Impoverished family hit hard by prohibition order struggling to survive

 
GANDAKI, June 7: A family of seven people is enduring hotter days being confined to a tiny room on the banks of the Seti River at Ratopahira of Pokhara Metropolis-17 in Kaski district. 

After being forced out of work due to the restriction against the COVID-19 pandemic, the life of the impoverished family is becoming tougher day by day as it is struggling to meet their basic needs. 

The family whose life was dependent on daily wages is finding it hard to manage a two square of meal with the cessation of the source of income. To add to their woes, one of the family members is a physically challenged.

Lakshu Thapa Magar who reached here from Kathmandu as a child has rented out a congested room which he and his six-member family share (his spouse, four sons and a grandson). 

This tiny room serves as a kitchen, a living room and a bedroom for the Magar family. The days in June are hotter in Pokhara and the family is forced to spend these days hit by COVID-19 in a cage-like structure roofed with a corrugated zinc plate. Of four sons of Lakshu, the youngest Purne, 18, is completely disabled. He is unable to move physically, can’t speak and needs help of others for his regular activities.
 
“We are already in pain. To add to our pain, our son is living with disabilities. Neither he neither speaks nor walks. It seems we are destined to it,” lamented 50-year-old Man Maya, spouse of Lakshu. 

Now it is difficult to carry grown Purna for him to defecate. “Our love is for our children. I hardly carry him for various purposes,” she said.  Amid the infection, the Magar family is worried about managing a two square of meal a day without income sources. 

Lakshu has lost his driving job due to the prohibitory order. Until recently, he drove a private school bus in Pokhara. “I am facing hard times to manage a two square of meal a day for myself and my family. So far, we have been surviving on food items bought on credit from a nearby grocery,” he said. 

Similarly, Krishna, Karna and Suroj have also lost their jobs due to the prohibitory order. Krishna drove a taxi while Karna worked at a hotel in Pokhara and Suroj was a painter. 

So far, none has approached them for a help or to enquire about their condition, he said. “I have not possessed any land in my name. I wish I have a plot of land to build a house for us.”