Earthquake and disaster risk reduction in Nepal

PHASE Nepal is constructing Pre-fab health post in Kashigaun and Keraunja VDCs of Gorkha district. Kashigaun & Keraunja are remote VDC's of Gorkha situated near the epicenter of devastating earthquake that struck Nepal first on 25^th April 2015. The health post in these VDCs completely collapsed in the earthquake. As such the people in the VDCs were without basic health facilities and services in the absence of health post. Hence it was paramount to construct the health post to avail the people of these VDCs with atleast basic health facilities and services. The construction work will follow the technical guidelines of Ministry of health (MoH). The total cost for the construction of the pre fab health post in both the VDCs is  Nrs 135,00,000/-  of which 128,44,100- has been funded by Cha-Ya. The remaining amount required for the construction of the health post has been utilized from the global giving project. 

The following are the achievements till the reporting period.

1. Project Progress and Achievement

• Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ministry of Health for the reconstruction of health posts in the 2 VDCs has been signed.
• Contractors were finalized and agreement with contractors was signed to initiate the construction works of health posts.
• Staffs have been recruited to oversee the technical aspect of the construction which is being done by PHASE Nepal. Assistant Sub-Engineer Mr. Roshan Rimal has been recruited and has been working in the construction site since July 2016. Mr. Sujan Ghimire has been designated the responsibility of supervising and evaluating the works through regular field visits.
• Collection of local materials (stones, gravels, sand) required for the construction of the health post is going on.
• Ware house for the storage and transportation till project sites has been finalized in Arkhet of the district.
• Earth excavation works to lay the foundation of the health post has begun in Kashigaun VDC.
• To resolve the land dispute for the construction work in Keraunja VDC, meeting was held and minutes were noted down. It was agreed that the land ownership be transferred to health post. The process of transfer of land ownership has begun.

     2. Challenges

• Construction work in Keraunja VDC could not commence because of the dispute regarding land ownership.
• Heavy rainfall followed by landslides have obstructed the Arughat- Soti road. As a result transportation of construction materials to the project site from Arkhet has been hampered. There has been delay in timely delivery of the materials to the project site. Transportation through vehicle is possible only till soti and beyond Soti the materials have to be transported on mules
• Availability of mules for transportation beyond Soti is difficult as mule owners are reluctant to provide mule because of the risk involved