Flood displaced families of Baniyabhar, Rampurtappu and Bansgadhi in Bardiya will be observing Dashain in temporary shelters for the third consecutive years

One hundred and sixty-two families in these three villages are still living under tarpaulin sheds with no place to call home ever since they were displaced by the Babai river flood on 15 August 2014.

They say the government has ignored their plight and made no effort whatsoever to resettle them.

“The mood in the camp goes particularly low when Dashain arrives. Celebration is not what you thinks of when you are struggling to survive one day at a time. I have not been able to buy my children new clothes for Dashain since the flood,” said Govinda Khatri of Rampurtappu.

Ganga Bhandari, also from Rampurtappu, has the same glum feelings towards Dashain as Khatri and other people living in the camp for flood displaced.

“My family is sad because Dashain is not happening for us as we would have liked. All of us living here feel neglected by the government,” Bhandari said.

The government had last year allocated Rs 1.5 million for resettling the flood displaced families.

However, the district administration could not distribute the money because it was insufficient to cover all the displaced families.

According to the instruction passed down by the government, the district administration was supposed to offer Rs 125,000 each to the flood displaced households. The budget froze because the district administration decided not to distribute it to only 12 families.

A similar plight rankles the flood displaced families of Girighat, Taranga, Tikhakuna, Masina and Birendranagar of Surkhet district.

More than 150 families, who are living in temporary shelters for the past two years, are not excited about  Dashain.