Floods triggered by incessant rainfall washed away the house of Mahendra Mahara, 71, of Ram Nagar Rural Municipality-7 of Sarlahi district.

After he did not find any shelter to hide his head, Mahara is currently living under a tent.

He cannot sleep properly in the tent due to insecurity.

The torrential rainfall and the flooded Bagmati River had wrecked havoc in Ram Nagar Rural Municipality-6 and 7, rendering many people homeless.

More than 550 houses were inundated and 80 houses were completely destroyed. Mahara’s house was one of them.

Mahara’s case is just a tip of the iceberg, there are many people were forced to live under the tents. Some are taking shelter at their neighbours’ houses.

“We are facing difficulties to survive,” local Harendra Raut bemoaned, adding, “We have not eaten properly for the past 15 days.”

With the third phase of local level elections approaching nearer, women are gearing up for the polls in the village.

Leaders and cadres of various political parties have started to throng the flood-affected areas by fluttering the party flags.

“Floods snatched both my house and food,” Mahara said in a choking voice, adding “Leaders do not care about our problems. They come in the village just to canvass votes for the upcoming elections.”

A chopper from Nepal Army has been dropping food supplies for the flood-affected people in the Sisaut village along the East-West Highway in the district, which is just three hours ride from the district headquarters.

“We are surviving our life by eating same rice and beaten rice,” Raut lamented.

“We are facing eating and living problems after the house collapsed due to inundation,” Bishnu Bahara, 86, said. “We are surviving our life eating only one meal a day,” he added.

According to the District Administration Office, 13 people lost their lives in floods and landslides, two are still missing.

Relief distribution biased

Meanwhile, Flood victims of Bhlohiya of Bhagwati Rural Municipality-1 of Rautahat district staged a demonstration outside the District Administration Office on Sunday accusing discrimination while distributing relief materials.

Locals vented their ire against the DAO arguing that the relief materials were not distributed to the genuine flood victims.They also obstructed the road.

A team led by local Arun Sah demanded immediate distribution of relief materials to the flood victims.

He said that the DAO officials have been distributing relief materials only to their closed ones. “There are irregularities in relief distribution,” he said.

Sah demanded immediate investigation in the incident and action against the guilty.

They withdrew the protest programmes after the Chief District Officer Uddhav Bahadur Thapa assured them to provide relief materials at the earliest.