Rice is supplied to the seven VDCs of northern Gorkha under the government quota.Sirdiwas, Chumchet, Lho, Bihi, Prok, Samagaun, and Chhekampar VDCs have been facing acute food shortage. The government has been supplying rice to locals from the food shortage areas of northern Gorkha through Nepal Food Corporation (NFC). However, the NFC has failed to supply the rice to those areas again.
The NFC had to supply 5,000 quintals of rice to the food crisis zone of seven VDCs in the district. As per the plan, a total of 3,000 quintals of rice has to be supplied to Sirdibas depot and 2,000 quintals to Machhakhola depot annually.
So far, the NFC has supplied 400 quintals of rice to Sirdibas depot, and 650 quintals to Machhakhola depot, following the devastating earthquakes.
Locals from seven VDCs facing food crisis have to wait for six to nine months to harvest their crops. As a result, the government has been supplying food to ease the shortage.
Following the earthquake, World Food Programme (WFP) supplied rice to the locals from food crisis areas through helicopter, but that was not sufficient, according to Lal Prasad Bhattarai, secretary of Chhekampar VDC.
The government has also not been able to transport food to the food-crisis zone of north Gorkha because the only trail to reach the remote parts of northern Gorkha has been obstructed at several places by the landslides during the recent earthquakes and aftershocks.
Meanwhile, District Disaster Relief Committee (DDRC) of Gorkha has concluded that sending rice to the remote villages through other means other than helicopters is not possible. The DDRC claims that the obstructed route cannot be cleared easily as the landslides are massive in some places.
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