Nepane village in Gorkha looks deserted

By Gun Bahadur Roka,Sulikot, Nov. 11: Nepane village, located in Siranchok Rural Municipality–1 of Gorkha, has transformed into a cluster of elegant concrete homes, yet it remains devoid of inhabitants. The village looks deserted now.

Once a hub of farming, community gatherings and traditional culture, the village is gradually turning into a settlement without people. Out of about 30 houses, only seven remain inhabited, mostly by elderlies and small children.

Driven by rapid migration, most of the younger and working-age villagers have moved to cities and foreign countries in search of better opportunities for jobs, education, and healthcare.

Many of the houses in the village have new concrete structures, attractive yet lifeless. Their doors remain locked for months and grass has overgrown the courtyards and backyards, turning them into small jungles.

Eighty-year-old Om Bahadur Gurung, shared, “We used to live our lives in houses made out of stone-and-mud.  Now, we have got a big concrete houses but our children have all gone to the cities or abroad. The houses are big, but the warmth has gone.”

Farmlands are lying fallow and traditional customs and occupations are fading away. Weddings, feasts and religious ceremonies have become rare, and even funeral rites now rely on vehicles to transport the deceased. 

According to Gyanendra Gurung, Chairperson of Siranchok Rural Municipality, migration had a serious impact on the village’s social and economic fabric.

“In the name of development, people have started leaving their villages. Unless we invest in local employment, education, and health facilities, people will not return to these place,” said Gurung. 

“Otherwise, in a few years, the condition of such villages could become even more heartbreaking,” he warned.

Though roads, solar lights and concrete houses have reached Siranchok, human presence has thinned out. 

Agricultural productivity has dropped sharply, and community temples and resting platforms (pati-pauwa) see little activity. Today, the village stands as a vivid symbol of how rural life is slowly disappearing under the shadow of modernisation. 

Yet, a few villagers still hold hope, that one day, people will return, doors will reopen and the laughter of families will once again echo through the Nepane village.