GORKHA, Nov 16: Almost 600 quintals of relief rice have remained in godown of Gorkha district for the last six months. The relief was provided by various organizations through District Natural Disaster Relief Committee to the earthquake victims of the district, the epicenter of the catastrophic 7.8 magnitude earthquake of April 25.
The relief committee has stored the rice at a godown of Food Corporation for such a long time saying that it will distribute it to the victims whenever required. The rice was stored there right after the earthquake.
Later, 300 sacks of rice were distributed to the quake victims of northern Manbu VDC two months after the earthquake. The remaining rice has not been distributed yet, according to Mohan Bajagain, an employee of the corporation.
The District Natural Disaster Relief Committee is yet to decide on how to distribute the remaining rice to the victims.
Nepal Family Party to distribute 100 quintals of rice as relief
Assistant Chief District Officer Dipendra Poudel said, “We have planned to distribute the remaining rice whenever required but the relief committee hasn't taken any decision regarding it.”
Molds have developed in the remaining rice due to the prolonged storage. On the other hand, the public have not received the rice which was supposed to be distributed as grant.
The government distributes 5,000 quintals of rice yearly to seven northern VDCs via Food Corporation Gorkha. This year, not a single sack of rice has been loaded for those areas.
The locals in Sirdibas, Chhchet, Lho, Bihi, Prok, Samagaun and Chekampar VDCs have complained that they were compelled to celebrate Dashain and Tihar festivals by eating potatoes as they didn't receive any grant rice from the government.
The committee has been saying that besides the damaged roads hindering the transport of the rice, the fuel shortage has become the latest challenge in distributing the food.
Meanwhile, the ongoing fuel crisis has hit the daily lives of people of the district who are yet to overcome the shock of the devastating earthquake. There has been an acute shortage of day-to-day essentials like rice and cooking oil.
Businessmen in the headquarters have said that they have not been able to supply daily essentials because of the fuel crisis.
General Secretary of Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) said that the retail market has been affected after the suppliers have become unable to provide the goods. The locals are forced to buy goods by paying higher prices.
The public is suffering after everyday goods are not available in the main market of northern Gorkha -- Aarughat. It is the nearest market for four VDCs after Tibet.
