BAJURA, SEPTEMBER 9

Hundreds of households in Guiban, Ward 4 of Chhededaha Rural Municipality, Bajura, have been living under constant threat of landslide for the past 23 years.

There are over a dozen settlements facing landslide threat in Chhededaha Rural Municipality, but Guiban is said to be at greatest risk.

The rural municipality said some 120 households in Guiban have been at risk ever since the cliff below the village started sinking after developing cracks. 'It's been over two decades that we have been living under the threat of landslide. It's risky, particularly during the rainy season, when we can't even sleep peacefully due to fear of being swept away with our homes,' said Krishna Bahadur Dhami, a local.

Another local Prem Dhami accused all three levels of government of abandoning them and remaining mere spectators even when people's lives in Guiban are in peril.

'During election, leaders came to our village asking for votes. We reported our plight to them and voted for them, but now, neither the local, nor provincial, nor the federal government has come to our rescue,' Dhami said.

On his part, Khaptad Chhededaha Rural Municipality Chairperson Nara Bahadur Rawat said the process of shifting the settlements in Guiban elsewhere has begun under the government's integrated settlement extension programme. 'As the government work is slow, the same has also delayed rehabilitation,' he said.

Guiban has Nauli, Puranapani, Mallagaun and Chautari, among other settlements, and all the settlements are said to be at high risk of landslide.

Meanwhile, settlements like Bajedi Brahmatola, Seta and others in Budhiganga Municipality are also said to be prone to landslide.

A version of this article appears in the print on September 10 2021, of The Himalayan Times.