Three teams to study on WFP food rumour

Bishnu Prasad Aryal
Lalitpur, September 15

Despite late after more than 320 death tolls from diarrhea in mid-west hilly districts of Nepal in last three months, three study teams of the government are leaving for the diarrhea affected districts tomorrow.

According to the Ministry of Local Development, three different teams are scheduled to visit Surkhet, Dailekh, Jajarkot, Nepalgunj, Salyan and Achham districts. “The teams will study on the causes of diarrhea, used foodstuffs and sources of food programmes people received the foods,” said Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya, spokesperson for the MoLD. “The team will complete its study within a week,” he added.

The team led by Dr Mukunda Sharma, joint-secretary of the Ministry of Health will visit Surkhet and Dailekh districts. This team includes under-secretary Kailash Nath Kharel of Ministry of Home Affairs, officer Ishwori Prasad Dhakal of Ministry of Commerce and Supplies and a representative from the World Food Programme.

Another team headed by Thapaliya will visit Jajarkot district. This team comprises of under-secretary Puroshottam Nepal of MoLD, Prem Lal Maharjan of National Consumers’ Forum and a representative of WFP.

The third team headed by under secretary Nirmal Shiwakoti of the Ministry of Finance includes senior food research officer Dr Megh Raj Bhandary of Food Technology and Quality Control and a WFP representative. This team will look into supply of foods from the custom point of Nepalgunj to Sallibazaar of Salyan and Sanphebagar of Achham districts.

Thapaliya said that the teams would meet before Dashain festival after completion of the field visits. “We will submit the study reports within three weeks,” he added. “The objective of the study is to find out the truth on WFP food rumour and forge preventive measures to avert the possible outbreaks in the future.”

The teams were formed as per the decision of the MoF on August 27 to probe into the outbreak of diarrhea and controversy of foodstuffs as the cause of the death tools in the mid-west hilly districts.