TANAHUN: Eighteen government offices in Dulegauda and Khairenitar VDCs in Tanahun are at the risk of being swept away by the Seti River.

“Various offices including Belchautara Area Police Office, Bhanubhakta Multiple Campus, Western Regional Police Boarding School, Seti Ganga Community Hospital, Khairenitar Health Post and Dulegauda Red Cross Office are at the risk of being eroded away by the Seti river,” Moti Prasad Poudel, chief of Bhanubhakta Campus said, adding, the building of Livestock Service Centre and lower part of Kotre bazaar and Kotre nursery might also be swept away if the rived swelled.

A local social worker, Ganesh Prasad Sharma, claimed that over 500 houses from Kotre to Bhimad bazaar could be swept away as a result of continuous land erosion. “The river has eroded three ropanis of land belonging to the campus,” campus chief, Poudel said, adding, “The upper part of the campus building has cracked due to land erosion.”

The river has eroded 300 ropanis of land, Bhimad locals said.

“The river continues to swell as no measures have been taken to control land erosion,” Bhakta Bahadur Rimal, former chairman of Dulegauda VDC said. Though the DDC provided galvanized wire once, the government has offered no assistance to control land erosion, he added.

Campus chief Poudel said, “We filed applications in Pokhara based office of water resources, but no action has been taken as of yet,” adding, Bhimad locals were forced to spend sleepless nights during the rainy season. “Our worry begins with the beginning of the rainy season,” locals said.

Staffers at the District Technical Office said the DDC alone could not control the river. The river could be controlled if a wider project could be launched, they said.