Flood victims picket municipality office in Rautahat district

Rautahat, July 26

Flood victims of Rautahat’s Rajdevi Municipality picketed the municipal office today and protested against the delay in relief distribution.

Around 1,000 victims from different wards of the municipality encircled the municipal office citing the authorities’ apathy to provide them relief two weeks after they were forced out of their homes by floods from the nearby river.

“Floods destroyed everything, from crops to clothes, among other valuables. But weeks after the disaster, we are still waiting for relief while our so-called local representatives just sit by and watch us suffer,” said Nepal Communist Party (NCP) local leader Bhikhari Raya.

All the nine wards of the municipality were affected after the rain-induced Bagmati river swamped the human settlements on July 12 and 13, forcing villagers to flee their homes.

A flood victim Ushadevi Ram accused local representatives of abandoning flood victims. “We’ve been living here and there for several days, but not a single local representative has noticed our plight,” she said.

Flood victims are demanding food items, besides tarpaulin and construction materials to rig up their homes.

The agitated victims returned home today after deputy mayor Anshu Singh assured them of addressing their concerns within a week.