Kathmandu. The Jenji agitation that took place on September 23 and 24 last year not only shocked the political and social structure of the country but also caused huge damage to the physical property of the private sector worth billions of rupees.

Even after one year of the agitation, most of the commercial and government structures that were damaged during the agitation have not been fully restored. The private sector businesses and infrastructure were severely damaged due to vandalism, arson and other incidents during the agitation.

During the Jenji agitation, there was a huge loss of life and property in two days. The investigation report pointed out that 76 people were killed and more than 2,500 were injured in the two days of the agitation. According to a study conducted by the then government, about 2,900 buildings and structures were damaged in 55 districts across the country.

Of the damaged structures, 419 belong to the private sector. According to the government study, the damage to physical infrastructure worth about Rs 78 billion was caused by the Jenji agitation across the country. It is estimated that the private sector alone suffered physical damage worth about Rs 36 billion.

A year has passed since the loss caused by the agitation, but the private sector is still bearing the brunt of the damage caused by the agitation as all the businesses and structures have not been able to return to their old condition.

Private houses, industries, banks and financial institutions, hotels, vehicles, vehicle showrooms and other physical structures were damaged in the agitation.

Although the reconstruction has begun with immediate damage management, delays in payment of insurance claims, continuous liability of bank loans and huge reconstruction costs have kept the businesses that were damaged by the agitation to come into operation.

One of the biggest examples of this is Bhatbhateni Supermarket. This supermarket, which suffered a loss of Rs 9 billion, is still under reconstruction.

Out of the 27 stores in Bhatbhateni, 11 stores and one godown were completely damaged during the agitation. A total of 12 stores were damaged and all the stores have not been operational so far, the company said. Some of the supermarket stores are still under reconstruction.

According to the company, property worth Rs 9 billion was damaged due to the agitation. Of this, reserves worth Rs 6 billion and physical property worth Rs 3 billion were damaged.

After the loss, Bhatbhateni has claimed the insurance but has not yet received the full payment. The company has received only about 38 percent of the claims related to stock damages and about 6 percent of the claims related to property damages as advance payments. Company sources said that due to non-receipt of a large part of the insurance amount, there is pressure on the reconstruction and resumption of business.

After Bhatbhateni, the tourism business is the place that suffered the biggest loss due to the Jenji movement. In this business too, some five-star hotels associated with the international chain suffered a big loss.

The Hotel Hilton in Naxal was completely destroyed in the fire during the agitation. According to the hotel, the hotel has suffered a loss of about Rs 8 billion.

However, the hotel has not been able to get the claim payment so far as the dispute related to the insurance claim has not been resolved. It is not certain when the hotel will come into operation as the reconstruction work has not even started.

The hotel, which has 17 floors and 174 rooms, has a loan investment of about Rs 5 billion from nine commercial banks. The obligation of bank loans has also been seen as an additional challenge as the hotel has not been able to reopen.

Although more than 50 employees working at the hotel have been transferred to other hotels of international chain in South Asia, there is still no clear plan for the reopening of the hotel in Nepal.

Similarly, the other major hotel affected by this agitation is the Taragaon Regency Hotel i.e. Hyatt Regency. Although the hotel is in the process of reconstruction, it has not been operational even after a year. Due to the agitation, the hotel has been closed for a long time, its impact has also been seen in the financial statements.

According to the financial statements released by the hotel for the financial year 2082/83, Hyatt Regency has incurred a loss of Rs 70.57 crore. In the previous financial year 2081/82, the hotel had a profit of Rs 46.85 crore.

This shows the impact of the physical damage caused by the agitation as well as the disruption of business operations on the income and financial health of the hotel sector.

Similarly, the Barnabas Museum Hotel, which was affected by the agitation, has also not been able to come into operation so far. According to hotel sources, a large amount of money will be needed for the reconstruction of the hotel after the damage caused by tourism entrepreneur and former MP Rajendra Bajgain.

It is estimated that around Rs 36 to 37 crore will be required for the complete reconstruction of the hotel. However, the insurance company has said that it will provide only about Rs 20 crore and this amount has not been received on time.

Even though the business has not come into operation, the obligation of bank loans and its interest is continuously increasing. Due to this, the losses of the hotel are increasing further.

Similarly, banks and financial institutions were also affected by the Genji agitation. During the agitation, 68 branches of banks and financial institutions were directly damaged and 69 ATMs were also damaged.

Although the banking system, which was directly affected, has returned to normal relatively quickly, the ATMs in some places have not yet been fully operational. Similarly, the dispute regarding the payment of gold looted from the Rastriya Banijya Bank on September 24 has not been resolved yet.

This is just an impact on the direct banking sector. Due to the agitation, the private sector has been affected and the loans of the banks worth billions have been affected. Due to which the limit of bad loans of the banks has increased. Due to the agitation, the demand for loans has decreased due to the confidence of the private sector. Due to this, the bank has slowed down the loan investment. Due to the low credit in the investment sector, the profitability and other indicators of the banks have also been affected.

Damaged government structures

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The condition of reconstruction of government structures and buildings damaged during the agitation is also not satisfactory. Employees inside Singha Durbar say that the government buildings that were burnt down during the Zenji agitation have not been fully operational so far.

“The government building is now being operated by building an office in the remaining place. An employee of Singha Durbar says, “Work is still being done from the old remaining buildings. The work on even 20 percent of the government buildings has not progressed.” The employees claim that the reconstruction of most of the buildings burnt down in the Jenji agitation has not been completed.

23.53 billion insurance claims, paid only 7.62 billion

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According to the details of the Nepal Insurance Authority, a total of Rs 23.53 billion worth of insurance claims were received by the non-life insurance companies after the agitation. Out of the total 3,364 claims, only Rs 7.62 billion has been received by the insured so far as advance payment.

The data shows that insurance companies are yet to settle a large part of the claims. In terms of claim amount, the biggest loss has been in property insurance. In property insurance, Rs 19.12 billion has been demanded through 721 claims, out of which Rs 5.31 billion has been paid so far.

Motor insurance has the highest number of claims in terms of losses caused by the agitation. In motor insurance, out of 2,344 claims, Rs 3.42 billion has been demanded, out of which Rs 2.05 billion has been paid.

There were 229 claims under engineering and contractor risk insurance, out of which Rs 56.23 crore was demanded. Of this, Rs 14 crore has been paid so far.