SRILANKA

NEPAL PLAYS SRI LANKA IN SOUTH ASIAN VOLLEYBALL

Kathmandu, 13 July; Nepal plays Sri Lanka Saturday in the South Asian Men’s Volleyball Championship in Kathmandu.

The home team beat Afghanistan 3-2 in the opening match.

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KHALANGA YET TO COME TO TERMS WITH FLOODS

Kathmandu, 13 July: As we reached Khalanga to assess the extent of damage caused by the June 17 flood in the district headquarters, we were shocked by the magnitude of devastation there, bIkram Giri writes in Republica from Darchula. . At least a dozen government offices and dozens of other houses have been washed away, while 11 more office buildings and 23 houses, including the district hospital, have been largely damaged. That´s quite some figure considering the size of the village. The district hospital has been relocated to a small house belonging to one Lokmani Thagunna. But, most of the employees come to the hospital only to register their attendance in the morning and leave shortly--as they hardly have any service or medicine to offer. "We are, nonetheles, trying our level best to give whatever little service we can provide," says Rameshwor Devkota, a doctor at the hospital. Plights of many other government offices are similar or even worse--not to mention the condition of the ordinary folks. We could not believe our eyes when a local resident pointed to a wrecked house when we asked him about the location of the ´Food Program for Education´ Office. As we nervously stepped in, we were surprised to find the employees really busy with the paperwork. "Everything is out of order here, but the show must go on: We are rushing to prepare the fiscal year report as the deadline looms," says Lilaram Subedi, an employee. He further revealed that they have been compelled to live work under the same roof as they couldn´t find another building for the office. Branch chief of the program office Janak Raj Panta, adds: "As the anxiety of flood lingers in our minds, it is not easy to work--that too in such a bleak state. However, do we have a choice?" One of the two rooms in the building has been arranged as office while the employees share the other room as their accomodation. "Many other employees share our problem," Panta adds. Probably, such an attitude gives some consolation to these people who, for the time being, could not but keep their fingers crossed.
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