Chitwan, March 28

The Chepang community living in the hilly areas of Chitwan district has been facing a hard time due food crisis of late.

Managing two meals a day has become an ordeal for the Chepangs, who have been taking shelter under makeshift tents and huts after the powerful earthquakes of April and May last year ravaged their houses in the district.

They have been feeding on yam, wild roots and wild green vegetables due to food crunch.

According to chairperson of Nepal Chepang Association Chitwan Laxman Chepang, more than 50 per cent of 29,000 Chepangs residing in the district can manage their meals for six months from the crops they harvest, whereas 25 per cent of them feed on crops for three months, 12 per cent for nine months and 13 per cent of them can survive on their harvest for the whole year.

“Around 87 per cent of the total population has been suffering from acute shortage of food as in previous years. The famine begins from mid-March and lasts till mid-July every year,” he said.

More than 85 per cent of the total number of Chepangs are squatters as they don’t own any land. Rabi Lal Chepang of Korak-8 has been eking out his living by working as a wage labourer. He only gets to eat one meal a day and relies heavily on wild roots.

Similarly, Padam Bahadur Chepang of Lothar has not cooked anything in his kitchen for three months now due to the food crunch. He said, “There is acute shortage of wild roots and fruits these days in the forest as well.

The government has not heeded our plight. Our children are dying of hunger. The government needs to do something for us at a time when we are struggling for survival.”

The Chepang community residing in the hilly areas depend on rainwater to plant millet, maize for want of irrigation facilities.

Meanwhile, some Chepang families are busy sowing maize after the District Agriculture Office started distributing the seeds for quake victims. However, some of them have consumed the maize due to acute food crisis.

Bhim Bahadur Chepang, District Secretary of Nepal Chepang Association, Chitwan, said Chepangs have been residing at Siddhi, Lothar, Shaktikhor, Kaule, Chandibhanjyang, Kabilas, Dahakhani and Darechowk VDCs. Around 68,000 Chepangs live in the country.