AARUGHAT, Gorkha, Jan 5: The devastating earthquakes in April and May brought various tragedies for many in Nepal. Some lost near and dear ones while many were rendered homeless.
For Aaita Bahadur Pariyar, the earthquake not only claimed the life of his granddaughter and destroyed his small house but also left him uncertain about his own survival.
Pariyar, a 50-year-old from Kusunde village of Muchowk VDC in Gorkha district, used to earn his living sewing clothes, playing the narsinga at marriages and similar functions and doing agricultural work for others in the village.
Pariyar's small house sheltered his 11-member family at Muchowk, a village neighboring Barpak, the epicenter of the massive earthquake on April 25.
The earthquake turned his house into dust within seconds. He lost his nine-month-old granddaughter. His sewing machine and his narsinga (a long, curved, tranditional trumpet) were both crushed into pieces by earthquake debris.
"Initially, the government provided Rs 15,000 and some relief materials like rice and clothes. We were told we would get another Rs 10,000 in a few days for warm clothing. But, surviving on such support is very difficult," he said.
Pariyar has no idea what his family's future will be like. All I know is to work in other people's fields for daily wages, sew clothes and blowing the narshinga. But both my sewing machine and narshinga were crushed to pieces, and only a few people are cultivating their lands this year," he said adding, "I have no idea how we will survive now."
There are more than two dozen Dailit families in Kusunde village facing a similar plight in the wake of the devastating earthquakes. And not only the Dalits but every poor family across the quake-hit district ekeing out a living with traditional occupations finds itself in the same kind of predicament.
Bhakta Bahadur Bhatta in adjoining Dhading district is in no better shape. Bhatta, 59, has been landless throughout his life. He moved to Seuli Bazaar of Salyantar, Dhading from Aaru Chanaute, Gorkha district 25 years ago. He and his family survived on fishing in the Budhi Gandaki river. That was how he raised his three daughters and built himself a small house on the river bank.
As his daughters are already married, Bhatta and his wife now live in a hut with corrugated sheets for a roof. "I put up the hut with the Rs 15,000 provided by the government as initial earthquake relief. But living under these corrugated sheets in this chilling weather is to put your life at risk," Bhatta lamented. "Yet we have no choice."
Fishing as a livelihood had already become problematical in recent years as people started using dynamite and electic current to fish. "The earthquake only made survival more difficult," he added.
Bhatta feels devastated and sees no hope for the days ahead. "My only hope is that my daughters will look after me and my wife but they themselves are struggling to cope," he said.
Although the government has formed a reconstruction authority and announced reconstruction aid of Rs 200,000 for each victim-family, the deferral of this decision has made them doubtful they will ever see the money.
"We have heard about the aid but we are doubtful people like us will ever get it. And even if we do get it, we are doubtful it will reach us any time soon," lamented Bhatta.
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