Sindhupalchowk

Sixty-nine-year old Dambar Bahadur Danuwar and his wife had come all the way from Phatakshila Municipality, Sindhupalchowk to Ravi Crusher, Pancha Kanya Bagar (bank of the Indirawati River) on September 5. And it was not just this couple that had come — people from the indigenous group from Phatakshila like Danuwars, Tamangs, Majhis and more had come with their earthquake victim identity card to get relief materials — corrugated galvanised iron (CGI) sheets and blankets.

The bank looked like as if a mela was going on with the throng of people taking shelter under their umbrellas. Happy at getting the CGI sheets, Dambar Bahadur shared, “We did receive food and tents, but this is the first time that we are getting jasta-paata (CGI sheets). And we are in need of this more than anything else as it is raining and we have also been affected by landslides.”

Relief materials were given to 347 households of the Phatakshila Wards 10 and 11 and each household got six CGI sheets. Another local 68-year-old Bedlal Danuwar said, “We are getting six sheets, which is not exactly enough to build a proper house, but we are very grateful to the donors as they have given those to us with respect. Getting less with respect is more important than getting an elephant without respect.”

On this day, it was a delight to see the natural beauty of Sindhupalchowk with its rolling hills and the serpentine curves of the Indirawati River. People here are mostly farmers and most of the young men are away from their homes to earn for the family. Tirtha Kumari Majhi is one local who received the relief materials and a farmer. She shared, “I will use the sheets to build shelter for my chickens and goats. It will make it easy for me to protect them from the rain.”

Sindhupalchowk was one of the hardest hit districts in the Gorkha quake of April 25 and its aftershocks, and landslides are also occurring time and again. Almost everyone here lost their homes and loved ones. Yet the people have adapted with time which is only natural for any human being.

Initially the plan was to distribute the relief materials to 488 households with 347 households from Phatakshila Municipality Ward-11 receiving the relief materials. However, the relief materials were not distributed at Phatakshila Municipality Ward-10. About this Upadhyay Grela expressed, “We came here earlier to count the households of indigenous local people and we brought the materials according to that count. But now the scene is different — 100 more households have been added to Ward-10. We also tried to settle the matter by giving three CGI sheets per house, but they are asking for more. I am glad I came here and got their blessings, but I find it a Herculean task to do this.”

Agreeing with her, Basu Gautam, President of Lumbini World Peace Forum added, “Wherever we have reached to distribute relief materials, it is always a tragedy at the end. This is because the earthquake-hit areas are badly stricken with poverty.”

According to Gautam, the Forum so far has distributed various relief materials for 3,700 households.

But it should be mentioned that no matter the scale of the tragedy and suffering, the people here have not forgotten to smile and have not lost their hope. Rina Danuwar is one of the hopefuls and she shared, “Yes, we lost our house and are living in a makeshift house in our field, but we have been working in the field and we will celebrate Teej with whatever we have. I believe that celebrating together will ease our sorrow and give us strength in our life.”