Relief materials 'too little too late', lament Barpak quake victims
Barpak (Gorakha),
May 8, Barpark, a small village situated in the northern part of Gorkha
district, was the epicentre of the Nepal's second biggest earthquake on record,
the April 25 quake.
Undoubtedly, as
an epicentre, the Barpark VDC was hardest hit. Namely, the VDC Ward Number 4,
5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. Of total 1,272 houses
in this village, 1,069 were reduced to rubble by the 7.6-magnitude quake.
The notorious
quake has already claimed the life of 72 persons, mainly children and the
elderly, in the locality while 130 have sustained injuries. Two persons who
lost their life after being covered by the landslide following the quake are
still left to be (dug out).
The quake-hit
Barpak dwellers, who are still struggling to pick up the pieces in the
aftermath of the quake, are relentlessly waiting for the adequate relief
materials.
Although, this
quake-ravaged village is reported to have seen the presence of many government
and non-government agencies for the distribution of the relief materials,
locals consider it as 'too little too late'.
Let us take a
stock of what the locals here have to say. Bhagyaman Ghale, from Torongtol in
Barpak-8 is one of the lucky survivors to his name 'Bhagyaman' (lucky).
Every morning he
sets out for Baluwa Bazar in Simjung VDC with traditional bamboo and reed baskets (thunse and doko)
with high hopes of bringing home some aid. But returns back with despair (empty-handed).
Actually, he does not have a house anymore as his house was also battered by
the quake.
"With every
sound of the helicopter punctuating the air in Gorkha, I become hopeful that I
can avail relief materials adequately," shared Ghale who says that he has
only received two kilogramme of rice flakes so far.
He vented out his
angst against the promises made by the political leaders for distributing
relief materials. According to him, the real victims of the quake have not
received a single help although those with access to power corridors have got
relief materials twice, sometimes even thrice.
Echoing with
Ghale, Dil Bahadur Ghale from Barpak-7 shared that he had not received any
relief materials yet although the helicopters keep coming to Gorkha. "We
have been surviving eating wheat, maize, millet and other left over crops
extracting mud mixed in it," informed this elderly.
Locals here argue
that they are in dire need of food items - better it is if it were high in
nutritional value - than shelter. Take for instance, a mother figure Dhan
Kumari Ghale from Goche-3 in Barpark. Her immediate need is (nutritious) food
for her children.
"My constant
worry is how to feed my children a good two square meals at such times as the
biscuit and the rice flakes received as relief materials are not enough to kill
their hunger," grieved Ghale.
Similarly,
another local Prakash Gurung from Damaitol in Barpak-7 cast a gloomy tone,
"What a cruelty of time! Now, neither do I have kin, nor property. On top
of this, there's another pain of not receiving any materials at such
times."
Krishna Bahadur
Gurung of Barpak-8 stated that the relief materials running short in supply in
Barpark was due to the incident of looting on the way. He informed that the
relief materials sent to Barpak are looted on the way.
Since the roads
in Simjung VDC were blocked due to the landslide, locals here travel through a
difficult terrain to reach Barpak VDC, 50 kilometres to the north from Gorkha
Bazar, in hope of getting some aid.
The quake, apart
from damages to the person and physical infrastructures, has also caused damage
to the local resources. Two local rivers have also dried up, according to the
locals who opine that it will take some 50 years to bring Barpak back to its
earlier shape.
Not only Barpak,
the quake-hit persons residing in its adjacent VDCs as Simjung, Saurpani and
Lapark are also awaiting relief materials.