Dhorpatan flood victims struggling to pay debts obtained for business

BAGLUNG, SEPTEMBER 10

Flood victims at Bobang of ward 9 of Dhorpatan Municipality in the district are struggling to pay debts borrowed to run their businesses.

On September 2, a flooded Bhujikhola gushed into settlements near the river banks wherein over a dozen people were killed and more than 41 went missing.

Around three dozen houses were destroyed completely in the disaster.

Hem Bahadur BK, a flood victim, ran a retail store with the money he had borrowed from a landlord. His store was damaged by flooding.

“Those who survived the flood by fleeing are now in tension as their businesses were damaged by the disaster.

I am worried about how to pay my debt as the place where I lived has turned into a river bank. I cannot sleep well as a result,” he bemoaned.

He had borrowed more than Rs 1.8 million loan to run his business.

Like BK, there are many who had borrowed money to run their businesses. They have now been left high and dry as their business has been damaged by the devastating flood.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on September 11, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.