But the flood victims are yet to be compensated. Tired of waiting for a relief package from the government, the victims had gone to the capital last month to knock the doors of the Singha Durbar.
After the state did not heed to their plights, they have been staging protests in Kathmandu for a month now-still the government remains apathetic to their plights.
Left high and dry, the victims are planning to return home empty-handed. [break]
“We will return home soon. The deaf and dumb government does not care for us,” Chairman of the Mahakali flood Victims Struggle committee, Lalit Sing Bohara, said over telephone from Kathmandu.
The victims had collected Rs 1,000 each from the household affected by the floor to send their representatives to the capital.
Once a landlord, Naina Singh Kunwar, is a tenant after his three-story building with 33 rooms was swept away by the flood in the Mahakali River on second week of June.
All he has received from the state so far is Rs 35,000 in cash and a sack of rice. The Red Cross had provided him with a tent but he has no place left to set it up.
“We have not been able to use the tents as the government has not even bothered to provide a temporary settlement,” said Kunwar, “The provision for the temporary settlement is our first necessity,”
The only substantial relief that over 300 flood victims have received so far is the 45 kg of rice from the Himani Trust, run by the former royal family. “We had to get a recommendation from the Chief District Officer even to buy rice. Even then we couldn´t buy more than two kg of rice,” Dipendra Bhatta, one of the flood victims complained.
Although there is no food scarcity in the market after the road linking the district to the Indian market resumed, the flood victims with poor financial background have faced difficulty to make the ends meet.
“My house along with the shop was swept away in the flood. Now, it seems I cannot resume business,” said Daulat Singh Danga. “Besides rehabilitating us, the government should also assist us to establish business. Otherwise, we will be completely displaced,” said Danga.
“If the government remains apathetic to our plights, we would be compelled to leave the country and go to India to look for work,” said Keshav Pal, a flood victim.
“We have now realized that the sate and the government are not for the people like us. We feel sorry to see the state acting so irresponsibly toward its own people,” added Dan Sing Dhami, another victim.
As per the records collected after the flood, 48 concrete houses were swept way in Khalanga while two dozen more houses are still at high risk of flooding. The District Disaster Management Committee has assessed that the properties worth over Rs 520 million were destroyed in the flood. According to the records, 330 people were directly affected by the deluge, which also eroded away huge swath of lands in the district.
Chief District Officer, Krishna Bahadur Katuwal, only said that all the agencies from district to central level area are well aware about the plight of the flood victims.
“I hope the government would address their problem shortly,” he added.
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