KAILALI: Nawal Singh Gharti and his family have been living in makeshift tents in the forest near Baluwagada of Chure Rural Municipality–4 in Nepal’s Kailali district for the past three years.
The family from Masuri village was first displaced by a massive landslide. After renting land and building a small house, they were again forced to leave when the landowner refused to let them stay.
“After that, we moved into the Tankagada forest in Chure–4,” Gharti recalled. “There were many families like us. When we were removed from there for encroaching on forest land, we had nowhere to go, so we settled on the edge of this forest.”
Ratan Nath, another resident living under similar conditions, shares the same struggle. Originally from Dadeldhura, Nath lost his parents at a young age and went to India for work. During his absence, relatives transferred the family land into their own names.
“When I returned, I didn’t even have land to stand on,” he said. Nath later settled on Guthi land in Chure–4 but was eventually displaced again, forcing him to take shelter near the forest.
Nath’s family is currently living under a tent on the playground of Suryamukhi School. “This is not our choice; it’s our compulsion,” he said. “The school has asked us to vacate the playground, but we don’t know where to go next.”
At present, more than 15 families are living in temporary tents in the Baluwagada area. In some households, only children remain as parents have gone to India in search of work. Life under the tents is extremely risky, especially for children during winter.
Local resident Kali Nath said that during the monsoon, rainwater seeps into the tents, soaking food supplies and clothes. “There is fear of scorpions and insects at night,” he said, adding that he has been bitten several times and had to seek treatment.
To survive, women in the settlement spend their days collecting gravel from nearby rivers. Selling gravel at around Rs 1,500 per cubic meter is their main source of income. “My children are taking exams now,” said Budisara Sinjali. “We plan to pay the exam fees with the money earned from selling gravel.”
According to Ward Chair of Chure Rural Municipality–4, Chandra Bahadur Lamichhane Magar, the displaced families remain in their current locations due to a lack of alternative housing.
He said that 116 families displaced by the 2077 BS floods and other causes are temporarily living in areas such as Panerugada, Tankagada, Baluwagada, Khamahale and Khanidanda. While around 700 families initially claimed to be homeless, a municipal investigation found only 116 to be completely landless.
These families were removed from forest areas by the Forest Office in 2079 BS on grounds of encroachment. “The problem of the displaced is serious,” Magar said. “The local government does not have land to immediately resettle them, and the forest office wants them out. With nowhere to go, they are left extremely vulnerable.”
For years, displaced families in Chure have been hoping the government will provide them with safe housing. As citizens of the state, they say they are still waiting for the government to act as their guardian and ensure them a secure place to live.
(RSS)
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