Kathmandu, Oct. 18: Half of the people who lost their houses in the devastating Bhotekoshi flood that occurred on August 26 want the government to provide them land or housing facility.
Of the flood-damaged 4,151 building structures belonging to 3,067 property owners, about one-third house-owners want to settle at the government-provided land. Number of such households is 939 (30.62 per cent), while 590 households (19.24 per cent) stated that they would be willing to live in a location where the government provided collective housing.
This puts the total share of house-owners wishing the government provide them land or house at 49.86 per cent.
Still, a quarter of the families that lost their houses in the flood want to continue dwelling in their pre-flood location.
According to the preliminary report of the household survey conducted by the National Planning Commission (NPC) and published on Friday, of the 3,067 owners of the houses damaged in the devastating Bhotekoshi flood, 797 households or 26 per cent choose the location affected by the flood as the preferred place for permanent residence in the future.
Similarly, 565 households (18.42 per cent) expressed a preference to settle on another plot of land they owned within their district, while 159 households (5.18 per cent) opted to settle on land they owned elsewhere in the country. No response regarding preferred permanent residence in the future was recorded for 17 households.
The flood damaged 4,151 building structures belonging to 3,067 property owners. They include 1,236 structures belonging to 882 property owners were damaged in Rasuwa, 2,256 structures belonging to 1,686 property owners in Nuwakot, 630 structures belonging to 480 property owners in Dhading, and 29 structures belonging to 19 property owners in Gorkha.
Of these structures, 2,792 were houses, 288 were cattle sheds, storage sheds or traditional livestock shelters (goth/dhansar/matan), 651 were truss structures, 263 were temporary shelters and 142 were other types of structures. The type of 15 structures could not be identified.
Flood leaves 72 per cent buildings unusable
The flood completely damaged 72.01 per cent (2,989) buildings, read the NPC report.
A total of 141 structures (3.4 per cent) were reported to be tilting, 302 buildings (7.28 per cent) sustained partial damage, 508 (12.24 per cent) had been buried under soil and mud, and 192 buildings (4.63 per cent) had sustained minor damage. The type of damage was not specified for the remaining 19 structures (0.46 per cent).
Likewise, 3,194 structures (76.95 per cent) are not in a condition of reuse while 332 structures (8 per cent) could be used after major repairs and 320 structures could be used after minor repairs.
According to the survey, only 97 structures (2.34 per cent) can be used without any repairs.
The NPC informed in a statement that it had mobilised 58 teams that included 156 technical and administrative personnel for the survey while the local bodies also collected details of those individuals who were not the permanent residents of the affected four districts.
The flood affected 7,316 families and institutions in 15 local bodies of four districts – Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading and Gorkha. It directly impacted 32,872 people – 17,954 in Nuwakot, 9,676 in Rasuwa, 4,584 in Dhading and 658 in Gorkha.
Rs. 60.65 B damage to houses and land
The flood inflicted damage of about Rs. 60.65 billion to the houses, housing land and farmland.
"The damaged building structures occupied 54.65 hectares of land. Damage to the land on which owner-occupied houses were situated was estimated at Rs. 13.26 billion, while the construction cost of the buildings was estimated at Rs. 11.95 billion," informed the NPC.
It said that an analysis of the preliminary data indicates that land belonging to 3,610 households, covering 507.97 hectares, was affected, with damage to land estimated at about Rs. 35.44 billion.
Similarly, losses were estimated at about Rs. 232.1 million in standing crops (2,951 households), Rs. 104.1 million in stored food grains (1,876 households), and Rs. 214.2 million in livestock, poultry and fish farming (1,011 households).
According to the available data, the floods destroyed 664 large livestock animals, 4,601 small livestock animals, 63,633 birds (including chickens and ducks), and 24,508 kg of fish kept by households.
Rs. 1.24 B lost in vehicles
While the flood caused the loss of Rs. 69.57 billion in households, businesses witnessed loss of Rs. 9.60 billion.
Vehicles worth Rs 1.24 billion were damaged in the flood. About 1,423 vehicles, including small and large vehicles as well as two-wheelers and four-wheelers, belonging to 1,115 households were either swept away in the flood or buried in the debris.
The survey also recorded the loss of Rs. 5.02 billion in cash, valuables, cultural artefacts and archaeological objects belonging to 2,330 households.
Similarly, durable household goods worth Rs. 1.45 billion belonging to 3,187 households were damaged, while non-durable household goods worth Rs. 663.5 million belonging to 2,769 households were also damaged.
In terms of damage to businesses and establishments, the floods affected 1,638 businesses and establishments across the four affected districts. In terms of district, 962 business establishments were affected in Nuwakot, 416 in Rasuwa, 241 in Dhading and 19 in Gorkha.
Of them, 774 (47.25 per cent) were engaged in wholesale and retail trade, 337 (20.57 per cent) in accommodation and food services, 166 (10.13 per cent) in agriculture, forestry and fishing, and 136 (8.3 per cent) in other service activities.
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