Dalits at Juwapani village, Budhiganga-9 in Bajura, spend sleepless nights when it rains fearing landslides

By Sher Bahadur Sarki, Bajura, June 30: A Dalit settlement at Juwapani, Budhiganga Municipality-9 in the Bajura district, has been at risk of being washed away due to the landslides just below the village and the incessant rainfall.

Seven people had died while 15 others were rendered homeless after landslides below the village pulled down houses here over a decade ago.

Bharat Nepali, a Dalit activist of the village, said that the villagers were worried because a landslide below the village had started due to the incessant rainfall. "If the rains continue, it is likely that the settlement will be pulled down."

Bhot Chandara, a victim of the decade-old landslides in the area, said that she had no land to build a house in the other place. She remade the house after a landslide collapsed her house ten years ago.

Then there were talks about relocating us, but nothing has happened as yet, she said.

"When it rains, especially at night, we spend sleepless nights because we fear that the landslide can pull our houses down," she shared her plight.

She said that the victims of the landslides appealed to the local levels for relocating, but to no avail.

The Bajura district police office has alerted people living in places of landslide risk to remain cautious.

The District Administration Office said that it has sent a recommendation letter to the Home Ministry for relocating the human settlement at the high risk of landslides and floods in the district.