- Hundreds were washed away in the Nepal flash flood 10 days ago
- Survivors live in tents, receiving government food rations amid health risks
- Relief cards issued to affected people for free food and necessities
It took just hours for hundreds to be washed away in the Nepal flash flood 10 days ago, but the survivors too have been upended altogether, reducing their homes to rubble and their lives to mere sustenance. And the food that's supposed to keep them alive carries its own dangers.
Living in rescue tents and shelters for the displaced, they are forced to line up and collect rations. All this while, as rivers and the rubble still carry bodies, they are living in fear of infection and disease.
When NDTV reached a flood-hit region of the Himalayan country, a school was operating as a shelter. Some stay arrangements were in place. Rations brought from different places were kept under a shed.
One room was a makeshift office, where 'relief cards' were being made. The card is given to those affected by the flood who register with their names and addresses. For the next few months, they will get free food and other necessities from the Nepal government. Items available included rice, lentils, blankets, some bread, and some snacks, plus water bottles. These were being distributed from a truck as well.
The government has issued an advisory that in the affected areas, people must take special care of the food items, as there are bodies, flies, and insects in the pile of rubble.
"It is destroyed," responded one of the male inmates of the relief camp, when asked about his home. "I got rice, food, clothes here," said another man. "But my house was just swept away." He then wondered aloud, "How will I make a house? I don't have the means to make a house. I worked and ate one day at a time. I am a labourer."
He said he was hoping the government would help with that. "I don't have any household items. I don't have a place to sleep either... I am staying at the hospital."
Asked when he hoped for things to get better, he said, "I haven't thought about it. I need to work every day."
"I had some money, food, corn, grains, cows. I lost everything," he added.
A man taking some ration packets from the relief camp told NDTV he had a wood business in the Devighat bazaar. "I lost half of my house."
A Class-4 child spoke about her school, which now serves as a shelter. "My school is still there. But we cannot study there now," the boy said. A girl ran in from a distance. "We are playing," the boy said.
As of September 4, more than 1,200 people are confirmed dead, while over 5,000 remain missing.
