SANKHUWASABHA: The 225 members of 40 families, who are taking shelter at a temporary camp in Majhkharka village after being displaced by a landslide at Sikding in Sankhuwasabha’s Tamku VDC a few weeks ago, are now suffering from diarrhoea and dysentery.

The displaced initially caught a cold, thanks to unsafe drinking water and poor accommodation, which eventually developed into diarrhoea and dysentery in the camp, health workers involved in the treatment said. More than 30 women, children and elderly persons in the camp are suffering from the diseases. Among the displaced population, 80 are children.

Their woes compounded as the stock of medicine supplied by Tamku primary health centre ran out. Assistant health workers Ram Kumar Rai and Dipesh Rai are treating the patients. Following requests, necessary medicine has been dispatched to the camp, acting CDO Ajit Thapa said.

“We have nothing better than tents to shield us from cold,” displaced Chandra Bahadur Rai said. His nine-member family is living in the tents. There are no toilets in the camp.

Moreover, it takes six hours to reach a source of water from the temporary camp on foot.

Bodies of five persons were recovered while eight others are still missing in the disaster that struck the village on July 27.

The army and the police have been making efforts to resettle the displaced families in the nearby Majhkharka village.