Most of the drought-affected families in Kolti region of Bajura district are struggling to manage food as the Dashain festival approaches near.

Families in Kolti, Sappata, Jukot, Wai, Badhu Rugin, Gotri and Jagannath VDCs in the region have suffered the most by the last year’s drought.

Bir Bahadur Kathayat of Wai VDC said many families in his village have no idea how to manage food for during Dashain.

“We do not have sufficient grains to eat, nor do we have enough money to purchase food. We hope that the Nepal Food Corporation depot will distribute rice for Dashain,” he said.

Farmers depend on rain to grow crops in the Kolti region. The drought of last year has left hundreds of hectares of farmland barren.

According to the District Agriculture Development Office, 11 VDCs in Bajura have been hit by the drought. There is 20,155 hectares of arable land in the district.

Senior District Agriculture Development Officer Ram Krishna Shrestha said the annual food demand in the district has been going up by 11,000 metric tonnes.  

Prem Bahadur Lohar, a villager from Jukot VDC, said there is no sufficient stock

of rice at NFC’s depot in Kolti VDC.

“I was able to buy only got 20 kg rice from the depot for my family of 15,” said  

Ramesh Singh, the chief of NFC’s Kolti depot, said there is only 1,000 quintals of rice in the warehouse.

Transportation of rice has been disrupted because of road obstructions due to rain, he said.

“We have been urging the contractors to transport rice before Dashain,” said Singh.