OKHALDHUNGA: Five families in Dandakharak village of Siddhicharan Municipality-5 have been living under high risk as a landslide below the settlement has continued for nearly two decades without effective control measures.
The landslide began due to the continuous erosion caused by Sisne Khola and has been expanding day by day, forcing local residents to remain in the settlement despite the risks.
About 15 years ago, landslides destroyed the home and farmland of local resident Raibahadur Rai in Chuplu village of the same ward. He was forced to leave the area and eventually settled in Dandakharak.
After rebuilding his home through years of hardship, Rai now faces the same threat again. The massive landslide triggered by erosion from Sisne Khola has reached his doorstep.
“The landslide displaced me from Chuplu back then. I came here and built a house to save my life, but now it has reached the point where this house could also be swept away,” Rai said. “The landslide does not stop, whether it is winter or the rainy season. I have nowhere else to go, and I cannot sleep peacefully at night.”
The landslide has not only threatened homes but also destroyed years of hard work and fertile farmland belonging to local residents.
Hundreds of ropanis of cultivable land have already been turned into barren debris. With their fields being swallowed by the landslide, farmers are increasingly worried about how they will sustain their livelihoods.
Another local resident, Birkaji Rai, said the entire settlement could be destroyed if the landslide is not controlled in time.
“The village is located right above the head of the landslide, and around 40 other households are equally at risk,” he said. “If protective barriers or embankments had been constructed when the problem first emerged, the situation would not have reached this stage.”
Local residents have already appealed to all three levels of government—the local, provincial and federal governments—for measures to control the landslide.
However, they say no concrete or effective work has been carried out, leaving the settlement increasingly vulnerable.
Landslide-affected residents have also complained that they continue to pay land tax to the government on land that has already been swept away, while receiving little support in return.
“The landslide has already taken away our land, but we still have to pay land tax on it to the state,” said another landslide victim, Geetamaya Rai. “But the government has not been able to control the landslide, nor have relief programmes been brought for the affected families.”
The situation in Dandakharak is only one example of the landslide problems facing Okhaldhunga district.
Dozens of locations across the district have been affected by major landslides for years, with residents facing increasing risks every monsoon.
Local, provincial and federal governments need to urgently seek long-term technical solutions for high-risk landslides, ensure the safe resettlement of affected families and protect their livelihoods, residents said.
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