Post-quake reconstruction in Tibet's Damxung County will start before May depending on weather conditions, in a bid to ensure project quality, according to a leading official.

Two children play near the timber for house building at the quake-hit area of Yangyi Village, Geda Town, Damxung County of Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, on April 20, 2009, photo from Xinhua.

A 6.6-magnitude earthquake jolted Damxung County on October 6, 2008, with Yangyi Village hit the hardest. Since all the houses and barns of the 151 households were flatterned, villagers could only live in tents provided by the government.

With the advent of winter, however, reconstruction work in this area was suspended due to the high altitude and tough climatic conditions.

Since April, the villagers have been busy making preparations for their home rebuilding. However, the ground-breaking ceremony scheduled on April 20 was postponed because of the sharp temperature difference between the day and night.

Zhala, secretary of Yangyi Village Branch of the Communist Party of China, said, "It has been very cold in the night these days. If we start reconstruction now, the cement blocks will be frozen up, thus affecting the project quality."

Construction workers make preparations for the reconstruction of Yangyi Village, Geda Town, Damxung County of Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, on April 20, 2009, photo from Xinhua.

"Since the government spent such a large amount of money building new houses for us, we have to be responsible for our own homeland. Once the weather turns good, the reconstruction work will begin no later than May 1."

By now, preparations for rebuilding have been ready, with sufficient supplies of sand, stones and cement. Villagers and builders from the nearby Nyemo County are also busy making preparations.

The government will give each household a subsidiary of 30,000 yuan, in addition to 1,500 yuan per capita, according to Zhaxi. The floor space of each house will be in the range of 60 to 100 sq meters.

The new houses, with a cement-block structure, will be capable of withstanding strong earthquakes. All the disaster victims are expected to move into new homes before September 30.

Construction workers make preparations for the reconstruction of Yangyi Village, Geda Town, Damxung County of Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, on April 20, 2009, photo from Xinhua.
 
Villagers of Yangyi Village, Geda Town, Damxung County of Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, select a reconstruction site, on April 20, 2009, photo from Xinhua.