People displaced by the landslide that hit Jure in Sindhupalchowk district, and the subsequent damming of the Sunkoshi River by the debris, complain that they have not received proper assistance from the government.
Three days post the disastrous landslide, the state’s failure to manage aid has exasperated the situation for the locals, they say.
The landslide buried about 40 houses and survivors feel left on their own, Kapil Dhital, a local, says.
The government has failed to provide them with basic assistance like food, clothes and a place to stay, he says. They are living in building of schools and other public places around the 200-meter-above-the-water-line limit set by the authorities.
However, Yadav Koirala, chief of the Home Ministry’s Natural Disaster Management Division, rebuffs these reports. He says that the ministry has already sent tents and food, and arranged for placed for the displaced to stay through the security forces.
“Right now, search and rescue operations and opening up the naturally dammed lake in a controllable manner are the authorities’ main priorities.”
Until the time of this report, an aid package was yet to be announced at the ministry level.
Warning about the dangers of spread of infectious diseases, local Constituent Assembly (CA) representative Mohan Bahadur Basnet expressed displeasure about the delay in aid and failure to start the process of establishing health camps.
“At a time like this, the state is just concentrating on the Modi [Indian Prime Minister] visit,” he says, calling for the government to shift focus to aid and rescue.
As of Monday, 27 bodies have been recovered from Jure while preliminary estimates put the number of missing at more than 150.
Meanwhile, people living near the banks of the river and in vulnerable areas have sought refuge at homes of friends and relatives who live on higher places.