Dolakha Diary

On the third day of the powerful quake of May 12 that shattered beautiful Nepal, the situation of Charikot, district headquarters of Dolakha, some 130 kilometers away from the capital was totally depressing and barren.

The small city with tall and bright colored buildings had already turned into rubbles with the terrifying faces of locals, who have been witnessing the aftershocks for several times in a single day.

Exactly at a time when the Prime Minister and Home Minister along with other few leaders had reached the small city, the locals with tears on their eyes were preparing to participate in a funeral procession of 19 years old Anjila Poudel.

She was buried under the rubbles of five-storey Paradise hotel, located in the centre of the city while trying to escape the powerful disaster.

While the whole city was mourning, 39 years old Mingma Sherpa, the owner of Paradise hotel was weeping just behind the debris of her sweet-home, which is no more a home now.

"I and my husband worked very hard for years and constructed this hotel three and half years back with the life-long earning. And in front of our eyes, it has turned to rubbles now. My family members are safe but everything has been finished along with the quake", Sherpa with a heavy voice and tear son her eyes shared.

Though Mingma's three kids and husband are safe, five dead bodies of pedestrians were recovered from the debris of her hotel by a team of Nepal Army and Mexican search and rescue team, three on the first day and two on third day.

Her hotel was constructed in Nepalese Rupees10 million. Millionaire Mingma's family has nothing with them today, except cloths they are wearing at present.

Two buildings away and in just opposite of Paradise Hotel, Raju Rimal, owner of Laxmi Hotel was briefing his friends about the loss in his business due to the powerful quake.

Rimal, whose hotel has bent towards the road with a hint of falling down anytime, said, "Until Tuesday, everything was fine and I was happy with my family but now, it feels like every dream has been scattered."

Like Sherpa and Rimal, other hotel entrepreneurs also remain clueless about returning to normalcy, resuming the business or planning about their future.

There are more than 30 hotels in the area, among which not a single one is in out-of-risk or livable state.

People in Charikot stay on streets and open spaces all the time with a terror that the remaining houses will be collapsed too as unfortunately, the epicenter of all the aftershocks followed by fresh quake has been Dolakha.

As even the government offices, school and hospitals have been destructed; a camp hospital is in operation in the center of the city with limited medicines and two health assistants with a single Doctor.

Some 20 meters away from the main street, hundreds of tents and sacks of rice have been stored in the ground of Army barrack. The helicopters, mostly the private ones keep hovering above the sky, continuously.

While taking off, the choppers are full of sacks whereas while landing, some survivors in need of immediate medical assistance are taken out in stretchers by Army personnel. Tragedy is that even the seriously injured survivors need to wait for their turns to see doctors and be alive.

"We have been continuously using choppers for relief distribution program in rural VDCs, which have no access to road transportation, as roads have been obstructed by landslide", Major of Nepal Army Rajan Dahal informed.

Road transportation has been cut off in around 18 to 19 VDCs in the district including in Bigu, Alampur, Lamo Bagar, Hawa and Singati. Almost all the houses in the area have been damaged by the quake.

In such situation, the victims of those rural VDCs have no option rather than to wait for the helicopters for 1.5 kilograms of rice, a packet of biscuit and tents, if possible.

In just 4 kilometers away from Charikot, locals of Dolakha Bhimsen temple area shared in a common voice, "Some of the powerful of society have stock of few tents inside their closed shutters, but we are living under open sky with no food".

Local accept that there has been a distribution of relief supplies but only to ten of hundred percent victims.

A 76 years local man even followed us till our vehicle joining hands together symboling 'Namaste' with an expectation in eyes that if we could provide him a 15' *12' tent so that he could sleep well in night with his grand children.

Though the food and logistic assistance to Nepal from donors is increasing every day, the victims of the district are yet reeling under food and shelter crisis.

Dolakha exemplifies the real challenges and lacking in the rescue and relief operation of the government.

20 days have been crossed since the first quake jolted Nepal killing more than 8000 people and displacing hundreds of thousands of families, but the victims in many other worst-hit areas of 14 highly affected districts are waiting for the touch of state as similar as in Dolakha.

Minister for Home Affairs Bam Dev Gautam, who was in inspection of the district told on the spot, "Within such limited resources, we have done our best for relief programs.  Even the foreign teams could not have done it perfectly."