Myagdi, Sept 18: The 'Dhegaun' of Loghekar Damodarkunda Rural Municipality-5 of Mustang, which was full of human settlement two decades ago, is now turning empty.
Climate change is believably one of
the reasons behind the eviction of villagers. With drying up of waters sources
in the village due to the effects of climate change, people were forced to
leave the settlement.
The mass displacement did not only
dessert the village but also cause gradual disappearance of local traditions,
culture and history.
Old houses are collapsing and the
settlement looks ruined and rugged. Hundreds of hectares of cultivable land
have turned barren due to the outflow of the locals in search of water.
Loghekar Damodarkunda rural
municipality-5 ward chair Pasang Gurung said there was no one living in the
village due to internal migration with deepening water crisis.
"After the drying up of
irrigation and drinking water sources, there was no condition to live", he
said. People are forced to abandon their settlements with humans and animals
being deprived of access to drinking water.
The ward chair bemoaned although he
had spent his life at Dhe village since childhood, he was now forced to leave
due to water crisis.
Farming and livestock are the main
sources of livelihood for the people. Ward Chair Gurung said that the water
source has dried up after low volume of snowfall in the winter. "Snow was
the main source of water, but due to climate change, there was decreasing
volume of snow", he said. According to him, the locals now go to the
cowshed only to graze sheep and goats in the rainy season.
Agricultural land has not been
cultivated when there was no adequate rainfall and drying up of irrigation
water source.
Dhey village was located in ward 9
of the then Surkhang Village Development Committee. At present, Dhe and
Thamjung fall in the same ward. There is a large population of Gurung and Lowa
people here.
The then VDCs and district
development committees had initiated the process of relocating the settlements
when water shortage was looming large.
Ward Chair Gurung said that
infrastructure has been constructed in the new settlement with the help of the
government and donor agencies. They are cultivating apples in the new
settlement.
"We have been affected the
most by the rise in temperature and climate change", he said.
The Dhe village is about 4,000
meters above sea level. The Thamjung-based new settlement on the banks of the
river is at an altitude of 3,700 meters.
At present, there are 26 households
in the village. Along with the settlement, the school has been shifted to
Thamjung. Since 2064 BS, the migration to Thamjung had started.
Thamjung, which is close to Charang
and Surkhang, has drinking water, electricity and other facilities. RSS