"There are 165 households in this Tamang village. After the earthquake, almost all houses have developed cracks and sustained partial damage while a number of houses were destroyed," said Man Bahadur Waiba, former Pradhanpanch (village chairman) of the Lapsephedi VDC, which now falls in Shankarapur Municipality.Though the government delineated Lapse within the municipality, the poor Tamang village lacks several basic amenities and infrastructures of a town, and the residents are dependent on agriculture.
As the earthquake damaged the houses and aftershocks continued, the frightened villagers are still sleeping under tents and makeshift huts. Now is the time to weed the maize fields but the villagers are not in a condition to work in the fields.
"I am in dilemma over whether to start rebuilding the house or weed the maize field," said Bir Bahadur Tamang. "I am frightened about future. We can somehow survive on the relief materials we have been receiving but what would we eat next year if the crops fail," he added.
Bir Bahadur is really in confusion to set priority of things to do. His wife gave birth to a baby boy four days before the earthquake. He has to arrange a warm place for the mother and the newborn. His possessions are still under the rubble of the house and he has yet to recover them. And on the other hand, the maize field needs to be weeded on time. Rebuilding a house is another tough job for him.
"The present situation is frightening but whenever I think about future, it frightens me more," said Bir Bahadur.
Dambare Lama lost his mother Kanchhi Moktan in the earthquake. She could not escape from the collapsing house during the tremor.
Dambare is currently observing the death rituals of his mother. "I have no house now. And I don't have any money to hire workers to rebuild it. I will have to do it myself. On the other hand, the maize in the fields is drying," said Lama in his mother tongue while his son transalted it.
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Quake victims of Lapsephedi worry about next year
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