As a result, local people are compelled to spend a hefty amount in managing daily essentials like rice, lentils and salt.

People in the districts are dependent on foodstuffs distributed by the government as farmland in the region is not fertile as local businessmen do not trade in food items.

According to NFC office in Humla, the government has allocated 11,500 quintals of foodstuffs for the district in the current fiscal year and provided Rs 150 million to supply them. However, the food shortage has reached an all time high due to delays in transportation by the NFC even though the fiscal year is drawing to a close.

The NFC supplies the allocated foodstuffs in quotas instead of sending them in bulk. According to NFC chief Bhim Bahadur Thapa, they had to request for more foodstuffs in the past years and this year too they were yet to fly 2,200 quintals of rice to the districts.

Local residents usually face food shortage in the pre-monsoon season as they use up their winter harvest and new crops would not yet be cultivated.

In the previous years, the World Food Programme (WFP) had been distributing food to people in the region through various programmes. However, the problem has aggravated as the WFP has limited its programme this year. Meanwhile, Thapa said they have not even been able to provide enough foodstuffs to even for the ailing people at the district headquarters. “During regular sales, we used to distribute about 1,500 quintals of rice a month. However, in the wake of the crisis, we just provide 5 kilograms of rice to the sick these days,” he said, adding that more 50 people visit the depot but are compelled to return empty-handed.

NFC officials said their other services, including final rites allowances, transportation costs and foodstuffs to civil servants, police and villagers, have been affected due to the crisis.

Sources said allocated quota for Humla this year was comparatively lower than that of Mugu and Jumla districts which are connected to road.

Meanwhile, local people in southern VDCs of the district are compelled to use mules to supply foodstuffs from Gamgadhi in Mugu where foodstuffs are sold at cheaper rates.