Bardiya, Sit lahar le badi pidit haru lai sasti. Displaced victims of the Babai flood in Bardiya district are forced to suffer sleepless nights as cold wave sweeps the country. The flood victims from 20 VDCs and Gulariya municipality in Bardiya district, who were already living in miserable conditions, have been further troubled by the cold wave. Children, pregnant women, elderly and disabled are among the hardest hit as temperature slides. After they were rendered homeless by the Babai flood in August this year, over 3,000 locals have been living in tents. The winter mist makes them wet inside their makeshift homes throughout nights. One of the flood victims, Kaman Singh of Surajpur Tapara, said it is hard for them to sleep in beds soaked with dews. “These days, we cannot sleep properly due to extreme cold,” said Singh. “Even if we keep shifting our beds inside the tent, it is no relief.” Like Singh, 29 displaced families of his village living under tents have been affected badly by the sudden dip in the mercury. Another flood victim, Anup Gupta, returned to his village recently. After being displaced by the flood, Gupta had taken shelter at one of his relatives´ house. His one storey building was swept away by the flood. “I had invested all my earnings to build my house. But all of a sudden the flood left me homeless,” Gupta said. “I don´t think I can build another house now,” he added. Such stories are common in the flood-hit areas. As per the latest record, 80,600 locals were the victims of flooding in the Babai River. The Babai River stretches 40 km in Dang district alone and covers 5 km in Salyan and enters India via Surkhet and Bardiya. The flood was noted as worst in the last six decades.