After their house collapsed in the earthquake, Chitra Bahadur BK's family of eight from Bheri Municipality-1, Jajarkot, spent nearly three and a half months in a tent. It has been over two years since they started living in a temporary hut.

‘The frost is dripping all night, we stay up half the night with a fire burning,’ he said, ‘Someone or the other is falling ill every week, how much longer will we have to suffer?’

Amar Bahadur Mahar of Chiuri, Nalgad Municipality-1, says that since the snowfall season has begun, he has been suffering from frost in the morning and frost at night. ‘For two years, a family of nine has had to do everything from eating to sleeping in a one-room hut,’ he said, ‘We stay up all night on very cold days, and we can’t even leave the hut on days when the sun doesn’t shine.’

He complained that he was forced to stay in the hut for weeks due to various health problems after spending two years in a hut that was about to collapse. His wife Lal Kumari and eldest daughter Kamala have been suffering from fever for a week now.

The earthquake victims complain that they are now having problems earning a living after losing their jobs due to the earthquake. Gyan Bahadur Mahar, 42, of Nalgad Municipality-1, who had been going to India to work as a laborer every year since the age of 15 until before the earthquake, said that the delay in reconstruction has increased the burden of debt.

‘When they said that they needed a house foundation to build a new house, they could not even go to India, nor was there a guarantee that the house would ever be built,’ he said, ‘There is no work around the village, we are borrowing money from neighbors to cover our family expenses.’ He complained that nearly 250,000 rupees have been added to the debt since the earthquake alone.

The victims who lost their homes due to the 6.4 Richter scale earthquake that hit Barekot, Jajarkot on Kartik 17, 2080 are also spending their third winter in temporary shelters. 40,041 beneficiaries have been identified in Jajarkot and 34,997 in Rukum West for reconstruction. The government had provided 50,000 rupees in two installments at the rate of 25,000/25,000. Of these, only 25,000 beneficiaries in Jajarkot and 26,000 in Rukum West have received the second installment. The federal government has made a procedure to provide Rs 400,000 for the construction of houses for earthquake victims.

But some earthquake victims have started building their own houses, saying the government has neglected the reconstruction. In Khalanga, Bheri Municipality-1, located in the district headquarters, about 100 people have already built their own houses, said Ward Chairman of Bheri Municipality-4, Basanta Prasad Sharma. “The amount promised by the government was not enough, it was delayed,” he said. “Many who could build their own houses have already built their own houses, and there are still about 100 houses under construction in the market.”

Pushpa Shah of Bheri Municipality-1 said that they were forced to build their own houses after being released during the Detailed Damage Assessment (DDA). "When the government was relying on us, it was not certain when the houses would be built, and we were left with political bias," he said. "Therefore, even if we took out a loan, we had no option but to build our own houses." Ward Chairman Badri Pant said that out of the approximately 450 houses with DDA in Nalgad Municipality-4, about 50 families are building their own houses. "The government's delay has scared the earthquake victims," ​​he said. "Some houses have been built without the advice of technicians, while some are building houses in coordination with us." Jajarkot Chief District Officer Raju Prasad Poudel said that although the reconstruction process for 621 beneficiaries of Bheri Municipality has progressed, the work of other municipalities has not been completed. "Those who can build houses themselves are building them," he said. "No decision has been made on whether to provide funds for them." Earthquake victims are falling ill in droves due to the extreme cold. The number of patients suffering from cold-related health problems including cough, fever, diarrhea, pain in the hands and feet, and body aches is increasing due to the cold, said Dr. Sunil Pun, head of the Health Service Office. According to him, up to 150 patients come to the district hospital for treatment daily. According to him, the pressure of patients has increased in all health institutions across the district. He informed that there is no shortage of medicines and health workers.

According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, the DDA report shows that 14,245 private houses need to be reconstructed and 12,744 houses need to be repaired (fortified) in Jajarkot. Chief District Officer Poudel said that families affected by the fortification will receive a maximum grant of three hundred thousand rupees. "We had sent a request for funds for reconstruction to the Authority in the last Shrawan, but no decision has been made yet," he said. "Since the Gen-G movement, the reconstruction work has been at a standstill, which has made it seem like the earthquake-affected people will spend this winter in tents as well."

He informed that the Authority has also been requested to re-DDA the 5,014 beneficiaries who were exempted from DDA from Bheri Municipality.