Flood-hit desperate to find status of missing kin

Itahari, August 26:

Many flood victims in Sunsari have not been able to find the whereabouts of their kin even as nine days have already passed since the Koshi wreaked havoc in six VDCs of the district.

Pravesh Yadav of Sripur VDC-5 said he had been searching for his mother and two brothers ever since swollen river gushed into the village, but to no avail.

Plight of flood victims are multiplying every day after failure to find out their missing kin in the 27 government-built camps built along the highway where most of the displaced have been sheltered.

“I have searched for them in all the camps and everywhere possible, but in vain”, Yadav said.

Yadav’s case is not a single. Rahaman Khan of Haripur is on the lookout for his 63-year-old grandfather and a brother in the temporary camps. He continues to visit one after another camp everyday. “There is no place I have not been to”, Khan said.

Plight of Sakal Dev Meheta of Sunsari’s Haripur-3 is no less painful after he lost a brother and a sister. Nine days have passed but he has not given up hope to find them.

“After I failed to find them in the camps, I went to the canal embankment in Pashim Kusaha today,” he said. “Perhaps, they were swept away by the river.”

He complained that the government did nothing to find his missing kin. “The officials concerned are busy to give company to the visitors from the Kathmandu.”

Sunsari Chief District Officer Durga Bhandari said some displaced, who have lost their kin, have filed complaints. “We have not been able to find the missing persons, as we are under pressure to distribute relief and conduct rescue operations. The administration has been collecting details of the missing persons.” That was the reason why the official data on the missing persons was not out yet, he reasoned.

Meanwhile, the flood victims said some youths of Sripur and Haripur have been charging for boat ride while rescuing them. The government had brought 10 boats on hire to rescue flood-hit free of cost.

As the river is continuing to wreak havoc, the local administration has been trying to shift the people to safer places. The boats pressed into service for rescue operation have been usurped by the youths, the victims alleged.

“I shifted my belongings to Laukahi only after paying Rs 3,000”, Mishri Lal Shah of Pashim Kusaha said. More displaced persons are complaining that the youths have been cheating them.

The district administration office, on the other hand, said that the youths were members of its rescue team. The Chief District Officer said that the administration would immediately take action against them.

120 houses flooded

DHANGADHI: Flooding in Kanda river inundated around 120 houses in Paltupur and Mohanpur of Thapapur VDC-4 in Kailaki district on Tuesday. “Twelve families have been displaced by the floods and they are taking shelter in their relatives’ houses,” said a local of Thapapur, Jaya Prasad Dhungana. The floods also swamped paddy crop planted in 70 bighas of land. — HNS