BAJURA, JULY 18

Gadkhet Tole is at high risk of being swept away by the swollen rivers in Badimalika Municipality, Bajura.

Fifty families are at high risk of being swept away as the Bauli and Khargad rivers have started encroaching land near the human settlement. Ward 8 Chairman Nar Bahadur Aaidi said that the rivers had already eroded fertile land and now houses were also at risk of being swept away. He said that locals were compelled to spend sleepless nights as the monsoon was at its peak the rivers were in full flow.

People of the settlement said erosion of fertile land might trigger food crisis.

Prakash Aaidi, a local, said that the authority concerned had paid no attention to controlling erosion and saving the human settlement.

He said that the local level and other government bodies did not try to understand the plight of people of Gadkhet Tole.

People of Badimalika Municipality are also facing difficulty moving from one place to another due to lack of a suspension bridge over the Khargad River.

Local teacher at Choyakot Secondary School Dhan Bahadur Rawal said that villagers' movement was restricted during the rainy season. He added that the locals faced difficulty in collecting fodder and firewood due to the flooded rivers.

Ward 3 Chairman Bir Bahadur Rawal said the locals had been crossing the swollen Khargada River putting their lives at risk due to lack of bridge over the river.

Meanwhile, Deputy Mayor Kabita Bista of Badimalika Municipality also admitted that the human settlement was at high risk of landslide.

She said that the river had encroached the embankment putting the village at high risk. The human settlement will have to be relocated if the river continues to erode the embankment.

Bista said that the municipality had been coordinating with the provincial and federal governments to control erosion and save the human settlement.

A version of this article appears in the print on July 19 2021, of The Himalayan Times.