Before the earthquake, only two of the 96 houses in Dhungentar were constructed with permanent materials. The rest were built with traditional non-durable construction materials and mud as a binding material. The absence of bands in the sill, lintel, and gable and the lack of proper bonding in the load-bearing wall lent poor structural integrity to the houses. Consequently, all houses except one were fully damaged by the earthquake.

ICIMOD’s pilot demonstration project in Dhungentar promoted the adoption of interlocking compressed stabilised soil blocks (CSSBs) for the construction of disaster-resilient houses and toilets in Dhungentar. Interlocking CSSBs are composed of a mixture of soil and sand compressed using a manual or motorized press machine and further stabilised with cement. This technology was approved by the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), Government of Nepal (GoN), in March 2017.

The main road from Battar leads to Dhand and Mathillo Dhand. A branch of the same road reached only up to Ratamate before the earthquake, leaving Archale and a part of Karamfedi inaccessible by vehicle. This presented considerable difficulty in the transportation of construction materials for this project.

Bidur Muncipality initiated the construction of a 1,537-metre access road from Ratamate through Karamfedi to Archale. To accelerate reconstruction efforts and improve intra-connectivity, the project contributed NPR 500,000 towards this construction. This access road was completed in late October 2017, after which construction activities in the inaccessible project sites were considerably expedited.

Dhand and Archale, situated on hillsides separated by the Khahare Khola (monsoon-fed seasonal stream), were connected by a narrow dirt trail road before the earthquake. Without a proper bridge to cross the stream, the trail became slippery and hazardous during monsoon.

Accordingly, the project constructed a wider, 367 m trail road from Dhand to Archale. This trail was paved with CSSBs that were damaged during production. A bridge (span 6.5 m, width 1.65 m) was then constructed over the Khahare Khola to connect the trail road.