Why Nepal is still rebuilding, half a decade after the earthquake
- The disaster in April 2015 left more than 9,000 dead and vast tracts of the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, in ruins
- Political squabbling, lacklustre organisation and a lack of finance are just some of the reasons that have been given for the delay
Restoration work has been handicapped by lacklustre organisation and a lack of finance, and while some landmarks have been renovated, other examples of prized architecture are still so much rubble.
It wasn’t just Kathmandu that took the hit, either. The quake on April 25, 2015 killed more than 9,000 people across the country, injured thousands and destroyed around half a million homes. Seventeen days later, a second tremor demolished many structures that had been weakened by the first.
Having launched a massive tourism promotion campaign – Visit Nepal 2020 – the government has been keen to talk up the renovation effort’s headway, particularly since it has been mocked for such gaffes as buying two robot concierges for the international airport which conspicuously lacks clean toilets.
Having described the progress of renovation work as “exemplary” last January, the prime minister, KP Sharma Oli, added: “Progress is clearly visible, and major works of reconstruction have been completed.”
