HUMLA, Jan 9: Food depots in Humla have run out of stock. Food depots in Sarkegad, Shreenagar, Tajakot Chankheli, Yangchu, and Yalwang set up by the Food Management and Trading Company Limited (FMTC), a state-run entity, targeting the rural people’s access to food grains are running out of stock due to a delay in food supplies.
Locals complained that they were forced to pay higher prices to get rice after the FMTC depots turned empty.
Food depots in rural Jumla without rice since a decade: Locals
Prior to this, the FMTC branch office, Humla, made the supplies targeting the Dashain and Tihar festivals. But food transportation to the depots so far of the current fiscal year is just 1,000 quintals and it was finished during the festival season. Branch chief Krishna Prasad Adhikari said the transport of 21,500 quintals of rice has been approved for the district this year via air and land routes.
Sita Airlines has accepted the tender to transport the food to the district, but it has not been possible yet due to adverse weather, it is reported. A prolonged snowfall has aborted the efforts to transport rice by mules.
The office said the stock was provided to the bereaved families, new mothers, and those in need. Likewise, the supplies were made for conventions of several political parties. The food crisis is a constant challenge of Humla, a district in the Karnali Province, due to its topography and unfavorable climate conditions. Despite government efforts to address the issue, the Humla people continue to suffer from food scarcity every year.
