Bajhang : Reconstruction of the school buildings damaged by the earthquake of October 3, 2023, with Chainpur as its epicentre, is now in progress.

Reconstruction of 18 school buildings — both completely and partially damaged in Khaptadchhanna Rural Municipality, has already started. Uttam Rokaya, Chairman of Khaptadchhanna Rural Municipality, said that after conducting a thorough inspection of the school buildings affected by the quake within the municipality, a comprehensive plan has been initiated. “This involves the construction of temporary shelters for completely damaged schools, retrofitting for the schools suffering minor damages, and overall reconstruction activities. These efforts are being executed under the ‘Samriddha Khaptadchhanna Project’ led by the non-governmental organisation, Read Nepal,” said Roakaya.

He said, “Our village experienced significant damage in the earthquake. Private residences, and government buildings, particularly school buildings, suffered heavy damage. In the initial phase of reconstruction, Read Nepal is actively engaged in rebuilding the schools under the supervision and coordination of the rural municipality.”

The earthquake had adversely affected children’s studies, underscoring the urgency of school reconstruction. Out of the 38 schools in the municipality, the reconstruction process is being organised by categorising them based on the extent of damage—whether total, partial, or moderate, he added.

Satyaraj Pandey, the project engineer at Read Nepal, said that they have successfully erected 12 temporary shelters for five schools, which were completely damaged, forcing the students to take classes under the open sky. Additionally, retrofitting work is underway in 13 other schools, he added.

The education sector suffered significant damage in the earthquake, and the reconstruction of schools had been a challenge. Gorakhi Bahadur Khadka, the headmaster of Gorkhali Basic School, expressed relief that with the construction of temporary sheds, the necessity to conduct classes in the open sky has now come to an end.

He expressed concern over the fragile physical condition of his school and emphasised the need for drawing the attention of relevant authorities to long-term management. The widespread impact of the earthquake has left many buildings in the municipality with cracks and structural weaknesses.

Local educators are cautious while school children have to take classes in weak school buildings with constant fear of potential earthquakes. Recognising that a significant amount of funds would be required for permanent management of all the buildings in the rural municipality, the issue has been temporarily addressed due to budget constraints, he added. The Rising Nepal