Of the two oxen, six goats and four rams belonging to Tilak Bahadur Bista of Balasain, Doti, most lie dead in the village. Some remain buried by landslide that struck Bista´s village on October 5.
Dil Bahadur Bista of Balasain said the loss of property in the landslide occupies villagers more than the task of disposing off the dead bodies of cattle, though the odor emanating from the corpses is making it difficult to live in the village.
The odor has prompted villagers to think of moving to a cleaner environment. “The decaying bodies can cause a disease outbreak,” said Tularam Bista.
In Doti, only one village was spared by landslide, while almost two dozen VDCs were affected. In all the affected villages, landslides killed cattle.
Villagers say local effort alone will not suffice to move the dead bodies, as it is difficult to pick up the already decaying bodies.
The District Administration Office (DAO) said it is still collecting information about the damages caused by landslides. Acting Chief District Officer Raj Kumar Chaulagain said the administration will formulate action plans only after collecting all information.
Locals have informed the DAO that landslides and floods swept away 80 houses in Doti.
Basu Paki of Kapadi village, Basudevi-4, said no one has given a thought to taking corpse of the dead cattle as people still fear another landslide. Paki lost a pair of oxen and four goats in a landslide.
Doti´s villages are not alone in facing this problem. All villages in Far-West hit by landslides face the same predicament. In Garkhakot of Mastamandu-1, Dadeldhura, where a landslide killed 13 people, the dead bodies of 15 cattle remain unattended to.
The situation is similar in Baitadi where 291 families are affected by landslides.
For the district administration offices that haven´t been able to distribute relief supplies to the affected families in lack of funds, taking care of dead cattle is hardly a priority. Though the government announced a relief package of Rs 150 million, the money hasn´t reached the affected families.
The spate of landslides in the Far-West three weeks ago killed 59 people.
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