The Dalit community of Koshilabanjh of Malika Rural Municipality-2 in Gulmi is at high risk of landslide. The residents are compelled to drink rainwater after their source of drinking water and storage was swept away by a landslide.
After the devastating earthquake of 2015, most of the land of the entire village has cracked out. Every year during monsoon the community faces calamities. Locals displaced due to the landslide of August 18, 2021, have been living in neighbouring houses, cowsheds, and schools.
Yama Bahadur BK, one of the displaced locals said he doesn’t know when will he return home. He had left the village a few days ago after a landslide fell above his house. Durga Bahadur BK of the same village also left his house long ago due to a landslide.
At present, the family of BK is taking shelter at his neighbour’s cowshed. He says due to continuous rainfall and the risk of landslides, they are uncertain about returning to their house. There are 35 Dalit households in the village. They are living at the risk of landslides for years.
Rabindra Bishwakarma, a local leader says due to the landslide, more than 12 households have been displaced for one week whilst every household of Koshilabanjh is at a high risk of landslide.
After the landslide swept away the source of drinking water and a storage tank, the locals are compelled to drink rainwater. Bishwakarma added that due to the landslide, the roads were also swept away because of which even ambulances cannot reach the area. He lamented that the government has not paid attention to their problems due to which they are lagging behind. He said, ‘ The geography is difficult. The village doesn’t have drinking water in the winter. There is a landslide during the monsoon.’
The chief of Malika Rural Municipality, Rit Bahadur Thapa said they cannot relocate just with their will.
Thapa added that the geologists had suggested that the settlements should not be relocated even though the settlements in Koshilabanjha and Sirling had been studied by calling the geologists through the rural municipality. He said that they were confused as they said that there would be no major landslide except for normal erosion. The problem of drinking water and road will be solved as soon as the rain stops, said Thapa.
The National Reconstruction Authority has relocated the settlement in Madane Rural Muncipality and Dhurkhot Rural Muncipality. However, nothing has been done in Malika Rural Municipality-2’s Koshilabanjh. According to the Chief of District Project Implementation Unit, Yagya Rijal said Koshilabanjh is on the list of relocation, but is not in the priority of the Centre which may be the reason behind the delay.
According to a study conducted by the National Reconstruction Authority, 299 settlements in 25 districts are severely affected by the earthquake of 2015 and are at high risk. Geologists had studied the geology of 11 settlements in Gulmi district. Among them, five settlements at four local levels of the district have been relocated. Geologists have suggested relocating one settlement each of Malika Rural Municipality, Dhurkot Rural Municipality and Gulmi Durbar Rural Municipality and two of Madane Rural Municipality.
He suggested that if the Central level takes initiation then the work can be done through some project.