Subhas Majhi catches fish in the nearby river and also works in farms for a living. He needs to feed a family of seven.
On that fateful day, April 25, the 35-year old was working in a field, not far from home, when his house was flattened.
None of the 46 houses in Shikharpur village Ward No. 4, popularly called ‘Majhigaun’ because all residents belong to the boatman community, could withstand the devastating quake and its aftershocks. Those which are standing have not remained habitable.
“I am building the house for me and my elder brother’s family; he is sick, so I have to do it with Chandra Kumari’s help,” Mr. Majhi tells The Hindu even as he tries to fit a wooden plank with his wife’s help. “We have to live, isn’t it? How long can we wait for government’s help to arrive?”
On Friday, Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, who, following the quake, was accused lack of preparedness despite many warnings, announced a rehabilitation and reconstruction programme that is to include grants of up to NRs 200,000 and a subsidised home loan.
Over 300,000 homes and 15,000 schools have been destroyed in the two quakes — of 7.9 magnitude on the Richter scale on April 25 and 6.7 the following day — and their aftermath, one report says.
As on May 8, nearly 8,000 people have been killed and over 17,000 injured. More than 130 aftershocks of over 4 on the Richter scale have been recorded. They still continue, most of them low-intensity shocks.
Majhigaun among the hardest hit
Majhigaun is among the many villages in Sindhupalchowk that have been hit the hardest by the quakes. Five persons were killed as they had no time to escape, villagers say. Cattle carcass still lies buried under the debris.
Akash Majhi (24), proud of having built his house in the village, warns of the damage further in store when monsoon strikes sometime in June. Rains that happen around mid-April have continued, adding to the woes of the people in this and 12 other districts forced to live under the open skies. Tents have been made available to most, but not to all.
Relief has started pouring in. The Majhigaun residents say they would be helped immensely if the government or some other organisation sends bulldozers to clear the debris and carcass of cattle. The smell is getting stronger and unnerving.
At a nearby settlement, just cross the muddy road, the story is same. People say they need bulldozers so as to clear the rubble.
“There are private ones but they charge NRs 5,000 an hour, and we cannot afford that,” Bhim Prasad Dulal of Shikharpur VDC-4, Sindhupalchowk told The Hindu .
Though doctors in Kathmandu have ruled out the outbreak of an epidemic, villagers here fear the worst. “We are wary of a diarrhoea outbreak,” said Durga Prasad Dulal, a journalist who travelled from Kathmandu with sacks of rice for his family and relatives in Shikharpur. His house was among those that turned into ruins.
On the way to these two settlements, this correspondent witnessed ruins along the Araniko Highway, with a few houses, or what remains of them, still precariously standing. It looked like they could collapse any moment. People have started clearing the debris themselves.
The search for the missing and buried is still on.
At the farthest end of Melamchi Bazar, which is 45 km northeast of Kathmandu, a Search and Rescue Team (SRT) from South Korea was still looking for the four bodies the locals say are buried amidst the debris of a house.
A mammoth task Relief and rescue teams from India, China, Israel, the United States, among others, have helped Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Forces rescue a number of those trapped. Relief materials, including food, medicines, tents, and warm clothes have started pouring in.
After some initial fumbling which was widely reported and criticised in local media, the government has streamlined its relief distribution efforts to areas that need it badly.
But it’s a mammoth task, given the scale of destruction in 13 districts in central and eastern hilly regions of the country. Nepali Times , a Friday weekly that had warned of an impending earthquake for years, suggested putting in place “a Marshall Plan type movement with seamless coordination between the government, local bodies, the international community, the U.N. and the multilateral agencies.”
The affected seem to know what was required of them. “We will rebuild, no doubt,” Akash Majhi from Majhigaun who lost his house says with determination.