Three years after Jajarkot earthquake, survivors still wait for safer homes

The magnitude-6.4 earthquake caused widespread damage in Jajarkot and neighbouring Rukum West. It completely destroyed 26,557 houses and partially damaged 35,455 more. These figures show why rebuilding remains a major challenge three years later.

The human cost was also severe. The earthquake killed 154 people, including 101 in Jajarkot and 53 in Rukum West. It injured 364 others. The disaster struck at 11:47 pm on November 3, 2023, with its epicentre in Ramidanda village, Barekot Rural Municipality.

Many survivors first lived under tarpaulin tents, then moved into temporary shelters. Large numbers still lack permanent homes because beneficiary identification, damage assessments and grant approvals have been slow. The scale of destruction, combined with administrative delays, has left families exposed to difficult weather and uncertain rebuilding timelines.

Survivors are still waiting because several steps must happen before construction can begin. Authorities must identify eligible households, assess the damage, confirm beneficiaries and sign grant agreements. Each stage has faced delays, leaving families unable to access reconstruction money.

Jajarkot’s chief district officer cited late reconstruction guidelines, community complaints during detailed assessments, too few staff to inspect houses and slow action by local governments. The District Disaster Management Committee has confirmed only 4,695 beneficiaries in three municipalities. Four rural municipalities have confirmed none.

Only 641 households in Bheri Municipality had completed all procedures and signed reconstruction agreements. Many families therefore remain in shelters that become dangerously hot in summer and collect condensation in cold weather. Some, such as Khimraj Pun, borrowed money and built privately after waiting two years.

A Detailed Damage Assessment, or DDA, is a formal inspection of earthquake damage to homes. It identifies affected households and classifies their needs. The assessment matters because reconstruction grants are not released simply because a family reports damage; authorities need an official basis for deciding whether a home should be rebuilt or retrofitted.

The NDRRMA assessment identified 26,989 eligible households across Jajarkot’s seven local governments. It classified 14,245 households for reconstruction and 12,744 for retrofitting. After the assessment, a local disaster management committee recommends each household to the District Disaster Management Committee.

The district committee must formally confirm the household as a beneficiary before it can proceed. This requirement is intended to connect verified damage with public funding. In practice, complaints, staff shortages and slow local identification delayed assessments and approvals, leaving many families without grants or permanent homes.

Nepal’s reconstruction grant provides Rs400,000 to an eligible household rebuilding a destroyed home. It is paid in three stages: Rs50,000 first, Rs200,000 after a technical assessment and Rs150,000 after the house is completed. Retrofitting grants are smaller: Rs50,000 for partially damaged homes and Rs100,000 for completely damaged ones.

The money is tied to a formal process. A household’s damage assessment is reviewed, a local disaster management committee recommends it, and the District Disaster Management Committee confirms it. The household must then sign a grant agreement before reconstruction payments can proceed.

This system makes approval a practical gateway to rebuilding. In Jajarkot, only 641 Bheri households had signed agreements. The first instalment had reached around 186 households, totalling Rs9.4 million, while many others remained in temporary shelters or had to borrow money to build.

Several government bodies share responsibility for moving a household from damage assessment to reconstruction. The NDRRMA conducted the Detailed Damage Assessment and identified eligible households. Local governments must identify beneficiaries within their areas, while local disaster management committees recommend assessed households for formal approval.

The District Disaster Management Committee makes the formal beneficiary decision. Only after that confirmation can households proceed toward grant agreements and reconstruction. Technical assessments then help determine release of later grant instalments. The district administration, represented in the article by Chief District Officer Nawaraj Baral, has described the delays and the process.

These roles are connected, so a delay in one body affects the next. The district committee had confirmed beneficiaries in only Bheri, Nalgad and Chhedagad. Barekot, Kushe, Shivalaya and Junichande had confirmed none, blocking agreements and slowing reconstruction across much of Jajarkot.

A partially damaged house may not need complete replacement if its main structure can be repaired and strengthened. Retrofitting can preserve a usable home while addressing weaknesses caused by earthquake damage. This may require less work than demolishing and rebuilding, although the article does not provide a detailed engineering assessment for individual houses.

The DDA classified 12,744 Jajarkot households for retrofitting. Under the grant rules, a partially damaged house receives Rs50,000, while a completely damaged house designated for retrofitting receives Rs100,000. The classification determines which type of support the household can seek.

In general, retrofitting makes a building safer by strengthening vulnerable structural parts and improving how they carry earthquake forces. The article does not specify which materials or techniques officials will use. It does show that households must pass assessment and approval stages before receiving support, and those stages have been slow.

A magnitude-6.4 earthquake is a measure of the event’s size at its source. Magnitude is logarithmic, so a small numerical increase represents a much larger change in released energy. It does not directly tell us how every building will perform or how severe shaking will be at each location.

The Jajarkot earthquake struck at 11:47 pm on November 3, 2023, with its epicentre in Ramidanda village. It destroyed 26,557 homes and partially damaged 35,455. Those outcomes show the event’s serious effects, but the article does not compare the buildings’ construction or ground conditions.

Whether a building survives safely depends on its structural design, construction quality, materials, connections, foundation and local ground movement. Regular maintenance and strengthening can also matter. Retrofitting is intended to improve weakened buildings, but the article does not provide technical details about the specific methods used.