Feature: Locals in Nepal double-disaster hit Sindhupalchowk want roads to be cleared, neighbors back

The Sindhupalchowk district of Nepal has recorded the highest death toll in the massive earthquake that jolted the country on April 25 as more than 2,500 people have already lost their lives with the numbers still on the rise.

Adding to the tragedy, this north-eastern part of the district has been witnessing another disaster causing huge human loss. The helpless locals have been struggling to cope with both aftershocks as well as landslides. The road section from Barhabise to Tatopani under the Araniko Highway which leads towards the Chinese border has been badly hit by landslides caused by the 7.9 magnitude quake.

"We believe that unknown numbers of people have been trapped in the landslides as roads have not been cleared yet," Jeet Bahadur Katuwal, Barhabise Village development committee (VDC) secretary, told Xinhua Sunday.

As most of the people are based in Tatopani and Liping for trade purpose considering the nearest border town Khaasa, locals say they might have been trapped while returning to their villages following the quake.

Tatopani, the trading hub, is 25 km away from Barhabise. Nearly a week after the quake, two bull dozers reached Gaati VDC where dozens of buses, trucks and motorbikes have also been trapped. The road-clearing process is too difficult in this mountainous region as equipment is not available.

Locals estimate that more than 1, 000 people might have been trapped in the landslide. The roads have been completely blocked from Marmimg VDC onwards.

Twenty-four-year old Muna Shrestha was playing with her two- year-old daughter Akira inside a truck in Barhabise. Looking pale with eyes full of tears, she is among those who have lost a spouse, in her case her husband.

Govinda Shrestha has been missing since the day the landslide occurred. She could not speak to Xinhua as she was numb with emotion. Her mother-in-law Meena Shrestha, who was sat next to her, told Xinhua "I talked with my son 6 days ago when he had called me and he said he was on his way home. Since then, we have heard nothing from him."

The locals say that there is no hope of life now as Govinda's friend Kumar Tamang's dead body had already been recovered from the landslide which hit the area.Most of the people in Barhabise are dependent upon trading Chinese goods in the Khaasa and Tatopani areas.

Meanwhile, despite being only 100 km away from the capital, the locals did not receive any support from the government till the morning of the 8th day following the quake when a government official visited the area, raising some hope among locals.

A local entrepreneur named Gyan Bahadur Shrestha told Xinhua " Landslides are not a new story as we faced something similar a few months back too. But this time, we are facing a double disaster, a fatal earthquake and landslide at the same time."

Locals said "We don't want a packet of biscuits, we want roads to be cleared and our neighbors back."

The area was badly hit by a landslide in August, 2014 in which 156 people were killed and hundreds of houses were swept away. Endi