The flood victims of Dodhara Chandni Municipality-8 Sundernagar were sitting in the square of Chandni Bazaar on Saturday, carrying bags of rice, pulses, salt, oil and other materials in plastic sacks. After getting the news that Home Minister Ramesh had reached Dodhara Chandni, they brought the relief material to present to the government. Two days before that, they reached the office of Dodhara Chandni Municipality and tried to give a relief gift to Mayor Kishore Limbu. They returned after submitting a memorandum to Chief Administrative Officer Ganesh Mishra after not being found at the Mayor Limbu's office.

Locals who were displaced by the floods in the Jogbuda river last week have been appealing to the city chief to the home minister, carrying the relief they have received from various organizations, saying, 'Now, build a concrete embankment, not relief.' Kamala Khadka of Dodhara Chandni-8 said, "As soon as it rains, we are afraid of floods, and we are destined to be displaced."

Last week, 25 families of Surandaranag were displaced by the flood in Jogbuda river. Not only this time but last year, the Sundernagar settlement was completely submerged in the flood after heavy rains in the first week of June. This settlement has been suffering from flooding in previous years as well. ``When it starts raining, we have to sit on the roof with an umbrella, when the water starts rising in Jogbuda, children have to tear their skins and run away,'' said Yamuna Magar of Sundernagar, ``When we stay at school, they give us one or two dal and rice, now we don't need that dal and rice, we had to build a concrete embankment.''

This pain is not only of Sundarnagar settlement but of all the settlements along Jogbuda river in Dodhara Chandni municipality. As soon as the Jogbuda river floods, the coastal settlements are submerged. After that, the locals have no choice but to flee to a safe place . This time also 52 families were displaced in Dodhara Chandni-3 Patera Khalla, 8 Sundernagar, 10 Shanti Tol and Kutiakawar areas. 

Patera Khalla and Kutiakabar are already submerged

Dodhara Chandni-3 There are 35 families living in Patera Khalla. Located in the Hocho settlement on the banks of the Jogbuda river, it has been inundated every year. This year too, the flood has entered the settlement after breaking the embankment built on Jogbuda bank. "While we were watching, the water reached up to our waists, then we ran to school," said Gopal Sunar of Baduwal tol. Even now, the water inside the house has not dried up. 

Baduwal village was also hit by floods last year. Last year, the flood entered from the north of the settlement, but this year, it broke the embankment and entered the settlement from the south. After the flood, all the families were displaced. Like Patera Khalla, Dodhara Chandni-10 Kutiakavar has always been inundated. This settlement located in Mahakali and Jogbuda River Dovan has been inundated even in normal floods. Because Mahakali stops the flow of Jogbuda, there are floods here. In Kutiakavar, Mahakali is also cutting .

"This year too, all the fields were flooded, but there was not much damage in the settlement," said Khadke Budha, a resident of Kutiakawar, "We went to school across the river after the flood began to fill the fields." He said that some went to the local safe house. There are 42 families living in Kutiakavar. Because Jogbuda is a settlement across the river, the residents here face more problems during floods. 

embankment agenda behind election 

Due to the presence of Mahakali in the east and Jogbuda river in the west, the settlements of Dodhara Chandni have always been inundated during droughts. Even though every candidate from the local level to the provincial level and the House of Representatives is advancing the agenda of construction of the embankment, the locals complain that it is forgotten after the election.

The section of Jogbuda river is about 20 km in the area of ​​Dodhara Chandni. Embankments have been constructed in some of them. But the embankment has not been constructed in Sundernagar, Kanchan Bhoj and Shanti Tol areas. For the construction of an embankment in that area, the local residents have now come to meet from the mayor to the home minister . "Our demand is a concrete embankment on the banks of Jogbuda," said Prem Rokaya of Sundarnagar, "Until the embankment is built, we will not be able to live safely. During floods, we go to school, but everything from food to agriculture is damaged." 

Not only in Jogbuda but also on the banks of the Mahakali river, the embankment built four decades ago has become dilapidated. The embankment is also at risk of collapsing at any time. This is why the residents of Dodhara Chandni have been demanding the construction of a concrete embankment on the banks of the Mahakali. According to Ganesh Mishra, Chief Administrative Officer of Dodhara Chandni Municipality, an embankment has been constructed in 7 km of 27 kilometers along Jogbuda River. The embankment was built from the budget of the provincial government and other agencies.

Demand for embankment Too much budget Too little 

The embankment built at different times along the Jogbuda River has also become dilapidated. Only a small amount of embankment is built from the small budget that comes every year . Harisinh Dhanadi, chairman of Ward 3, who is also the spokesperson of Dodhara Chandni Municipality, said that 5 crore rupees have been received for the construction of embankment in Kutiakawar this year as well. "The old embankment is also dilapidated, we don't know when it will break," said spokesperson Dhanadi, "now the demand has increased, the budget has only come for Kutikwar, there is no way to build an embankment from the municipality's budget."