Five years after quake, academic institutions, health facilities await reconstruction in Nepal

A significant number of educational institutions and health facilities destroyed in the devastating 2015 earthquake in Nepal are still awaiting reconstruction due to the inability of the government to provide sufficient funds, according to an official report.

The National Reconstruction Authority report, released on Thursday, shows that out of the 7,553 schools that needed reconstruction, only 5,598 have been completed fully or partially.

About 2,015 (26 per cent) of the quake-damaged schools are yet to be reconstructed, the Kathmandu Post reported.

Out of 1,197 damaged health centres, only 669 (56 per cent) have been completed so far, while 145 of them are mid-construction. Work on the 32 per cent of the damaged buildings has not even started.

In April 2015, a devastating earthquake of 7.8 magnitude rocked Nepal, killing nearly 9,000 people and wounding nearly 22,000 others,