Rajabas (Sunsari), September 7

The residents of Rajabas, a village in high risk of Saptakoshi floods, now get angry with any visitors to their village. They are particularly angry with media persons. The media say various things about relief distribution and flood control but the reality is anything but that. "There are reports that the government has allocated billions of rupees for relief, rehabilitation and control of the river but here we don’t see anything except the delivery of a couple of trips of boulders," said Laxmi Subba, a local of the village that lies about 20 kilometre away form the district headquarters of Sunsari.

When the swollen Saptakoshi breached a spur at Paschim Kusaha the spur at Rajabas was also submerged in the water. The residents of Rajabas as well as Prakashpur, Bhokraha and Narsingh VDCs feared they would be marooned by the floods. Nobody reached there to console them. Fortunately, the floods spared Rajabas spur with relief to the locals. "We have heard that this spur will be repaired by India. But nothing has happened except the delivery of a couple of trips of boulders," said the locals. Punyadevi Sapkota, a resident of Prakashpur, walked for an hour to see the condition of the spur at Rajabas. She said that she had lost her sleep since the day she heard the spur would be broken. She was annoyed that the wire-net used in the spur had been stolen. She was, however, relieved that the water level in the river had gone down.

Gopi Krishna Dhakal of Rajabas shared the fear of Sapkota until a few days ago. Dhakal had migrated from Diktel of Khotang in 1968 and settled there clearing the jungle.During his 40 years at Rajabas, he saw Saptakoshi swell several times. In 1984 it swept away lots of land and houses. "This year I was worried about our lives. But now the worst seems to have passed." Not only the main spur but also the supporting spurs of Rajabas are at risk. But nobody seems to have noticed the danger

Source: The Rising Nepal, 8 September 2008