Kathmandu, Sept. 9 -- On August 29, three days after the devastating Bhotekoshi floods, Milan Raila, an eight-year-old from Rasuwa, woke up suddenly at 4 in the morning and complained of severe abdominal pain.

His family had been taking refuge at a relative's home after their house and, in fact, the entire settlement at Kaindaletar in Uttargaya Rural Municipality were washed away by the August 26 flood.

"We rushed him to the primary health care centre at Jibjibe," said Bishal Raila, Milan's relative. "But the doctors there could not figure out what was wrong with him." Jibjibe, in Kalika Rural Municipality, lies about 20 kilometres north of Kaindaletar. For the Raila family, it took around 45 minutes to reach there by motorbike.

After ...