In a few moments, the settlement of one hundred houses with stone roofs turned into ruins. 72 people lost their lives in Barpak alone due to a powerful earthquake in 72 years. That earthquake destroyed 1400 houses in Barpak. After forgetting the pain of the earthquake, Barpaki rebuilt the house. A new ward building has been built. Schools, police stations have been reconstructed. The construction of the earthquake memorial pillar started in Barpak, the epicenter of the earthquake, has reached its final stage.

On Saturday 12th Baisakh, 2072 at 11.56 a.m., 14 districts including Gorkha were affected by the powerful earthquake of 7.8 magnitude that passed through the epicenter of Barpak in Gorkha. 472 people lost their lives in the earthquake and 1000 were injured in Gorkha. Most of the government and private structures in the district were completely or partially damaged. About 70,000 private houses destroyed by the earthquake in the district have been reconstructed. It has been 10 years since the earthquake.  Locals of Barpak, the epicenter of the earthquake, are scared even when they remember that day 10 years ago.

' Earthquake separates the rich and the poor '

2072 Baisakh 12, Ereni Ghale of Barpak was putting wheat taps in the barn . Suddenly the ground dried up. A loud voice hit the ear. She rushed out of the shed. Barpak village was covered by the dust of destroyed houses when they came out. 

Aireni rushed to call her husband and grandson at home asking what happened. ``Earthquake didn't come to my mind, I just thought it would happen,'' she said, ``When I got home, everything was destroyed.

She found her grandson and husband wandering outside the house looking for her. 74-year-old Aireni is still heartbroken when she remembers the tragedy of the earthquake. "After all the houses were destroyed, the people of the village were running towards the corn field looking for an open place. One of the neighbors was carrying his mother on his head. I called her to ask what happened. The person did not speak. Later I found out that he was not breathing," she added. is . 

She spent four nights in the cornfield collecting the sheaves. "Even if the house is shaken by the strong wind now, it makes me feel as if there was an earthquake on that day," she said, "I don't want to remember such a terrible day now." After the stone roof, the clothes inside the two-story house made of hard stone were removed, Aireni's family had no choice but to rely on relief. "Relief was also met with relief, we barely got relief that we didn't know how to ask for. After getting tripal, on the fifth day of the earthquake, we built a place to sleep with the same tripal roof," she said . Airni's family, who spent almost a year in Tripal and Tahoro cornfields, built a one-story house with three lakhs given by the government. But he worries that Barpak has lost its originality after the earthquake. She says, "After the earthquake, the rich and the poor have been separated in Barpak, those who have money have built buildings, and those who don't have small bushes." "Earlier, when there was a single house, you didn't know who was poor and who was rich, but now you can tell the difference just by looking at the house," she said.

Chet Bahadur, who lost four members of his family in the earthquake, is still devastated. 67-year-old mother Malmati, 25-year-old daughter-in-law Rammaya Dhansar were making roti inside the house. 6-year-old daughter Pushpa and one-year-old daughter Pragathi (brother's daughter) were playing in the generation . Daughter Pushpa suddenly screamed. "I didn't know it was an earthquake. When the hill shook, the house shook. I heard my mother calling Chitta, Chitta from inside the house," he added, "After the house collapsed, the fire started, there was no way to leave, all four people fell into the same house." On the third day, when they returned home with the help of the army, they found only the mother's head and left hand. He said that the bodies of daughter-in-law Rammaya and two daughters were taken out on the third day with head injuries. "How did I feel when I remembered that my own child was torn apart by my own house," he said, "The earthquake took everything we had except the clothes on the body, because of this incident, it seems as if that day will never come."

Chet Bahadur is still torn by the pain of losing his family. "At that time, my breath was blown, I have walked wearing the sandal on my right foot on my left foot, and the sandal on my left foot on my right foot," he said. It is very difficult for him to forget the pain of losing his family along with the pain of the earthquake destroying the village. If it happened now, there would be malami from all over the village, my  "Four people died in the family, two or three of them were injured and we took the dead bodies to the cemetery," he said. Mrs. Dhanmaya, who had gone to thresh corn in the field during the earthquake, remembers that her mother, daughter-in-law and daughter were buried inside the house. Dhanmaya couple lost one of their two daughters in the earthquake. Eldest daughter Mansari is studying in Himalaya Mavi Barapak. 

'It seems that such a day will never come'

66-year-old Bodhmaya Gha cannot see well with her eyes. She was sleeping inside the house when the earthquake happened. Shortly after the house was shaken, he heard the sound of the whole village. He, who is blind, did not dare to leave the bed. She was listening to the sound of the door and the house breaking. "My son went to take a bath, ran into the house and pulled me out," she said, "I was only dragged out into the courtyard by my son, and the house where I was sleeping collapsed into the ground after an earthquake." "That day was Saturday, otherwise all the children would have been in school," she said. She said that after the house was destroyed, she went to the corn field in search of an open place and spent the night under the open sky. She said, "All the harvests were finished, we couldn't get anything out. We were starving for three weeks, then relief came and it was easy." "We were hurt by the earthquake, we lived in a tent for a year," she said, "It was not like our land, so we went back to the old house and lived in a tent to see how many days we had." "There is no job, no pension, we had to build a house, we have built a house even with loans," she said.

'Earthquake at home has added to the fear'

79-year-old Sher Bahadur Gha says that his body trembles when he sees his neighbors chirping during an earthquake. "When the earthquake struck, I was cleaning the fields, when I heard a rumbling sound," he said. "Some have said that their mother is missing, some have said that their children are missing, they are crying, they are shouting," he said, "Boys have run to the house saying that people have been torn apart, there was silence in this village." "When I remember that day, I feel very sad, I don't want to remember that day," he said.

'The debt for building the house has not yet been paid'

To convey the message of reconstruction across the country, the then President Bidya Devi Bhandari laid the foundation stone of the house of Gopal Vick of Barpak, one year after the earthquake. Gopal has not yet been able to pay off the loan for building a house.

"It took about 1.2 lakhs to build a 9-room house by adding 3 lakhs to the subsidy," he said, "There is still 6 lakhs of debt for building the house, and the loan and interest have not been paid." "I used to operate a grill industry, but now I have left that too," he said, "I had to build a house, the earthquake took away the loan."