Flood-cut villages in northern Gorkha run short of salt and cooking oil, officials say
Settlements in northern Gorkha cut off by the Asoj 25 (October 11) flood have run short of salt and cooking oil, local officials said in reports carried on Tuesday by The Kathmandu Post and Kantipur. Laxman Gurung, chair of Dharche Rural Municipality, and Narayan Sapkota, Chumnubri's chief administrative officer, said supplies can't be brought in at the quantity needed because the road is blocked.
The flood cut off three wards across the two rural municipalities. The Larke road between Khorlabesi and Salleri is damaged at more than a dozen points, and mules can't get through either. So relief comes mostly by helicopter. Ram Kumar Gurung, who chairs Chumnubri ward 3, said what it brings lasts a family whose house was swept away two to four days. More than 30 households in his ward have lost their homes, according to residents.
Assistant chief district officer Netra Prasad Sharma said enough relief had been sent, the Post reported.
In Kathmandu, 111 households from Timure, in ward 2 of Gosainkunda Rural Municipality, have spent nearly two months at Mustang Gumba in Swayambhu since the August 26 Bhotekoshi flood. Their former ward chair, Dawa Dorje Lama, told the Post the families have had no state assistance. Some still owe instalments on houses they built before the flood.
Why it matters: The government approved six months of monthly cash support for displaced families in Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading who arrange their own housing, The Kathmandu Post reported on September 30. No report says whether the Timure families qualify, or how many Gorkha households are cut off in all.