Saptari, April 3:

Locals of Gobargadha-2 in Saptari, who were displaced after a flood in the Koshi river three years ago, are yet to receive relief.

They are currently living in makeshift huts at Nehru Park in the Koshi Barrage at Haripur-9. “Instead of providing us with relief, the government officials are asking us to vacate the settlement,” a displaced, Surji Devi, 70, lamented.

She is wondering where to go if she is forced to leave her place in Nehru Park. Twenty-two other displaced families share same plight.

The displaced flood victims are worried that they will be rendered homeless if the district administration evacuates them from the park. One Bechu Kurmi said they were compelled to take refuge in the park as they didn’t have anywhere else to go. He said the local administration is putting pressure on them to leave the place. “We are not staying here out of desire but out of compulsion,” Kurmi said.

Another flood victim said they were facing difficulties in making ends meet after their fields were swept away by the flood.

The displaced said their problems were being ignored also because they have settled in Sunsari district while they have citizenship certificates issued from Saptari. Surji Devi added that she has been deprived of old age and widow allowances ever since she

left Gobargadha.

The former chairman of Gobargadha VDC, Mukhi Lal Yadav, admitted that no steps hav been taken for the resettlement of the flood victims. He added that flood affects Gobargadha every year. “Resettlement of flood victims is a great problem in the Tarai region” chairman of Koshi Victims Society, Saptari, Dev Narayan Yadav, said.

The Saptari acting CDO, Ram Prasad Ghimire, said the flood victims of Gobargadha haven’t approached him to ask for support.