Nepal struggles to recover from quake devastation

Himalayas, Apr 22 (ANI): : Nepal is still struggling to recover from last year's twin earthquakes that affected nearly eight million people, killing over 9,000, injuring more than 22,000 and destroying over a million homes in the small Himalayan nation. Nearly a year after, Nepal's tourism industry, which is its key foreign exchange earner, lies in tatters. Its World Heritage sites as well as mountaineering and trekking industry have still to bounce back from the double blow. The restoration of monuments is going on with traditional craft skills like wood-carving and gilding, but because of the intricacy of the work involved, the pace of restoration is slow and will take years before the monuments are back to their original glory. Tens of thousands of survivors are still living in huts made from tin sheets and tarpaulins as reconstruction has been delayed by political bickering over a new constitution. The quake also raised the spectre of a surge in human trafficking in the poor, rural areas that were worst affected.