Bidur, September 2
Srijana Nagarkoti, 27, is seven months pregnant. Since the Bhotekoshi flood swept through her home, she has been living in a cold classroom at a school in Nuwakot, unsure of where she will live or how she will manage when her delivery approaches.
Srijana was at home when the flood struck. After receiving information about the rising water, people began fleeing. There was panic and chaos as the flood reached the settlement.
She ran for her life but fell while trying to escape.
“I fell the other day, and I haven’t felt the baby move since,” she said.
Srijana was due for her regular pregnancy check-up, but displacement has made it difficult for her to reach a hospital.
She is now staying at Bhairum Secondary School in Bidur Municipality-8, where families displaced by the flood have been taking shelter.
The school’s classrooms are filled with displaced families. Those who cannot find space inside are sleeping on the verandas outside.
Srijana says the cold conditions have made life particularly difficult.
“I had a house in Trishuli Bazaar, but the flood swept it away. There is nothing left. I am staying in a cold classroom. The cold in the room has made things even more difficult for the baby in my womb,” she said.
The family has lost more than its home.
Srijana and her husband ran a meat shop and a pig farm. Their farm, located below Macha Pokhari, had around 200 pigs. The flood swept them all away.
The couple also lost the money and valuables they had at home. Srijana said she had no time to retrieve them while fleeing.
“There was some money and gold. Everything was swept away. Now, I only have what I am wearing,” she said.
The family of three — Srijana, her husband and their daughter — is now dependent on the relief being provided at the school.
Displaced families have been receiving communal meals, but Srijana says the arrangement does not adequately address the needs of vulnerable people.
“There is no nutritious food. We have to stand in line to eat. I haven’t been able to go to the hospital. We are having a very difficult time,” she said.
Pregnant women, children and elderly people at the shelter face additional difficulties, she said. The temporary accommodation also lacks the comfort and basic amenities of a home, with displaced families sleeping in cold classrooms and relying on relief supplies.
For Srijana, the loss of her livelihood has compounded the uncertainty.
“Now we have problems with even food and shelter,” she said.
Her delivery date is approaching, but she has little left to fall back on. The money she had set aside for medical expenses was also swept away in the flood.
“My delivery date is getting closer. I have no idea where I will live or what I will do,” she said.
