A Year After Devastating Quake, Nepal Just Starting To Rebuild

09:37

April 25, 2016

Bidhya Laxmi Prajapati, 45, works with a pickaxe as she clears debris at her former house damaged during the April 2015 earthquake, together with family and neighbors on April 24, 2016 in Kathmandu, Nepal. Bidhya recently started rebuilding her house which collapsed during last year's earthquake after deciding not to wait any further for compensation promised by the government. A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Nepal close to midday on April 25 lasts year. It was Nepal's worse earthquake in history as an estimated 9,000 people died and countless towns and villages across central Nepal were destroyed. Based on reports, the government promised 2,000USD to affected households but has only paid out a fraction of the amount so far and an estimated 660,000 families are still living in sub-standard temporary shelters or unsafe accommodation one year later. (Tom Van Cakenberghe/Getty Images)

It's been a year since that devastating 7.8 earthquake struck Nepal, killing almost 9,000 people and toppling more than 800,000 homes, temples and ancient monuments in the capital city, Kathmandu, and in remote, mountainous regions of the country.

And yet, despite the more than $4.1 billion in outside aid money that poured into Nepal in the weeks following, very little has been rebuilt.

Here & Now's Meghna Chakrabarti talks with the BBC's Anu Anand, who is in Kathmandu, about why rebuilding efforts have been so slow, and how Nepalis are faring one year on.

See Here & Now's full coverage of the April 2015 Nepal earthquake

Note: This BBC interview can be heard in the Here & Now podcast or with the WBUR app.

Guest

Anu Anand, BBC journalist based in India. She tweets @BBCAnuAnand.

This segment aired on April 25, 2016.

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