19 August, Rasuwa (Uttar Gaya). The Bhotekoshi flood swept away thousands of relatives in Rasuwa, Nuwakot and made them homeless.

But the separation of some families does not end there. When they disappeared, the relatives became a thing of the past, there were no more people to perform the last rites.

One such example is Mamta Shrestha and her family.

She was a school nurse at Neelkanth Basic School. The flood of August 10 washed away Mamata's family.

Mamta was flooded with her husband, mother-in-law and two children. Husband Mahesh was injured. However, he died during treatment in the hospital.

"A man who loves children"

Mamta was working in Neelkanth for four years. According to the principal of the school, Madhav Lamichhane, Mamta used to mingle with children very quickly.

As soon as the class was empty, she would go to the students. Sometimes she would remind about communicable diseases, sometimes she would teach how to wash and clean hands.

It was his job to go and teach the children about health and hygiene as soon as he had time.

After seeing the nursery and KG children, she used to go to them. She used to teach me how to wash my hands. She taught me to be clean. She used to explain common health matters while playing and laughing.

In the words of Principal Lamichhane, Mamta was a 'dedicated' employee for the school.

"He would come to school on time, love the students," recalls Lamichhane, "when the class was empty, he would reach out to raise health awareness."

Mamta was living in Betravati with her family. Her family consisted of her husband Mahesh, mother-in-law and two children. A hotel and workshop business were also operating at home. One of his children was studying in Uttar Gaya Public Secondary School and another younger child was studying in Neelkanth Secondary School.

Mamata was preparing to come to school on the day of the flood. Before that, she told the principal Lamichhane that she would take two days off and go for training. She also sent a letter regarding the training on messenger. So when Lamichhane heard the news about the flood, he initially thought that Mamata was in training.

I thought he had gone to training. Only later did we know that he was at home and preparing to come to school,” says Lamichhane.

After the flood washed away the area where Mamata's family was staying, her family members including her were left without contact.

Her husband Mahesh was rescued alive from being buried by the flood. During the rescue, his hands, legs and various parts of his body were injured.

An attempt was made to rescue Mahesh, who was seriously injured, by helicopter. But as the helicopter could not be arranged immediately, the locals carried him to Dudhelamathan of the hill. From there, he was taken to the Maitlidara area and taken to the hospital by helicopter.

But Mahesh's life was not saved even though he was taken to the hospital.

In the end, there was only one person in his family. "He didn't stay either," Lamichhane said, "there is no one left in the family to look for the missing person."

The school has lost a dedicated staff member

Lamichhane remembers that Mamata had a dedicated staff for the school. She used to come to school on time regularly and stayed less during holidays.

"He was a very dedicated staff member. He was very active in loving students and making them aware of health,'' says Lamichhane.

Not only Mamta, but other school staff were also lost in the flood. Lamichhane said the school lost four staff members.

The dead body of Narayan Bahadur Thapa 'Kafdar' was found in Nawalpur. His body was cremated after the family identified it.

Ajay Kumar Yadav is still missing. He was working as an instructor for computer engineering under technical education in the school. Likewise, child development teacher Munmaya Tamang has also disappeared due to the flood. Not only that, about two hundred students are without contact. Around 100 children have lost their parents.

The school has lost dedicated staff. "Hundreds of children are missing," says Lamichhane.

Choulagai, who is affiliated with online news, writes a pen on health wit.