KATHMANDU: The Nepal National Mountain Guide Association (NNMGA) has provided cash assistance to 33 families of tourism workers and drivers who died or went missing in the Aug. 26 Bhotekoshi flash flood.

The second phase of the relief programme was organised at the NNMGA office in Kathmandu with financial support from the Himalayan Development Foundation (HDF), Colorado, USA.

According to the association, the assistance targeted dependent families of jeep drivers who transported tourists to the Nepal-China border for Kailash Manasarovar journeys. Many of the affected drivers were from outside Rasuwa and Nuwakot and were not included in some locally coordinated relief lists.

NNMGA said the loss or disappearance of the families’ primary breadwinners had left many dependants facing severe financial hardship. The association identified the 33 affected families through field-level coordination and information collected with support from Chhiring Finjo Lopchan of Timure, Rasuwa before distributing cash assistance to help address immediate needs.

Following the devastating flood, NNMGA members took part in search and rescue operations, including efforts inside the tunnel of the Chilime Hydropower Project in search of trapped and missing persons.

The association and HDF had earlier distributed relief to flood victims displaced from Timure, many of whom had been temporarily sheltered in monasteries in Kathmandu.

NNMGA said the disaster’s impact extends beyond immediate humanitarian needs. Some children of deceased or missing tourism workers are now at risk of dropping out of school because of financial difficulties.

The association has appealed for additional support to help affected children continue their education, saying that although disaster relief is not part of its primary mandate, supporting fellow tourism workers and their families is a shared responsibility of the mountain tourism community.