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One year after Nepal quake, slow rebuilding fuels anger

KATHMANDU — Grieving relatives on Sunday (April 24) mourned the thousands killed in a huge earthquake in ­Nepal on April 25 last year, as aid agencies warned about the health risks the millions still living in sub-standard temporary shelters face following the country’s worst-ever disaster.

Nepalese people release balloons in memory of those who died in last year’s devastating earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Photo: AP

Nepalese people release balloons in memory of those who died in last year’s devastating earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal, Saturday, April 23, 2016. Photo: AP

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KATHMANDU — Grieving relatives on Sunday (April 24) mourned the thousands killed in a huge earthquake in ­Nepal  on April 25 last year, as aid agencies warned about the health risks the millions still living in sub-standard temporary shelters face following the country’s worst-ever disaster.

The 7.8-magnitude quake struck high in the Himalayas minutes ­before noon on a sunny Saturday, toppling one million houses, upending roads and turning hundreds of mountain villages into ruins that left about 9,000 people dead and 22,000 injured.

In Kathmandu, the capital, Prime Minister K P Oli led a day of mourning, placing a wreath at the remains of the Dharahara tower that collapsed during the quake, killing 132 people. 

At nearby Durbar Square, a ­UNESCO-listed world heritage site, a dozen crimson-robed monks chanted from Buddhist scriptures at a memorial as the victims’ relatives sat cross-legged, praying, in front of framed portraits of their loved ones.

Among them was grief-stricken Mr Surya Bahadur Shrestha, praying for his late father, who was crushed by a building in the city. “I came to mourn my father who died here last year. I prayed for eternal peace for his soul,” said the 49-year-old.

One year after the quake, reconstruction has been slow and uneven in the poor Himalayan country, and most of the US$4.1 billion (S$5.55 billion) that donors pledged for reconstruction in June last year remains unspent because of political squabbling.

As about 100 people protested near the Prime Minister’s office, demanding the government begin rebuilding, the Red Cross said four million people were still living in poor-quality temporary shelters, posing a threat to their health and well-being. 

“We are hoping that the government’s priorities and perspectives on reconstruction will soon be clear so that we can help people to rebuild and get their lives back on track as quickly as possible,” said Mr Max Santner, head of the Nepal mission of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Mr Gopal Khanal, an aide to the Prime Minister, said the government would arrange for proper shelter ­before the start of the ­annual monsoon season in June, but many are sceptical about the state’s ability to deliver.

Ms Kanchhi Tamang, who lost her home in the tremor, said she feared  her three young children would be forced to endure a second monsoon living in a shack on the outskirts of Kathmandu. Ms Chhuldim Samden, a 21-year-old student who took part in the protest on Sunday, told AFP she was fed up with waiting for help as she and her family struggle to survive in a shack in the capital.

A government agency set up in January to oversee rebuilding has so far distributed only US$500 to 800 people, against a promise of handing US$2,000 to every household who lost their home, said National Reconstruction Authority spokesman Ram Prasad Thapaliya. Unrest over a new Constitution adopted in September, which triggered a months-long blockade of Nepal’s border with India by an ethnic group in the south of the country, has added to the upheaval and delays in rebuilding. AGENCIES

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