Nepalgunj, July 30:

Locals of Gangapur have been living without food. This situation arose as floods in the Rapti river damaged their foodstuff.

“Floods in the Rapti river inundated all our standing crops and damaged foodstuff. I have been living without food for three days,” Nanda Mahanta, a flood victim of Gangapur, said, adding, “I have not even taken water because it is contaminated.”

“I, along with my children, have not eaten anything for three days,” another victim Resma Naua, 40, of Gangapur, said. Villages, including Gangapur, Chaukari and Sunbarsha, have been cut off since the deluge.

“I, along with others, survived the floods by sitting in a bullock-cart for three days,” Magmanta Maurya, 68, said. “No one has provided us with relief yet. We have been starving.”

“We have been suffering from common cold and fever due to filthy and contaminated water,” the locals of Gangapur said. “The contaminated water will give rise to epidemics if the government does not provide us with medicines on time,” Resma said. According to primary data, floods in the district have affected 76,500 persons of over 10,900 households this year, CDO Narendraraj Sharma said.

“We have been distributing relief since yesterday. We also sent teams of health workers in the flood and rain-affected areas yesterday,” Sharma said, adding, “A total of 1,000 packets of relief materials were distributed to the victims at Gangapur yesterday.”