Nepalese Gurkha says reconstruction to take at least 'two years'

Villages and schools in Nepal may take at least two years to be reconstructed following the deadly earthquake which has killed more than 6,200 people, a senior response official has estimated.

The United Nations has confirmed that approximately 600,000 were destroyed in the quake and Nepalese officials have requested more humanitarian assistance from the international community.

Lalit Gurung, deputy field director for the Gurkha Welfare Scheme in Nepal, speaking to Newsweek from the organisation's headquarters in the Nepali region of Pokhara, said that most schools had been destroyed and whole villages had been flattened in the disaster.

"There's going to be a huge amount of assistance required to rebuild all the villages. For example, all of the schools, they have all been flattened," he says. "There is nothing there. So, there is all this infrastructure. All the infrastructure will have to be rebuilt."

"There's quite a few villages that have been completely destroyed. No houses are standing at all. An average village could have about 100 houses," he adds.

Gurung estimates the reconstruction effort will take two years. "To get all of the schools ready, a maximum of two years. They could use with temporary shelters, maybe some basic classes and have temporary classrooms until some of the schools are built."

The Gurkha Welfare Scheme, an organisation which cares for former Gurkha servicemen in Nepal's villages, runs 21 welfare centres in the country and has been focusing its efforts on three of the worst hit regions where there is a presence of Gurkhas - Gorkha, Lamjung and Dhading. The group's staff have been travelling into remote villages to deliver temporary shelter, such as tarpaulin, blankets, food and medicine to those affected by the tragedy.

As the search and rescue effort continues and transitions into the reconstruction stages, Gurung says that the devastation has brought Nepalis together.

"There has been a huge amount of help from all of the local people, they have all joined in to help. There is also a huge amount that people have been giving, in donations and food. Everybody is just wanting to help in this cause."

The deputy field director says that three Gurkha deaths have been confirmed in the tragedy but, because of the lack of communication in some hard-to-reach communities, believes that the death toll will continue to rise as more reports arrive from these areas

An EU official today confirmed to the BBC that more than 1,000 EU nationals remained unaccounted for six days after the disaster, with most believed to have been trekking in the Everest region or Lantang area. Nepalese authorities say that the death toll could rise further past 10,000 while 14,000 were injured in the quake.