Displaced Hupsekot locals await resettlement

By Our Correspondent, Nawalpur, July 29: Eighteen families displaced by landslides in Wakkhor of Hupsekot Rural Municipality-5, Nawalpur, have been forced to live in a temporary camp for the past five years.

On July 8, 2021, torrential rain that continued for five hours triggered landslides across the area, forcing the entire settlement to relocate. Although the families were moved to Jugepani in Hupsekot-1, they have been living in temporary shelters for five years as they have yet to be permanently resettled.

“The government has given us one room. Chickens, ducks, goats and people are cramped in the same room. We have no source of income either, and we have to pay Rs. 100 a month for water,” said Somaiya Somai Magar, who is nearing 60.

The displaced families initially took shelter in schools and community buildings after the landslide. They now live in temporary shelters built on a small open ground. Their daily lives remain difficult amid cramped rooms made of blocks and corrugated sheets, limited open space and a lack of basic infrastructure.

The 18 families have been provided with 18 rooms. The victims said nearly 200 people are forced to sleep in those 18 rooms.

“We had enough farmland in the village to feed our families throughout the year. Amriso grass, ginger and goat farming were our sources of income,” said 28-year-old Jas Bahadur Somai Magar. “But the landslide displaced the entire settlement. We survived after coming here, but our suffering did not end; it only increased.”

He said the families did not have high expectations from the state. “We can make a living through daily wage labour, sharecropping and exchanging labour with others,” Jas Bahadur said. “We can even go abroad and, if possible, build our own houses. But for that, the government must provide us with land.”

Five years of waiting for permanent resettlement has increased their frustration. Family members who survive on daily wage labour are once again forced to spend nights worrying about rain and snakes as the monsoon begins.

Som Bahadur said their hope of receiving permanent homes has gradually faded after spending years in the temporary camp. He said they had initially been reluctant to leave their settlement, but the local government had promised to provide permanent resettlement.

Another local, Dhan Bahadur Somai, said it was extremely difficult to keep children, elderly people and women safe in the cramped rooms.

“Before the landslide, each displaced family owned between one and three bighas of farmland, as well as houses and livestock that supported their livelihoods. The landslide swept away not only their homes but also the foundation of their livelihoods, residents said.

Hupsekot Rural Municipality, however, said it has been unable to permanently resettle the families because of the federal government.

Rural municipality chairperson Laxmi Devi Pandey said the problem arose because the federal government has not given local governments the authority to acquire land.

“We completed all the necessary procedures for permanent resettlement years ago and submitted them to the federal government. The law does not give us the authority to acquire land,” Pandey said. “We cannot act against the law. We have completed all the procedures required by law.”

Pandey said the displaced families cannot be classified as landless because they still hold land ownership certificates for their land in Wakkhor. She said the municipality would be capable of permanently resettling them if the legal obstacles were removed and land was made available.

She also said she had no disagreement with the complaints raised by the landslide-displaced families.