SURKHET, NOVEMBER 23
Employees deputed to Upper Dolpa to hold elections to the House of Representatives and provincial assemblies have been unable to return to the district headquarters due to lack of transportation.
Employees deployed to 12 polling locations out of 22 in Shey Phoksundo, Chharkatangsang and Dolpo Budhha, need to be airlifted, said Dolpa's Chief Election Officer Baburam Subedi.
They reached there in the course of conducting the voting scheduled for November 20 in a helicopter. A total of 511 employees were mobilised in Dolpa, the largest district in the country, for elections.
Though some employees returned from the relatively lower areas, 135 people, including government employees, security people and temporary police personnel have been stranded in the high altitude areas. Among them, two are females.
This morning, 10 employees were carried back along with ballot boxes.
"Employees' lives matter for the government and there should not be any delay in evacuating them to safety," he said, adding that the Chief Election Commissioner has been already apprised about the situation and requested to make prompt arrangements for the rescue.
Employee Kamal Bohora, who is awaiting rescue at the polling station based in Shahid Dashrath Chand Basic School at Kowa in Ward No 1 of Shey Phoksundo Rural Municipality, said that five of his colleagues had taken ill due to cold. Moreover, the team is struggling to manage food and shelter.
"We want to get back to Dunai, the district headquarters, as quickly as possible," he said.
The ill employees have complained of various health issues such as headache, nausea, vomiting and breathing complications, it is said.
Among the people trapped in Upper Dolpa, 43 are employees, 44 police personnel, and 48 temporary police persons hired for the election period.
Dolpa's Chief District Officer Bednidhi Ahikari said 10 employees were rescued this afternoon and the rescue of others was delayed as a helicopter had been sent to collect 136 ballot boxes from Humla. However, efforts are on to rescue the stranded employees as soon as possible.
A version of this article appears in the print on November 24, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
