Surkhet. The Karnali government has so far constructed 4,856 houses for the poor and disadvantaged people. Houses have been constructed in various local levels of 10 districts of Karnali province under the People’s Housing (State), People’s Housing (Federation) and Poor Housing Programme.

Spokesperson at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Urban Development Ramesh Subedi said 3,150 houses were constructed under the Janata Awas (Association) category in the fiscal year 2080/81. Similarly, the People’s Housing Province had constructed 522 houses for poor and indigent locals. In the fiscal year 2081/82, the federal government constructed 380 houses while the State government built 184 houses, said Subedi. Similarly, 397 houses were constructed in the fiscal year 2080/81 while 223 houses were constructed in the fiscal year 2081/82.

In the fiscal year 2081/82, the highest number of houses were constructed in Kalikot. A total of 181 houses have been constructed in Kalikot. After that, 142 have been built in Surkhet. A total of 38 houses have been built in Dailekh and 19 in Jajarkot. A total of 33 houses have been built in Surkhet, 14 in Dailekh, 16 in Salyan, 23 in Rukum West, 27 in Jajarkot, 14 in Dolpa, 21 in Jumla, six in Mugu, 10 in Kalikot and 20 in Humla.

Spokesperson Subedi said that 36 houses were built in Surkhet, 39 in Dailekh, 13 in Salyan, 23 in Rukum West, 23 in Jajarkot, 11 in Dolpa, 20 in Jumla, eight in Mugu, 30 in Kalikot and 20 in Humla. In the fiscal year 2081/82 alone, 787 houses were constructed. Similarly, the Ministry has said that 19 public buildings have been constructed in the last two fiscal years. The houses were constructed on the recommendation of the local level. Some newly constructed houses in Jajarkot have collapsed due to the earthquake.

The houses built with the resources available at the local level have been easily destroyed by the earthquake. Even though houses have been built for some poor people, people are not interested in living when houses are built in inaccessible places. People have not taken it easy to live in the houses built with the help of mud and stone because they are raw. The victims have said that they have not received the money for the houses constructed in Barekot of Jajarkot.

In the current fiscal year, the provincial government has allocated budget for the construction of houses. A total of Rs 25 million has been allocated under the Integrated Settlement Development Programme in Dangibanda, Dolpa, Tajakot Rural Municipality-2, Mailagaun, Daliwada, Humla. Similarly, Rs 50 lakh has been allocated for the People’s Housing Programme. Likewise, the state government has allocated Rs 50 lakh for the house construction programme for the poor, Subedi said. This budget has been allocated for incomplete and new construction.

Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Urban Development, Sher Bahadur Budha, said that Dangibanda which is near Jufal, the administrative centre of Thulibheri municipality, has been under a high risk of landslide since long. The state government has been constructing houses for fire survivors, landslide survivors, natural disasters and poor locals.