Eldery man loses 15 relatives to Sindhupalchok landslide

KAVRE, AUG 08 - When Ram Chandra Neupane, 66, of Thokarpa in Sindhupalchok came to know about the landslide in Jure on Saturday morning, he headed straight to the incident. “I prayed all along the way wishing to see all of my sister’s family members,” he said, while preparing for the last rites of his relatives at Pashupati Aryaghat on Thursday, “But I returned halfway as I soon found out that I lost 15 of my relatives in the disaster.”

As an older man among those who gathered there, Neupane was consoling other while making a failed attempt to keep tears rolling down his cheeks. Barely able to speak, he was telling others to accept fate as what happened cannot be undone.

The bereaved relatives had decided to perform the final rites of the dead en masse by using effigies made out of Kush, a holy grass, after it seemed certain that the bodies could not be recovered. “I am tired of comforting others as the burden is too much to bear for myself and I cannot see and listen to the cries,” he said.

The bereaved families of people who went missing in the landslide have started performing the final rites after the local administration declared 123 missing as dead. The administration came to the conclusion after taking into consideration the nature of the disaster and realising the slim chances of finding the bodies. Even the families of the missing were demanding such decision as they lost hope of finding the bodies.

Though only 33 bodies have been found so far, the declaration has spiked the death toll to 156. The massive landslide, one of the worst natural disasters to hit the nation in recent years, displaced approximately 436 people, according to the preliminary report of the District Administration Office in Sindhupalchowk.

Meanwhile, the bereaved and the displaced have vented their ire at the government for the delay in the distribution of relief materials. However, claiming that they distributing relief materials swiftly, District Police Office chief DSP Bharat Bohora said they distributed relief materials to 97 households and would try to provide them to the remaining at the earliest.