Relief work continuing at snail’s pace
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KATHMANDU, SEP 22 -
Relief distribution to Sunday’s earthquake victims in the eastern hilly districts is going on at a snail’s pace.
In many districts, officials are yet to assess the damage caused by the tremor, while many families rendered homeless by the quake are left in the lurch.
In Taplejung—where the earthquake caused extensive damage—the task of relief distribution and damage assessment started on Wednesday, beginning from Dokhu and Thechambu VDCs.
In the first phase of the relief distribution, the District Administration Office (DAO) and Nepal Red Cross are providing Rs 5,000 along with tarp, blankets and utensils to families whose houses were destroyed in the earthquake.
The initial assessment of the DAO shows that the temblor destroyed 136 houses in Taplejung. The figure could be much more as officials are yet to tour all VDCs in the district, Chief District Officer Devraj Dhakal said. It is learnt that almost every house in the district has been damaged in the quake.
Relief distribution has progressed in Panchthar, four days after the earthquake ravaged scores of houses in the district. The District Natural Disaster Relief
and Rescue Committee has mobilised its personnel in all the 41 VDCs of the district. However, they are yet to begin relief distribution. Only a few families in the district headquarters have received the relief so far.
Acting Chief District Officer Laxmi Kharel said they do not have enough funds to provide relief materials to all the victims. He said each team will be able to provide relief materials to only five families in one VDC. A Nepal Red Cross official said they can provide for only 116 families in the district. “There are more than 400 families in need of relief materials in one VDC alone,” he said.
In Ilam, the earthquake displaced around 1,000 families. Many families are from rural areas of the district and they are yet to receive relief materials. Meanwhile, the families rendered homeless by the quake have complained that the monetary assistance provided by the administration is not enough.
(Report contributed by Labadev Dhungana, Anand Gautam and Biplav Bhattarai)
Posted on: 2011-09-22 09:06
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