India, Nepal review progress of post-earthquake reconstruction projects

India and Nepal on Thursday held a meeting on the post-earthquake reconstruction projects here and carried out a comprehensive review of the progress of India-assisted reconstruction projects in housing, education, health and cultural heritage sectors in the Himalayan nation.

The Joint Project Monitoring Committee (JPMC) meeting was co-chaired by Anurag Srivastava, Joint Secretary (North) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Sushil Chandra Tiwari, Secretary of Nepal’s National Reconstruction Authority, the Indian Embassy here said in a statement.

The JPMC mechanism was set up in August 2017 to monitor the progress of India-assisted post-earthquake reconstruction projects in Nepal. The last JPMC meeting was held on March 8 last year in Kathmandu, it said.

The meeting carried out a comprehensive review of the progress of India-assisted post-earthquake reconstruction projects in housing, education, health and cultural heritage sectors in Nepal, the statement said.

Both sides expressed satisfaction on the successful completion of 50,000 houses in Gorkha and Nuwakot districts of Nepal, constructed under India's assistance in the housing sector, it said.

They also noted with appreciation the progress achieved in reconstruction projects being undertaken under education, cultural heritage and health sectors in Nepal, the statement said.

The devastating earthquake, which struck the Himalayan nation in April 2015, claimed over 9,000 lives and damaged more than 800,000 houses and schools.