DHADING, August 3

Children of earthquake victims, who have been staying in temporary settlements near Dhading district headquarters, Dhadingbesi, are falling prey to various diseases.

Around 400 families displaced from Sertung and Jharlang have been staying in temporary shelters at Alchhidanda in the headquarters.

Most of the kids in the settlements are suffering from various ailments, including diarrhoea and other skin-related diseases, apparently due to poor sanitation in the settlements.

“The condition is pathetic. There are puddles all around, latrines are so dirty,” said Khim Bahadur Tamang, a displaced victim of Jharlang, who also attributed the spread of diseases to lack of awareness among the displaced about the importance of sanitation.

Most kids are suffering from various ailments, including diarrhoea and skin diseases

However, it’s not only kids who are falling victim to diseases. Even adults and elderly people are succumbing to ailments.

“Everyone is equally vulnerable to diseases as they have been exposed to excessive heat during the day and cold from the ground at night” said Nirmaya Tamang, another victim of Jharlang, who bemoaned the sorry state in temporary settlements.

Similarly, water crunch is another major crisis in the settlements. Though there is a demand of about 4,000 litres of drinking water in the settlements every day, the victims are getting much less than that.

Though a health centre is on the cards in the settlements to treat the ill, the facility is yet to come into operation.

Earlier,a non-governmental organisation, Shanti Nepal had set up the centre there, but no representative of the organisation has bothered to return to the village.