“The cold is intolerable. Where should we go? They (government authorities) had told that they would do something to manage permanent shelter, but nothing has been done even after eight months,” said Lama. “Whether they will do anything or not, I am not sure,” he said questioning the promises that the local authorities and the government had made.
Birbal Tamang of Yarsa, Rasuwa added that he was yet to receive Rs 200,000 that the government had announced to provide quake victims as house loan. “Eight months have passed by, but I have yet not received the loan that was promised to people like me who had lost their house to earthquake,” he said.
Through out the monsoon shelter had remained a major concern for earthquake victims like Haku and Birbal. And now with winter setting in hard day by day, the concern has gone even acute in the district. As the winter is in its climax, children and elderly people in the shelters have started to fall sick due to the cold. Another challenge that these victims are facing on a daily basis in the district is food. The earthquake not only destroyed their houses and belongings but also their farms.
According to Lama, there is no meaning for them to return to village as the landslide has not left any place for them to build a new home. And with the land swept away by the landslide, he says that he does not have any means to restart his life in village. Lama echoes the voice of the many earthquake victims living in the headquarters.
“Various organizations had reached out to us in the initial days. They at least provided food. But nowadays no one visits us or is concerned about us. We have been deprived of food and shelter and no body is willing to take initiative to help us in rebuilding our life,” said Tamang.
“Without a house to shelter us and without food to eat, how can we continue?”
The quake victims do not have direct contact with the government, they say. They depend on media to know about the government’s plan for them. “However, even media does not talk much about the programs for the quake victims these days,” said Tamang. Local FMs, as well as Kantipur FM is popular in the region. Quake victims said that they listen to the FMs carefully in hope of announcement of some significant program for them. These days, however, only the news of blockade is aired, they said expressing dejection for being neglected by the state.
“We listen to news in hope of some announcements from the government to help us, but all we hear on the news is about the blockade,” Tamang said further adding, that “the government had announced to provide Rs 200,000 loan for house and Rs 10,000 as cold relief but It seems like that it would be limited just to verbal promise.” He said that the victims it would be better for the victims if the government could rehabilitate them to a permanent place.
Chi Mendo Tamang from Mailung village is yet another quake victim who lost her house to the Gorkha earthquake of April 25. The woman is living in a temporary shelter in Naubise, Rasuwa along with her three kids. She said life would have been easy for her to live if she did not have kids to save from hunger and cold. “When you have small kids, you cannot ignore cold or hot or hunger. It affects their health and as a mother, you cannot bear their sufferings,” she said. “Even the said 10,000 cold-relief has not come so far. That would give little relief at the time of such hardship,” Chi, whose only source of income is manual labor, added.
Chi had a happy family of five before the destructive earthquake hit. She lost her husband Wang Singh Tamang and 14-year-old son Shyam Tamang in the disaster. “The pain the earthquake gave is ineffable, let’s not talk about that,” she added. “But the pain becomes more acute when I reflect upon the government’s apathy towards us.”
The devastating earthquake has left permanent scar in the heart of another victim, Kamal Singh Tamang of Haku village. His wife is missing since then. “There is no way to get back to village. Landslides have swept our land, too. Heart is restless since my wife got buried in the landslide. I could not see even her dead body,” he said bursting into tears and adding that “Sometimes I feel that she might return one day.”
Kamal Singh added that the suffering of all the quake victims is almost the same. In lack of house and regular work, they are finding it hard to survive, he said.
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