This businessman´s family, which used to occupy eight rooms in their two-storey building, cannot now find a house to rent that is big enough to accommodate them all. So they have now divided into four groups living in four separate rented quarters. “We had leased out four rooms of our house at Rs 6,000 in monthly rent. But now we are finding it difficult to find rooms to rent for ourselves,” said Pal. [break]
Naina Singh Kunwar, whose 33-room house was swept away in the flood, is yet to overcome the shock of his loss. He has taken refuge at a house of his relatives after being unable to find a place to rent. “I used to get Rs 10,000 monthly as house rent. Now, I cannot find a place to rent for my family,” Kunwar said.
Bucking the trend of migrating to the Tarai from the hills, Kunwar had sold land in Mahendranagar to add stories to his house. “I have now turned into a squatter with no roof over my head,” said a visibly distressed Kunwar. His house used to be valued at over Rs 10 million.
Likewise, Gagan Bista, who had built a three-storey house last year to end 20 years of life as a tenant, is now back to square one because of the flood. “I spent a week house-hunting after the flood razed my own house,” he said. “I have found a place at a roadside,” added Bista, who has now started a tea shop to support his family.
Over five dozen brick-and-mortar houses at Khalanga-2 were swept away entirely by the food and an equal number have been reduced to ruin. “Eighty percent of the flood victims have lost their homes,” informed Lokmani Thagunna, a local. “Most of them had migrated to the district headquarters after selling all their holdings in the villages.
Flood victims who lost property worth millions have declined the Rs 35,000 in relief amount provided by the government,” Thagunna further said.
The flood has rendered over 300 Khalanga families homeless. Most of them are yet to find new shelter. “My house was already occupied by students and civil servants. Now, people have taken up residence in the veranda also,” said Bhola Awasti of Moiti, a locality considered relatively safe from the flood.
The victims have no reason to rest assured yet as the monsoon has just started and there is no solid embankment in place along the Mahakali to keep the river in check.
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