due to the cold weather. His 2 sons, who fell ill a week ago due to a cold, have not recovered yet.  They have symptoms of cold, fever and swelling of limbs. In the family of 8 people, except for him and his wife Shanti, everyone has fallen ill for a month 

'Because old tins are used on the roof, dew leaks throughout the night, the walls made of old panels do not let the cold in,' he said, 'We stay awake all night with a fire on a cold day because we don't have warm clothes.' Ghanshyam Mahar of Nalgad Municipality-1 said that even now it is difficult to go out of the terrace because of the cold. His family of 9 spent 3 and a half months in Tripal and for 8 months they had to spend their daily lives in a temporary tent. "Now we have heard that the reconstruction work will go ahead," he said, "before the rains, people's lives would have been easier if permanent houses were built."

Nalgad Municipality Chief Dambar Bahadur Rawat said that with the process of determining the beneficiaries for permanent housing reconstruction and detailed assessment of the damage of the structures, the road to reconstruction has been opened. "So far, the earthquake victims are safe, how many more rains and winters will they spend in temporary shelters?," he said. The chief district officer of Rukum West, Kul Bahadur Ji, said that the reconstruction work will be accelerated after the assessment of the damage.

The federal government made a procedure to provide temporary housing for earthquake victims in two installments at the rate of 25/25 thousand. But so far, about 10,000 in Jajarkot and 16,000 in Rukum West have received 25,000 for the second installment. 40 thousand 41 beneficiaries have been established in Jajarkot and 34 thousand 997 beneficiaries in Rukum West.

The Karnali state government has also allocated 500 million rupees this year for the reconstruction of community buildings. Out of which Rs. 25 crores for Jajarkot, Rs. 22 crores for Rukum West and Rs. 3 crores for Salyan have been sent to the authorized districts, said Physical Infrastructure and Urban Development Minister Sher Bahadur Budha. According to him, the budget has been sent for the reconstruction of 32 health institutions and schools in Rukum West and 42 in Jajarkot.

He informed that reconstruction work has been started by allocating a budget of Rs.75 lakh for schools and Rs.50 lakh for health institutions.