SANKHUWASABHA: The Dashain fever has gripped the entire nation with people busy preparing for the greatest Hindu festival. But the landslide victims of Tamku and Bala VDC of Sankhuwasabha are still awaiting relief and rehabilitation.

The major landslide on July 27, followed by many landslips in the aftermath, had displaced some 600 people of 105 households from Tamku VDC-9. Six persons had lost their lives while bodies of other seven missing are yet to be tracked. More 40 households were displaced in Sikdim of the same VDC.

Local administration aided by the Nepal Army and Nepal Police had relocated them in Majhkharka area of the VDC. Since then, they have been living in deplorable condition inside the 14 tents provided by the Nepal Red Cross Society.

The displaced have been facing hardship in the tents, 50-year-old Ramjuri Rai complained. Sixty-nine-year old Jagat Bahadur Kulung asked the government for permanent rehabilitation.

“We don’t have enough food to eat and the weather is extremely cold,” said another displaced Kattusher Rai.

A health worker, Dipesh Rai, deputed at the temporary camps by an NGO Eco Himal, said that pregnant women were the worst hit. “All the displaced are eagerly waiting immediate rehabilitation and the authorities concerned should act at the earliest,” he suggested.

Assistant CDO Rajendra Sigdel said that Natural Disaster Rescue Committee had decided the rehabilitation of the displaced of Tamku VDC. “The VDC administration is in the due process of acquiring land for relocating them permanently, which may take around 10 days,” he said.

Meanwhile, residents of Dankhila and Betini in Bala VDC-8 have been sheltering in caves nearby and government office buildings so as to keep safe from landslides. After the August 18 flood swept away the bridge in Sankhuwa rivulet that bordered Tamku and Bala VDCs, the villagers had left their homes. “Due to the landslide, 375 members of 65 households from Betini and Dankhila VDCs have been displaced,” Dipak Rai a local said. CDO Tulasi Prasad Gautam said that they too would be relocated to a safer place.