Govt assessing roofing sheets requirement

KATHMANDU, May 12: In what can be seen as an indication of the government's plans to assist families who lost their homes to the quake, the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) has started making assessment of how many sheets of steel will be required to build temporary settlements for them

A day after the government mobilized officials in 14 affected districts to assess structural damages on buildings, the ministry held a meeting with its technicians on Monday and discussed how many corrugated metal sheets would be required for each quake-hit families.

The government record shows that the total number of houses damaged or destroyed so far by the earthquake is 542,910."We are currently deliberating on how to provide corrugated sheets to over 500,000 families. After this, we will report to the Ministry of Finance about our estimation," said Padam Kumar Mainali, spokesperson of the MoUD.

Mainali furthered added that the MoUD would recommend dwellings of a single family be 17.5 square meters in size, meaning 2.5 bundles of corrugated sheets would be necessary per family. In one bundle, there will be 8 corrugated sheets, 9 feet in length.

"For a joint family, we have recommended that the room be 24.5 square meters and some additional corrugated sheets will be required for this," said Mainali.

He said that if the government decides to distribute the corrugated sheets, the distribution of the materials will be on the basis of the ministry's decision.

The coming monsoon will make constructing new structures difficult so various stakeholders have been pressuring the government to distribute corrugated sheets of steel quickly to provide temporary shelter.

Meanwhile, lawmakers from various political parties, while speaking at a Parliament meeting, also suggested the government distribute bundles of corrugated sheets to the earthquake victims immediately.

The government mobilized a 5-member team on Sunday comprised of technicians and led by a section officer in each village. The team will travel to 14 affected districts to assess the damage on houses and to collect detailed data on those who lost their homes. The corrugated sheets will be distributed based on the field reports provided by these teams.

Meanwhile, experts have said that the government should identify safe areas to temporarily house displaced people as landslides are likely to hit areas already ravaged by the quake.

Related story

Govt assessing roofing sheets requirement