Blockade of supplies from India delayed restoration, says UNESCO Nepal chief.
OVER A year after the devastating earthquake that killed around 9,000 people and damaged about 2,600 structures in Nepal, the government still appears to be struggling to properly start reconstruction work as only one temple has been fully restored in the past year, UNESCO’s Nepal chief said. The UN official added that a blockade of supplies from India also delayed restoration work in the nation by six months.
“Only one small temple has been fully restored in Changunarayan (temple premises in Bhaktapur) in one year,” Christian Manhart, head of office and UNESCO Representative for Nepal, told The Indian Express. “As for others, a lot of preparatory work has taken place.”
He said that the restoration work was delayed by at least six months due to the blockade of supplies from India.” “We didn’t have the fuel, the materials… This totally blocked our work for six months,” he said.
Within four months of the earthquake, the focus had shifted on promulgating Nepal’s new constitution, which led to a blockade of supplies from India, which, in turn, delayed the setting up of National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), affecting the restoration and reconstruction process.