Jajarkot, August 21
Sixty-year-old Chandrakali BK of Risang in Bheri Municipality-2, Jajarkot, is currently living in a temporary shelter set up at Tribhuvan Secondary School. Staying there is not her choice but a necessity. After landslides damaged her house and farmland, she was forced to leave her home and move to the holding centre to save her life.
She does not even want to remember the day the landslide swept away her house. Whenever someone brings up the incident, tears fill her eyes and her voice chokes with emotion. Trying to compose herself, she says, “The government should create an environment where those who survived can live without fear. They should relocate us to a place where such incidents will not happen again.”
Chandrakali, whose problems have increased after her ailing husband was admitted to hospital, says, “We have lost our home and land. Where will we go, what will we eat and how will we live? We don’t even have clothes to wear.”
Her neighbours are in a similar situation. Everywhere they look, they see destruction. The settlements of Jajarkot, already weakened by the earthquake of November 2023, have become even more vulnerable due to landslides triggered by the monsoon rains. After cracks appeared in the ground and the settlements were deemed at risk, around 893 people from Risang have been living at the holding centre with their families.
Resident Parbati BK said spending the days in the school compound has been extremely difficult. According to her, accommodating a large number of people in one place has created numerous problems. She said they were struggling because they had been unable to save anything except the clothes they were wearing.
“We have no home, and we have small children. We have neither food nor a place to stay. We cannot remain at the school for long either. The government must relocate us to a safe place and arrange accommodation,” she said, crying.
Forty-five-year-old Sita BK, who says she survived the landslide “by sheer luck”, says the most important thing now is for the state to arrange a safe place for them to live. Saying that the landslide destroyed the house and land she had purchased with a loan, she said, “We don’t need much right now. We can even survive on half a stomach and struggle, but we want the whole family to be able to live together in a safe place.”
Shila of Risang is physically disabled. Although her house was not destroyed by the landslide, she feels unsafe because landslides have occurred all around it.
“I am constantly afraid and worried that my house could collapse at any time,” she says.
Residents of the landslide-affected areas expect the government to arrange permanent settlements where they can live safely without fear. The local government, meanwhile, says preparations are underway to provide immediate relief and temporary accommodation to the victims.
Bheri Municipality Mayor Chandraprakash Gharti said it would not be possible to keep the displaced people at the school for a long time, so alternative locations were being explored.
“We are looking for potential sites to build temporary housing for 40–50 families. We are also discussing the option of allocating a budget and constructing temporary shelters,” Mayor Gharti said.
The landslide triggered by incessant rainfall on August 15 caused extensive damage in Risang. Four people were killed and 11 others injured in the disaster. Although the victims urgently need food, clothing, medical treatment and temporary accommodation, they ultimately need to be resettled in a safe location.
Locals say the suffering of the displaced residents of Risang will not end until the vulnerable settlements are relocated to safe areas and permanent housing is arranged. Access to the affected area is also difficult because roads have not been constructed properly, making it challenging to reach the victims. The Lumbini–Rara road section is currently completely blocked. Although construction began five years ago, the lack of progress has continued to cause hardship for residents.
Geological study begins in landslide-affected areas
A team from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) reached the landslide-affected area of Risang in Bheri Municipality-2 on Wednesday and began a geological assessment.
The team includes NDRRMA Undersecretary Suresh Sunar, who is originally from Risang. According to House of Representatives member Parbati BK, an eight-member team comprising geologists Dr Prakash Pokhrel and Lekhraj Bhatt, Section Officer Niranjan Prakash Niraula, engineer Jagadish Bista and meteorologist Rajan Lamichhane, among others, has begun an on-site study and inspection of the affected areas.
Senior Major Govinda Thapa, chief of Bhawani Dal Battalion of the Nepali Army; Jajarkot District Police Office Chief Buddhi Sagar Puri; Gajendra Bahadur Chand, chief of the Jajarkot Garrison of the Armed Police Force; and local representatives from Bheri Municipality also visited the affected areas.
According to Chief District Officer Khadananda Adhikari, the team has begun on-site inspections of various landslide-affected and high-risk areas in wards 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Bheri Municipality. The team has also met residents to assess their immediate needs and the level of risk they face.
The team has been given a mandate to submit its preliminary report within two days.
Chief District Officer Adhikari said a concrete decision on whether to relocate the affected settlements or arrange for residents to live safely in their current locations could be made after the expert team submits its preliminary report.
“We will decide after receiving the expert team’s report whether the current location is suitable for temporary accommodation and, if relocation is necessary, where the safest place would be,” he said.
