Some of the earthquake relief materials have gone missing from the warehouse of the District Disaster Management Committee in Gorkha district.

A DDMC officer said most of the pressure cookers and other articles that were meant for distribution to the earthquake victims are missing.

The local administration had  given Nepal Police the responsibility of guarding the warehouse.

A DDMC source claimed that police personnel guarding the warehouse and the warehouse in charge, Ramchandra Hadkhale, are involved behind the disappearance of relief materials.

 He said that some police personnel traded the relief materials for liquor and chickens and organised a party that was also attended by Chief District Officer Uddhav Timalsena.

The warehouse in charge, Hadkhale, was appointed by Timalsena. Hadkhale was working at Byas Municipality in Tanahun before he coming to Gorkha.

The source claimed that after the April 25 earthquake, Hadkhale has committed numerous irregularities in relief distribution.

After the relief materials started to vanish, the DDMC shifted the warehouse inside the Nepal Army (NA) barrack. But the NA personnel, too, are said to be stealing the relief materials.

One DDMC officer said several items, including tents, blankets, pressure cookers and rice, were stolen by police and Nepal Army personnel. Many of them distributed the stolen goods to their relatives, he said.

The local political leaders representing the parties like Nepali Congress, UCPN (Maoist), Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal have also misused the relief materials by distributing them to those who were not affected by the earthquake, the DDMC officer said.

The DDMC has no data on relief materials stored in its warehouse.

Meanwhile, Hadekhola claimed that all relief materials are intact and the ones that were distributed reached to the genuine victims.

The data at the DDMC, however, tells a different story. More relief has reached the people of Chhoprak VDC, one the villages least affected by the earthquake, than the villages that were completely flattened.

According to some DDMC officers, they had to distribute more relief materials in places like Chhoprak because of political pressure.

CDO Timalsena and Timalsena, both refused to acknowledge that the relief materials have gone missing from the warehouse.

CDO, govt agencies keep electric generators

An electric generator worth Rs 1 million which was meant for the earthquake victims is being used to power the quarter of CDO Timalsena. Besides Timalsena, Nepal Army, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and some government offices in Gorkha are also using the electric generators originally meant to address the power woes of the earthquake victims in the district. Tents donated by the Chinese government are also being used by government offices and security agencies in Gorkha. Meanwhile, the earthquake victims are living under tarpaulin shelters without light.

WFP destroys rotten food items

GORKHA: The World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday disposed 6.7 metric tonnes of damaged food stuffs which were stored in the warehouse at Deurali VDC-5 in Gorkha district.

The food stuffs, including rice, pulses and biscuits, which have started rotting were buried in a pit using an excavator.

The rotten food items were brought from WFP’s Bharatpur godown to Gorkha for destruction due to lack of proper disposal area in Bharatpur, according to programme’s Information Officer Ramjee Dahal. “The stored food stuffs meant for quake victims have been soaked by rain. They started to rot and declared inedible,” said Dahal.

Assistant CDO Dipendra Paudel said the food stuffs have been destroyed in the presence of District Administration Office representatives. The WFP has been distributing the relief materials for quake affected people in Gorkha, Dhading, Lamjung and Manang districts. Meanwhile, CDO Binod Prakash Singh of Chitwan district said they had no information about the incident.

Earthquake survivors receiving aid: Govt

KATHMANDU: The government has said that 90 percent of earthquake victims will receive winter relief packages within a week.

Rabi Shah, Deputy Director General of the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction, said that the government has been distributing Rs10,000 each to earthquake-affected households as part of its winter relief package.

According to Shah, a total of 45,765 households have already been provided with relief amount and winter kits while additional 52,921 households are in the process of getting the package. The government is yet to provide relief to 109,932 households. The government has spent Rs1.61 billion for the programme so far.