|
The worst of the rains not yet over
By Saguni Devi B.K.
(As
told to Gopal Dahal, Project Manager, LWF Nepal, on
18 August 2007. He visited some villages of Kailali,
a far western district of Nepal. Saguni Devi is among
350 families who received ACT/LWF Nepal food assistance
recently.)
BHAJANI,
KAILALI: I have not seen such an intensity of flood
in the past two decades or so. My husband died many
years ago. I am 45 years old and live with my six-year-old
niece. I have no other family members. I am a resident
of Kusum Dhar.
A widow, Saguni Devi
B.K. is one of those displaced by flood.
She says the recent spate of floods is the worst in
two decades.
She belongs to the Dalit community.
©LWF/DWS Nepal/Gopal Dahal
The
rainy season is not yet over in our region. The recent
downpour is only a beginning. More rain will come.
This means more pain and hardship for us.
The
overflowing Kanara, Mohana, Kadha and Pathraiya Rivers
started inundating our village. As the water level
rose and reached our shoulders at around 11 pm, we
left the house for a nearby higher land to spend the
night. The next day we took the boat to take shelter
at Bhajani School. We have been living in Bhajani
since then.
Except
for some food grain, clothes and utensils, which were
fortunately stored in a slightly higher place, everything
was swept away. We have 18 households in our village.
The flood washed away our livestock such as hens and
lambs. The animals that survived the floods have now
fallen sick because of cold. Sand has buried paddy
cultivation, which was completed recently. Some of
the villagers’ lands have also vanished under
the water. The only public tap used by 18 houses has
also perished. Four of the houses have collapsed;
the condition of the remaining ones is unpredictable.
They will come down any time.
I
have also suffered losses. My paddy field sprawling
over 0.84 acres is under the sand. My hope for paddy
harvest has all gone down the drain. I will have to
wait for months for winter cultivation. The situation
is likely to impel me to consume seeds preserved for
winter cultivation. For livelihood, I see no other
option but to go to India and sell my labour. Here,
one gets NRs 80 [1$=Rs66] for a day’s labour.
That is meager. How can one stay alive on such income?
(LWF
Nepal Feature Service)
|
