Banke, September 7:

The bereaved families of Baijapur who lost their relatives in the Govarpur Ghat boat capsize in the Rapti river in Banke district on Wednesday have complained that neither the district administration nor the government has cared to even show concern for their plight.

Kothrewa Tharu of Belaspur in Baijapur-2, who lost two daughters in the boat mishap, said today: “No official from the district administration office, police office or army base has bothered to visit us.” Lotan Chaudhari, whose eighth-grader daughter drowned, said: “At least the CDO should have paid a condolence visit and heard our woes.”

Nineteen persons from Baijapur VDCs 1 and 2 drowned in the river in that mishap. Locals also vented their ire at the government saying it had shown no concern about the boat disaster. Saraswati secondary school and Janjagriti primary school near the village have closed down to mourn the deaths.

Nepali Congress district leader Prem Raj Shrestha said: “Relatives of the victims are in a state of mental shock. There is no arrangement by the administration for their health care.”

Locals said news reports about a search operation being carried out by the police and army were wrong. Meanwhile, a team of district leaders of the eight political parties returned after an inspection of the mishap site. CPN-UML district leader Dev Raj Bhar urged the administration and police to provide relief.

Banke CDO Krishna Acharya told this daily that he has been unable to visit the affected families.

DSP Krishna Hari Sharma at the district police office said the bodies of two more victims were recovered today. One body was identified as that of Dilkumari Tharu. The other was found in Shravasti of India, but has not been identified as it is yet to be brought back. Till date, the number of bodies recovered is 14.