SURKHET: Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal today visited the areas hit hard by the recent floods and landslides in the mid and far-western regions.

He also asked officials concerned to supply foodstuff to the affected areas at the earliest. "I heard of flood victims living on beaten rice in Dang," the PM said.

He also took stock of the damage caused by the natural disaster. Dhanraj Ratala, administrator, mid-western region, said Surkhet and Kalikot districts were hit the hardest by the nature's fury. Nepal also inquired about the physical structure, quotas of government employees, condition of the Surkhet-Jumla road and the problems facing the victims in the Karnali region.

Ratala replied to the PM that building of physical structures was in progress in the remote districts. He added the government staffers were not willing to work in the far-flung districts.

Talking to mediapersons at the Surkhet airport, the PM admitted that the coalition partners were dissatisfied at the appointment of Sujata Koirala as the Deputy Prime Minister. This, however, will not affect the stability of the government, he assured.

In Dadeldhura, the PM directed officials to manage well the distribution of foodstuffs to the victims. He lauded the FNCCI plan to introduce a long-term programme for the welfare of the flood victims in the remote regions. Maoist cadres showed him black flags there.

In Achham, Nepal urged parties to not politicise response to natural disasters. Police charged batons to disperse the Maoist activists, who greeted the PM with black flags and chanted slogans against him. In Banke, CDO Birendra Bahadur Baniya apprised the PM about the havoc wreaked by flood in the district.

Nepal told Kailali folks that he would discuss with the Indian government about the Kailashpuri Dam.

PM Nepal, accompanied by NC acting president Sushil Koirala and Finance Minister Surendra Pandey, took a tour of Surkhet, Achham, Bajhang, Dadeldhura, Kailali, Bardiya and Banke districts.