Okhaldhunga Landslide Puts Five Families at High Risk

Okhaldhunga. Five families are at high risk due to a landslide that has been continuously falling from below Dandakharka village of Siddicharan Municipality-5 for two decades and has not been controlled. The landslide, which started due to continuous erosion by Sisne River, is spreading day by day, forcing local residents to live in the village at risk. A decade and a half ago, the landslide destroyed the houses and fields in Chupulu village of the same ward, forcing local Raibahadur Rai to flee to Dandakharka. He built a new shelter in Dandakharka with great difficulty, but fate has repeated itself. Now the giant landslide, which started with the erosion of Sisne River, has reached his courtyard. "At that time, the landslide made me homeless in Chupulu, I came here to save my life and built a house, now again it is about to wash away my house here," says landslide victim Raibahadur, "Whether it is winter or monsoon, the landslide does not stop falling. There is nowhere to go, nor can I sleep all night." The landslide in Dandakharka has not only destroyed homes but also turned the hard work and arable land of local residents into riverbeds over the years. Hundreds of ropanis of arable land have turned into landslides so far. With the fields turning into landslides, the farmers here are worried about how to earn a livelihood. Another local, Birkaji Rai, says that if the landslide is not stopped in time, not only the five houses in Dandakharka but the entire settlement will be destroyed. "The village is at the head of the landslide, and the other 40 families in the village are equally at risk," he says, "If it had been fenced or embanked at the beginning, this would not have happened." Local residents have appealed to the local, provincial, and federal governments for landslide control. However, locals say that the risk has increased due to the lack of concrete and effective work for landslide control. Despite hundreds of ropanis of arable land being washed away by the landslide, the victims have expressed their sorrow that they have to continuously pay land tax (tiro) to the state as per the rules, but they have not received any relief or control work from the state. "The landslide has washed away my land, but I still have to pay land tax to the state for the land in the landslide," says another landslide victim Gitamaya Rai, "But the state has not been able to control the landslide, nor has there been any relief program for the landslide victims." This problem in Dandakharka is just a representative example of the entire Okhaldhunga district. Dozens of such large landslides have been troubling the district for decades, causing suffering to citizens every monsoon. It is seen as extremely necessary for the local, provincial, and federal governments to pay attention in time to find a long-term technical solution for risky landslides, to safely resettle the affected families, and to protect their livelihoods.