Sushil-led Government-30

 Flood Victims

Siddhi B Ranjitkar

Where have the three billion rupees the prime minister has meekly received from different donors for the flood victims gone? The flood and landslide victims have been suffering from not having anything to eat even during the major festivals. The three billions and more money are for feeding and clothing the victims of the natural disaster. Donors have generously gave their hard earned money to the prime minister believing he would sent the money to the unfortunate victims of the natural disaster. But he has been sitting on the money giving only a meager amount to the sufferers.

Prime Minister Sushil Koirala was worried about the misuse of the money he received from the donors for the victims of natural disaster but he was not worrying about providing the money to the flood victims. Most probably, the message of the flood victims of their sufferings had not reached him, as he was busy with visiting the USA for treatment and for attending the UN general assembly. So, he had no time to visit the flood victims in Nepal, and to receive the message from them.

The Prime Minister’s Relief Fund has accumulated more than Rs 3 billions from the donations. The Central Natural Disasters Relief Committee has received only a fraction of the amount intended to the flood victims. Consequently, the flood victims have been provided with the meager amount to celebrate the three major festivals such as Dashain, Tihar and Chhath, and the daily subsistence allowance.

Three thousands rupees provided to a family for celebrating three festivals are not sufficient by any standard. One thousand rupees per festival is just enough for a family of five persons having a single festival meal called ‘masu bhat’ means meat and rice. For example, one kilo of goat meat costs at least Rs 800. For a family of five people, a minimum of one kilo of meat is required, and then rice about a kilo for one festival meal. So, one thousand rupees are just enough for one meal per festival. ‘Masu bhat’ is the festival dish for most of the Nepalis. Thus, a family could have a single meal in one of the three festivals.

For the daily subsistence, the Central Natural Disasters Relief Committee has provided the flood victims with Rs 50 per person per day. Again what you can buy with such a meager allowance. Even a single serving of dumplings called ‘mo-mo’ cost Rs 50. A person cannot survive a day eating a plate of ‘mo-mo.’ A dish called ‘dal bhatt’ cost more than Rs 50. Generally, Nepalis eat ‘dal bhatt’ in the morning and in the evening every day. People not having enough resources to eat two dishes of ‘dal bhatt’ every day are certainly very poor.

Most of the flood victims have lost everything to the floods and landslides. They don’t have houses, food grains, clothing, any cattle and even land to work on for a living. So, the Central Natural Disasters Relief Committee needs to assist the unfortunate flood victims to build their lives from a scratch.

Rightly, the government has considered launching a food-for-work program through the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development for helping the flood victims to build their lives. However, the government of Nepal has not been so smart to launch any program or project at the right place and at the right time. Often the unscrupulous government employees or contractors cheat the common folks, and take benefits from the programs and projects intended for the common folks. So, Prime Minister Sushil Koirala must ensure that the donated money reach the intended people, as he frequently publicly told.

Nepalese and foreign donors have generously put money in the “Prime Minister’s Relief Fund” for mitigating the sufferings of the flood victims. Donors have provided the money not for the prime minister to sit on it but to immediately send it to the flood victims. However, it has not happened. Prime Minister Sushil Koirala has continued to sit on the money. Obviously, he has not been seriously concerned with alleviating the sufferings of the unfortunate victims of the recent floods and landslides.

Prime Minister Koirala should know that the money he has received from the donors for the flood victims should not go to any other purposes other than providing the flood victims. It was not the tax money the government usually spent indiscriminately on anything. It is the money of the donors especially given for the benefits of the flood victims. So, Prime Minister Koirala should not take time to provide the money to the flood victims for their relief from the suffering, and for building their new lives from a scratch.

Dhangadhi, Sept 22: President Dr Ram Baran Yadav accompanied by Minister for Irrigation NP Saud today made an aerial inspection of the flood-affected areas in the Kailali district. The floods in the Karnali River in the third week of August had created havoc in the eastern belt of the Kailali district including the Dhansinghpur, Narayanpur, Patharaiya, Lalbojhi, Durgauli, Janakinagar and Baliya VDCs and Tikapur area.

After the inspection, President Yadav met with flood victims, landless squatters and freed ‘kamaiyas’ sheltered on the Tikapur-based Tikapur Multiple Campus. Chief District Officer of Kailali Bed Prakash Lekhak briefed the President on the devastation caused by the floods and the relief amount, food and other materials provided to the flood victims.

CDO Lekhak also informed President Yadav on other problems of the district. Four people lost lives and eight injured in the floods in the Kailali district. As many as 1,145 houses were completely destroyed and around 2,200 houses partially damaged by the flood.

Flood victims, landless squatters, freed kamaiyas, Tikapur Hospital, Kailali Chamber of Commerce and Industry submitted separate memorandums to the President. Tikapur Campus Chief requested President Yadav for taking initiative to resolve the problem of the land encroachment. The campus has lost around 300 bighas out of 380 bighas to the encroachers. Landless squatters and flood victims and freed kamaiyas encroached the campus land. (“President Yadav inspects flood affected areas in Kailali,” Grkhapatraonline.com, September 22, 2014)

Gulariya (Bardiya), Sept 22, 2014: Have you taken your meal? This was the question President Dr Ram Baran Yadav asked Dharma Raj Giri. He was one of the hundreds of flood-affected people living at a temporary camp at the Shanti Lower Secondary School at Kumra Gaon village.

"No, not for a month," Giri replied to the Head of State at the camp today. President Yadav was meeting the flood victims and taking stock of their situation. Giri had been waiting to see the President since the morning. Giri lost his house and land to the massive flooding caused by the Babai River at the Baniyabhar village in the third week of August. "Whatever can be done will be managed in time," President Yadav said in words of assurance to Giri and other flood-displaced people in the camp. The President also asked the flood victims about the studies of their children and their accommodation facilities.

"Now we are homeless, Sir, and we want shelter," another flood victim Bijaya Kumar Sunar pleaded to the President. He also demanded their resettlement.

The President said that he would issue instructions orally and in writing to the government to do what could be done for the long-term management. The president also said that he would ask the authorities what they have been doing for the permanent settlement of the people displaced by the floods, and the government would work on the long-term alleviation of the sufferings of the flood victims.

The Head of State inspected the flood-hit areas including Gulariya Municipality, Baniyabhar and Bagnaha and met with the families displaced by the floods in the Babi River. The families are now sheltered in the camp at Rampurtapu.

Minister for Irrigation NP Saud accompanying the President to the flood-affected areas said that the government was seriously working on providing relief to the flood victims. He further said that the government and the political parties were working together on resolving the problem of floods that has been of a national scale. The Irrigation Minister said that the local administration had been directed to make the relief distribution effective. He also said that the government was set to work on providing the permanent relief from the floods.

Chief District Officer Tej Prasad Poudel briefed the President and the Minister on the overall situation of the district. He said that floods damaged the property worth Rs 3.766 billion. The CDO added that so far relief assistance equivalent to Rs 87.4 million has been distributed to the flood victims. CDO Poudel said that currently, the resettlement of the flood-displaced people had been the major challenging task in the district. He said that a total of 93,000 people displaced by the flood have been sheltered in the 38 temporary camps. Thirty-three people were killed in the inundation in the Bardiya district. (“Presidential concern at flood victims' plight,” Grkhapatraonline.com, September 22, 2014)

Surkhet, Sept 23, 2014: President Dr Ram Baran Yadav today met with the flood victims sheltering in the Kalagaun camp in the Surkhet district and asked about their conditions of living. During the inspection visit, President Dr Yadav talked to the flood victims and asked them about the food, health and shelter in the camp. The flood victims said that the food supplied by the government ran out on September 20 and they were facing difficulties to make ends meet, and appealed to the President for taking initiatives to make arrangements for supplying food to them in the camp.

The flood victims have lost their property and shelter and have been living in the camp. They urged President Dr Yadav to take initiatives for managing permanent shelter for them. "We have no rice for meal and houses for shelter that we suffer from scorching heat during the day and chilling cold at night. As head of the state, we appeal to you to take initiatives to settle the flood victims' problems," the flood victims in the camp appealed to the President.

Vice-chairman of the flood-displaced victims' committee Lalit Bahadur Shahi put the flood victims' demands and appealed to President, "We want immediate reinstatement, free education and health to the displaced children and ensure job at least to one person from among the displaced families. The flood victims would also feel relief if they were to receive a package of items from the State for celebrating upcoming festivals such as Dashain and Tihar.

In response, President Dr Yadav urged the flood victims to have patient in this hour of difficulties. He assured them of taking their demands to the government, political parties, and other bodies concerned and thereby settle the problem.

President Dr Yadav also visited the child-friendly Safe Zone managed for the children inside the camp area and acquired information on education, health, and nutrition provided to them.

Meanwhile, Minister for Irrigation, Narayan Prasad (NP) Saud said the government has been working seriously on the permanent settlement of the flood-displaced people and assured them of the government providing some support for celebrating the upcoming festivals such as Dashain, Tihar, and Chhath. (“President Dr Yadav meets with flood victims in Surkhet”, Gorkhapatraonline.com, September 24, 2014)

Kathmandu Sept 28, 2014: A meeting of the Central Natural Disasters Relief Committee presided over by acting Prime Minister Bamdev Gautam on Saturday (yesterday) took a decision to release Rs 3,000 in cash to each family of the recent floods and landslides victims as expenses for celebrating Dashain, Tihar and Chhath festivals.

"A total of 34,478 flood-affected families will get Rs 3,000 each in cash through the District Natural Disasters Relief Committee at the earliest in view of festivals," Under Secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs Jhanka Dhakal told Republica following the meeting.

The MOHA is releasing Rs 103.4 million in cash to the flood-hit districts as early as possible. The government had earlier decided to provide only Rs 500 per family to the flood victims for the same purpose. Following the criticism from various quarters, the government increased the amount to Rs 3,000 per family.

The committee also increased Rs 35 to Rs 50 for food for each flood victim a day for the next 30 days. The total number of flood and landslides victims in the four districts such as Banke, Bardiya, Surkhet and Dang has reached 173,438.

The Central Natural Disasters Relief Committee also decided to launch the food-for-work program in the flood-hit districts. The Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development will conduct the food-for-work program. "Under this program, people will receive certain amount as wages on a daily basis and restore damaged houses and other infrastructures themselves at the local level," Under Secretary Dhakal said.

Similarly, the Ministry of Health will hold health camps and Ministry of Education will work to restore damaged school buildings in the flood-hit districts.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has released Rs 320 million to the flood-hit districts so far. It had received over Rs 320 million from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund, according to Dhakal. (“Govt Increases Financial Support To Flood-hit People For Festive Season,” Myrepublica.com)

Dang, Sept 28, 2014: This year, Dashain brings no joy to Dev Bahadur Wali of Bakhariya village in Fhulbari VDC-6. Wali lost his house and belongings to the recent floods in the district. Wali is left with almost nothing let alone money to celebrate the festival. “Only a month ago, flood took away everything I owned. Dashain has brought us no joy. In fact, it has made us feel worse,” said Wali. However, Wali is still hopeful that someone would lend him some money to celebrate the festival. “Despite everything, I will work harder so that I can buy food and clothes for my family,” said Wali.

Not only Dashain for the family had been hard to celebrate but also the women’s only festival called Teej for Wali’s wife had also become impossible to celebrate. Talking to Republica, she lamented over her plight. She says she has no money to buy her children new clothes this Dashain. “We are completely helpless, the flood has left us with nothing but bad memories,” said Wali.

Similar is the plight of Tulasi Dangi, another victim at the Fhulbari VDC. After the flooding, Tulasi and her four children have been taking shelter at a makeshift hut. Their only concern has been for managing two square meals a day in this Dashain.

Only a few days ago, the government had provided Rs 800 to each flood-victim. But considering their plight, the amount was insignificant. “What am I to do with this meager sum when Dashain has already begun? It will not even buy clothes for my children,” said Dangi. (“No Dashain For Dang Flood Victims.” Myrepublica.com)

October 8, 2014