The ration provided by the WFP at the request of the government was distributed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to 12,985 people from 2,443 households displaced by the flood and landslide in Surkhet.

“Although government agencies had been helping us make it through the transition earlier, no one has shown any concern now even though we are living on empty stomachs,” lamented Jwala Kulal, living in the camps for flood victims with her family. Likewise, Prem Kumari BK, another flood displaced, complained that none of the concerned authorities have come to their aid even though a week has passed since they had had to go on a hungry stomach. Kulal said that they have informed about the situation to the nearby Area Police Office on Sunday.

Furthermore, shortage of food is not the only problem troubling the displaced. Kulal said that they had to reach the Beureni river or the water sprout at the nearest village for water. And as they had to face all kinds of mistreatment and discrimination in the village while requesting for water, Kulal appealed that the government supply drinking water at the camp itself.

Meanwhile, the displaced at Subbakuna camp are not the only ones troubled by the problem. All of the flood displaced living in 24 camps around the district face similar problems. However, ICRC’s Surkhet branch chief Govinda Prasad Acharya said that they have no plans to carry out food distribution in the camps immediately. 

CDO Yagya Raj Bohora informed that they were in discussions with the WFP to initiate the programme that involves providing food to the displaced in return for work. Bohora said that they intend to implement the programme instead of distributing food for free. Likewise, 4,687 people from 1,505 displaced households living in the camps said that they were ready to seek a solution to their problems themselves if the government managed to relocate them to another place at the earliest.