Dhangadhi, September 22

Dashain has already knocked at the doors of Hindus but flood victims of Kailali seemed to be untouched by the festivals.

“There is nothing to eat at home. So how would we celebrate Dashain?” said flood victim Gopilal Chaudhary of Bhajani Municipality-8, Khaira. “After floods swept away all our belongings, there’s nothing left with us. We had expected the government to provide us relief, but to no avail. We are starving, Dashain celebrations are a far cry for us.”

Immediately after the floods, the government had provided noodles and beaten rice in a limited quantity to these victims.

Krishnadevi Chaudhary, another flood victim from Sonahaphanta said her family had been relying on loan for survival. “After the floods, we have been taking loan to meet our daily needs and survive. As for the festival, I don’t know how we’ll celebrate it when we’re already a destitute lot,” she said.

Mohan Kumar Chaudhary of Khaira is restoring her quake-damaged house. “There can be no one who does not like to celebrate a festival. But celebrations are a second priority for us now when we struggling to keep ourselves alive,” he said.

As per data at the District Natural Disaster Rescue Committee of Kailali, as many as 3,087 households were affected by monsoon floods this year. While 80 houses were completely damaged in the deluge, another 175 suffered partial damages, in Tikapur and Bhajani. The official estimate puts the damage to agriculture at around Rs 84.4 million.

CDO of Kailali Govind Rijal , who also head DNDRC, said that relief could not be distributed to all as his office received inconsistent data of victims. “As there were discrepancies in the data of victims, we couldn’t deliver relief to all,” he added.