Babai flood in Dang district, that were rendered homeless last monsoon are now forced to spend sleepless nights in their tattered tents as cold grows every day. Or barter labor for getting warm place to sleep.

 

With the cold wave sweeping the country, the displaced flood victims, who were already living in miserable conditions, have been further troubled. One of the flood victims, Pirami Oli of Daruwa village, wants to go to a warm place but she does not have any where to go. 

 

The government had provided Rs 25,000 to the flood victims and had promised an additional Rs 50,000 for constructing their home. But its assurance is yet to come into action.

 

In her desperation, Pirami resorted to a house owner for shelter. She got two rooms for sheltering her seven-member family, but she did not have the funds to pay the rent. The owner proposed her that she could do all the household works as the rental fee for the rooms. She accepted the house owner's proposal. 

 

“Instead of sheltering in tents in chilly winter, we agreed to do all household works for the warm shelter inside rooms,” she said.   

 

According to Pirami, her husband has to plough the land of the house owner while she is doing household chores. 

 

Another flood victim, Yamkali Thapa, also shares the similar plight. As the payment for the room rents, her husband has to help the house owner in his farms and she has to do their household chores. 

 

Like Pirami and Yam Kali, such stories of homeless flood victims are common in the flood-hit areas of Dang district. During the Babai flood last year, many victims have been living in their makeshift homes as they have lost their lands and were rendered homeless. The winter mist makes them wet inside their temporary shelters throughout nights.  Children, pregnant women, elderly and disabled are among the hardest hit as temperature continues to go down.