Ramhari Neupane/RSS
TRISHULI: The rainfall occurring incessantly since Thursday has inflicted much trouble to the households displaced by the August 26 flood. The people displaced after the floods that ravaged Bhotekoshi and Trishuli River corridors have been living in temporary shelters here.
With no sign of decline in rainfall, daily life has become increasingly harder for those who are already hit hard by the devastation. Chairperson of Ward No 1 from Uttargaya Rural Municipality, Mansingh Tamang, was forced to leave his home district Rasuwa following the disaster.
Tamang who is currently staying in shelter in Nuwakot shared the plight that the rainfall caused sheer difficulty to protect even the relief materials his family has received like as food, clothing and other items.
Ward chair Tamang further informed that the displaced families living in tents in open spaces were facing additional problems because the tents were leaky, thereby drenching the floor and causing utter inconvenience to the family members.
Out of the 344 families displaced from Rasuwa and settled in various parts of neighbouring Nuwakot districts, 142 families are living in tents at Banachautaro of Bidur Municipality-5. Dawa Mingmar Tamang, displaced from Khalde, is staying at Banachautaro, also expressed woeful state that the relief items were soaked. It has built up much stress to the people elderly and children.
“We’re struggling to protect our belongings after the rainwater entered the tents. The surface around the tent has turned into mud. The decline in temperature is worsening the condition that senior citizens and children are at the receiving end,” he explained.
The Nuwakot Branch of Nepal Red Cross Society is providing tarpaulins to prevent water from leaking into the tents of disaster survivors facing adversity. According to charity officer Uddhav Sharma Rijal, volunteers were mobilized to cover tents with tarpaulins and create drainage channels around the tents in a bid to prevent surface runoff from entering the tents at five locations across the district, including Banchautaro.
“Considering the suffering added by the incessant rain to the flood survivors who are taking shelter in tents, we are providing extra layer to tent roof with tarpaulins and managing drainage systems,” he said, adding, “We plan to fix tarpaulins over the tents in these places by this evening.”
Meanwhile, the rainfall continued for over a day has hindered the search and rescue operations and to clear debris and recover belongings from the houses buried by the flood. Mayor of Bidur Municipality, Rajan Shrestha, stated that the rain posed further hardship in the flood-buried sites of Trishuli Bazaar and across the Trishuli River.
Bidur Municipality and various organizations are extending support to the affected families to remove flood debris and recovering salvageable items. However, Mayor Shrestha expressed worry that the incessant rainfall further drenched the debris and surrounding, making it like swamp. Owing to such circumstance, both the search and rescue efforts have faced hardship.
The devastative flood occurred a month ago directly affected more than 2,100 households in Nuwakot, forcing them homeless. According to data from the Nuwakot District Administration Office, more than 2,500 families in the district were affected by the floods.
Although some families displaced by the floods have managed to retrieve belongings from their wrecked houses following the deluge, many people are still living in temporary shelters and relying solely on relief supplies. The colder weather caused by continuous rainfall has warranted special attention to the children, the elderly, new mothers and sick ones.
