Kathmandu, August 29

Some of the earthquake-hit districts may face severe food insecurity till mid-November this year, especially the remote areas, where the access roads of the hilly areas that had suffered damages during the temblor and subsequent aftershocks have become more perilous due to the monsoon rains.

This is making it extremely difficult in delivering food to the quake-affected areas, where a large number of people are living in make-shift temporary homes and many are at the mercy of the elements.

The Nepal Food Security Monitoring System (NeKSAP)’s recent food security bulletin has said that 20 village development committees (VDCs)— nine in earthquake-hit Dolakha and 11 of Ramechhap — have been categorised under ‘severely food insecure’.

The nine VDCs of Ramechhap that are in high risk include Gumdel, Chuchure, Those, Bamtibhandar, Gupteshwor, Durgaun, Bhuji, Lakhanpur and Himganga. Likewise, 11 VDCs of Dolakha district include Gaurishankhar, Lamabagar, Chankhu, Marbu, Orang, Bigu, Aalampu, Kalinchok, Khopachangu, Chilankhu and Khare.

As per NeKSAP, even a less powerful jolt can make the access roads impassable which have already been affected due to the monsoon this year. Severely food insecure means the families cannot fulfil their food requirements without changing livelihood strategies.

NeKSAP has revealed that additional 132 VDCs of the affected districts — Gorkha, Sindhupalchowk, Dhading, Makwanpur, Sindhuli, Dolakha, Ramechhap, Rasuwa and Dailekh — have been classified as ‘highly food insecure’ and 259 additional VDCs of all quake-hit districts are moderately food insecure.