Rebuilding after the flood – Photo feature

Photographs by Edwin Koo

Throngs of homebound Nepalis during this Dasain are forced to cross the Kosi river by boat and ferries, as the Kosi flood has broken the East-West Highway at six points.

Homebound Nepalis carry bicycles on their back as they cross a shallow stretch of the Kosi on foot.

Wokilan Bibi, 45, separates the whole grains from broken rice at her temporary shelter in Jhumka, Sunsari. Flood victims are allocated 12.5 kg of rice per person each month at government-run relief camps.

(L-R) Workers Hari Lal Shah, 35 and Bakshwar Shah, 28, reinforce the river embankment at Kusaha Paschim, to prevent further erosion by the raging Kosi river. Reconstruction work has begun partially, as India dispatched engineers to repair and rebuild the embankments and dams that were destroyed by the Sorrow of Bihar.

Inajit Sadar, 4, takes a shower at a public water pump built by RRN at a relief camp for flood victims in Jhumka. More than 60,000 people have been displaced since the Kosi River broke its embankment in September, and many are still straggling in temporary shelters as the Dasain and Tihar festivities go on around the country.

Workers reinforce the river embankment at Kusaha Paschim, to prevent further erosion by the raging Kosi river. Reconstruction work has begun partially, as India dispatched engineers to repair and rebuild the embankments and dams that were destroyed by the River of Sorrows.