Locals say there is food scarcity in Bajhang, Baitadi, Darchula, Achham and Bajura districts. Dozens of VDCs in Bajhang´s northern mountainous region and the Bugal region are facing food shortage. [break]
Birbhan Bohara, a teacher at Bugal, said Bajhang district is prone to food scarcity, which usually occurs when food supplies are not delivered before the road is damaged by monsoon rains.
The Agricultural Office in Bajhang said Nepal Food Corporation (NFC) has allotted just 5,000 quintals of rice to the district where the demand is 16,000 quintals.
But Mohan Chand, the regional chief of NFC in Dhangadi, claimed that the headquarters of every district has sufficient food stock. “The rural areas might be facing shortage,” he said.
Outlying villages face the problem as there are no roads. Chand said the NFC cannot take the food stock to the villages, and the only option is that the villagers themselves take it to the villages.
He admitted that food supplies have not been delivered to most of the villages away from district headquarters.
Villagers living in the remote villages need to walk for three to four days to procure food supplies.
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