Bishnu, 40, earned a living by extracting stones and sand from the river in Kharapani and was swept away by the flood Saturday while working on the river banks. With no word of him in the past two days and little hope of him being alive, Shanti, 38, is now left alone to fend for her three children-two sons aged 12, and 10 and a six-year-old daughter. [break]
The government had announced Rs 100,000 for the victim´s family and additional Rs 25,000 for cremation expenses and free treatment for the injured but the families of missing persons have yet to receive any help. Bishnu´s family is now struggling for two square meals at this hour of grief.
Shanti was working on the field when she saw a massive flood in the river following thunderous sound and ran toward the riverside where her husband was working. She saw the raging Seti sweeping everything including the trucks, tractor, labors working riverside and the whole Kharapani Bazar. She found her eldest son Santosh floored by the flood while looking for her husband. Santosh is currently recuperating at Manipal Medical College Hospital in Pokhara.
Bishnu had come to Kharapani at the bank of Seti a few years ago in search of work from Chhimkeshwar, Tanahu. They were staying at the house of one Deepak Gurung who had migrated to Pokhara. Shanti would sometimes help her husband in his work and worked in the kitchen garden of husband´s employer at other times. She does not see how she can raise her kids in absence of her husband. “We will struggle even for survival after losing the sole breadwinner,” she rued.
The family of Kabindra Limbu, who had migrated from Jhapa a year ago, is also devastated like those of many labors swept away by Seti. “Father brought us here from Jhapa in search of work. Now he has left us in distress,” elder son Lok Bahadur, who along with his wife Kaushila also worked at the riverside, said with misty eyes. Lok Bahadur can not see how he can alone fend for his recently born daughter, post natal wife and five-year-old orphan brother Indra. His troubles have been alleviated a bit by SOS Children´s Home offer to take Indra.
Rama Bhujel of Bhurjing Khola is also searching for her missing husband Min Bahadur, 45, while Kumai BK is looking for her 16-year-old son Anil. “He used to sieve sand at the side of Seti river. He has lost his life while earning his daily bread,” Kumari said with tears running down her cheek.
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