Earthquake victims who have been living in shelters in Nuwakot district of Nepal for more than past seven months are facing a hard time with the onset of winter.

Temperatures have continuously dipped in the past two weeks. Victims are falling sick as bone-chilling winds whip through their shaky structures in the night and thick fog obstructs the sunlight till late in the morning.

Victim Sanukanchi Tamang of Lachyang, who is living in a temporary camp for earthquake victims in Simutar, said they are facing lot of difficulties. “We are forced to spend sleepless nights, as it gets extremely cold after the sunset,” she said.

Children and the elderly have been affected the most, with many of them falling sick. Dilman Tamang of Salme said around 150 children and senior citizens in the camp are suffering from common cold, asthma and pneumonia. After local forest committees barred the earthquake victims from collect firewood, they are unable to make bonfires in the night to keep themselves warm.

Victim Rita Uprety of Kharanitar, who has been living in a house built by the Chaudhary Group (CG), claimed that though they have “houses to live in”, they are not properly protected from the cold “as they houses have not been built properly”. Seven families are living in houses constructed by the group. Around 8,000 quake victims are still awaiting government relief amount to buy galvanised zinc sheets.

NO MONEY TO BUY WARM CLOTHES

In Dolakha, earthquake victims in the district are waiting for 10,000 rupees (US$94) that the government has promised for buying warm clothes this winter. There are around 85,000 quake-affected households in Dolakha district. Local Development Officer Seeta Pariyar said they will distribute the money to the victims of northern hit areas in the first phase.

Copyright: The Kathmandu Post/ Asian News Network