Yam’s two and a half story, stone and mud mortar house with 105 square meters of living space was retrofitted in approximately 45 days for a total cost of Rs. 350,000.
Yam Parajuli’s home in Putalibazar, Syanja district was damaged in the April 2015 earthquake, making it unsafe to live in. Despite the unsafe condition that his house was in, and left with no suitable alternative, Yam and his family had to return to living in it. “We could neither afford to build a new house nor had any idea about making our existing house safer,” he said.
After attending an orientation program run by Build Change in collaboration with local entrepreneur Managerial and Technology Consultancy Center (MTCC), Yam decided that the best solution for him and his family was to retrofit their damaged house. When asked about his decision, Yam said, “In the beginning, I was doubtful about how my house could be made more earthquake resistant without demolishing and rebuilding it. However, when the technical team from Build Change explained how this was possible through retrofitting, I was convinced, and therefore agreed to retrofit my house.”
Yam arranged and sourced all of the construction materials and labor himself, and was actively involved in the retrofitting process.
“If we demolished our house, and started from scratch in the hope of getting the government subsidy of Rs. 300,000, it would have cost us Rs. 1.5 to 2 million to build a new house,” shared Yam.“Whereas by retrofitting my house, we were able to build a safer and stronger house at a much lower cost, greatly reducing our financial burden.”
Yam’s two and a half story, stone and mud mortar house with 105 square meters of living space was retrofitted in approximately 45 days for a total cost of Rs. 350,000.
Build Change partnered with private sector entrepreneur MTCC to provide technical assistance on retrofitting houses in Putalibazar of Syangja district. After seeing the progress of Yam’s house, more and more homeowners are now showing interest in retrofitting their houses.
As Build Change continues to scale up retrofitting in rural Nepal, one of the organization’s goals is to foster local entrepreneurship by introducing retrofitting as a business and income generation opportunity for local builders and engineers through partnership with private enterprises and local communities.
From Build Change
