Dhorpatan. 2,438 houses in Nisikhola Rural Municipality of Baglung are at risk of floods and landslides. With houses located on steep slopes, near rivers and along roads at risk, 13,597 locals have been affected.
In Nisikhola, which has seven wards, Ward No. 1 is the most at risk of floods and landslides. In this ward alone, 920 houses are at risk of landslides, while settlements including Huldi, Lebang, Kiteni, and Swara are at risk of landslides, informed Surya Bahadur Gharti Magar, the chairperson of the rural municipality.
Locals say that many landslides have occurred in the village since 2074 BS. According to the rural municipality statistics, 207 houses are at risk of landslides in Ward No. 2, 140 in Ward No. 3, 400 in Ward No. 4, 170 in Ward No. 5, 31 in Ward No. 6, and 570 in Ward No. 7.
Hum Kumari Malla of Huldi, Nisikhola-1, said that she had to live at risk during the rainy season after the landslide ripped through her village. She said that there was a large landslide in the middle of the village and that the landslide had been flowing continuously for decades. Stating that the landslide did not cause major damage to the village until eight years ago, Malla informed that since 2075 BS, the ground has been collapsing and cracking in various places in the village due to its aftermath.
“We are worried about how to save our lives due to landslides. We live comfortably at home during the winter, but we have to leave the village as soon as there is heavy rain during the rainy season,” Malla said. “There is a hill above the village, there are cattle and buffalo sheds there, we go there and live there. We have informed the rural municipality about the problem many times, we have also informed the central and provincial governments, but so far there has been no solution to our problem.”
Padam Bahadur BK of Nisikhola-2 said that she had to live at risk because there was no land available anywhere except in the village. He said that when there is heavy rain, he comes out of the house with all his belongings. He said that he has migrated to the Terai and is living in a village with a weak economic condition. He complained that despite informing the concerned bodies about the village’s problems several times, no one has listened to him so far.
Nisikhola Rural Municipality Chairman Magar said that he is demanding the central and provincial governments to relocate the vulnerable settlements. He informed that some citizens have been shifted to safer places and houses have been built under the People’s Housing Program.
Stating that the citizens of this place have been suffering from floods and landslides every year due to the difficult geography, Chairman Magar said that the rural municipality is making plans for a long-term solution to it. (RSS)