Daud and Bahunsain folks forced to refuge in jungle due to risk of landslide

DOTI, June 9: The locals at Daud and Bahunsain village at Sayal Rural Municipality-4 in Doti district have been leaving behind their home and hometown and taking refuge in the nearby jungle in fear of monsoon-induced disasters mainly landslide. 

The flood on August 8, 2017 had killed six people in their villages. Since then, the villagers have been shifting their base to still-not-so-safer place - nearby jungle with the beginning of monsoon every year. 

At least 50 households shift to the nearby jungle to save their lives from the monsoon-induced disasters, according to Ganesh Upadhyay, a local. 

The frightened locals have been demanding the local authority to relocate their settlement but to no avail. Inaction and indecision on the part of local representatives and lack of positive intervention from the authority concerned have led the locals to either live with constant fear of landslide or to live a nomadic life in the nearby jungle every monsoon, according to Tej Dumre, another local. 

While shifting their settlement temporarily, the locals also take along their cattle with them, said Dal Bahadur Singh of Sayal-4. They return to their native place with the onset of autumn. 

Betar village at ward no 3 of the same rural municipality is also at high risk of landslide. The land caves in here during the monsoon which puts the lives of 40 households here at constant risk of landslide, according to Dhiraj Bahadur Bista.

Bista frowned, “The monsoon rain had swept away the arable land of the farmers in two villages here. The farmers have to resort to other livelihood activities as their lands are filled with rocks and soil. Worst of all, the schools here are also shut down during the monsoon.”

Vice-chair Bishna Devi Singh shared that the rural municipality has been allocating Rs 1.5 million to 2 million annually to support the villages in the high risk of landslide.

She shared, “It takes a huge amount of budget to shift the settlement. We have been demanding with the federal and provincial government for relocation but our demand has not been heeded yet.”

She explained, "The geographical structures of those two villages are not suitable for habitat. It would take millions to address the issue and our rural municipality does not have that much of budget.”