Biratnagar, August 23

Since the last two week days, Dilip Sah’s family has been sheltering under tarpaulin on the banks of Singhiyakhola in Biratnagar Metropolitan City, Morang.

The seven-member family is among hundreds of families displaced in recent floods that hit several parts of the Tarai region.

The death on Saturday evening of his ailing wife Mamata has added to the family’s misery as Dilip will now to take care of his five kids, including a one-and-a-half-month old son, alone.

Mamata’s both kidneys had become dysfunctional. She had to undergo dialysis regularly. She had fallen seriously ill on Thursday night for want of treatment. “She was admitted to Koshi Zonal Hospital, Biratnager the same night, but she passed away on Saturday,” said Dilip who is currently observing the mourning period after his wife’s death.

Despite financial difficulties, the family was somehow managing her treatment until the floods struck. A cart puller, Dilip is facing financial difficulties as he has been left without a source of income after the floods. He did not have enough money to conduct his wife’s death ritual. His neighbours helped him purchase firewood to cremate his wife.

His four children are starving as they do not have food to eat and clothes to wear. His four children Kajal, 11, Sajana, 8, Kali, 5, and Aryan, 2, have been eating at a mess managed for flood victims in the locality whereas his one-and-a-half month-old son is surviving on cow milk. .