Dashain of Grief in Nuwakot Flood Camps, Where 344 Families Count 315 Dead or Missing

About 2,000 people spent Vijaya Dashami, October 21, in four displacement camps in Bidur Municipality-5, Nuwakot district, almost two months after the Bhotekoshi flood tore through their villages, OnlineKhabar reported. Dashain, Nepal's biggest festival, is when family elders bless younger relatives with tika, a mark on the forehead, and jamara, sprouted barley grass. OnlineKhabar found none of the usual festive cheer in these camps this year.

The flood struck on August 26, the Kathmandu Post reported. Among the displaced in Nuwakot's camps are 344 families from Rasuwa district. Of those, 315 people died or are still missing, OnlineKhabar reported. A further 495 people from Uttargaya Rural Municipality-1, also in Rasuwa, are dead or unaccounted for, OnlineKhabar reported, counting them separately from those in the camps. If your relative from any district went missing in the Bhotekoshi flood, a member of their household applies to have them declared dead at the ward office where the person permanently lived, the Kathmandu Post reported.

"Someone from every family here died in the flood," Bom Bahadur Tamang, a former ward chair of Uttargaya-1 who is himself displaced, told OnlineKhabar. "We have lost everything, and the joy of the festival has been taken from us too."

Tenzing Bhuti, another displaced resident from Rasuwa, told OnlineKhabar that festivals hold little meaning while daily survival feels uncertain. "We have all lost family members here," she said. "My mind stays unsettled, wondering how those of us who survived will live now." She said she still hopes to celebrate Dashain again once her family has a stable home.

Nearby in Devighat, once Nuwakot's main market and a religious centre, the flood destroyed homes for about 400 families, OnlineKhabar reported separately. Thirty of those families, about 100 people, now live in a temporary shelter at Lamibagaicha. Gopi Nepali, 70, marked Dashain there under a tarpaulin, giving tika to his children and grandchildren. "The flood took everything, but we are grateful our family's lives were spared," he said. "I hope that if we survive, we will have our own home again next year and can celebrate Dashain happily like before." Ward chair Lilanath Neupane said groups including Caritas have set up a community kitchen and supplied health services, drinking water and clothing to displaced families.

Waiting on paperwork

NDRRMA, Nepal's disaster management authority, told the Kathmandu Post on October 15 that more than 1,400 people have died and over 5,200 remain missing. NDRRMA has written to all 753 local units to explain the process, the Post reported. Over 2,400 Nepalis who travelled to Rasuwa and Nuwakot from other districts are among the missing, government figures cited by the Post show.

The process that lets a missing person be formally declared dead, the step needed to unlock government relief, only began on October 9, more than six weeks after the flood, following a decision by NDRRMA's executive committee. NDRRMA spokesperson Ram Bahadur KC told the Kathmandu Post that no deadline has been set for families to apply. Once a missing person is declared dead, the family receives Rs 200,000, about USD 1,490, KC said. NDRRMA has yet to decide when collecting and checking the details will be finished, the Kathmandu Post reported.

What we still do not know

• How many families in Rasuwa and Nuwakot have applied to have a missing relative declared dead, and how many have received the Rs 200,000 payment. NDRRMA and the local disaster committees in Bidur Municipality and Uttargaya Rural Municipality could answer.
• What permanent resettlement plan exists for the roughly 2,000 people in Bidur-5's camps and the 400 Devighat families beyond tents and temporary shelter. Bidur Municipality's ward office and NDRRMA's post-disaster needs assessment team could answer.