High level team reaches Brussbang to study Chepang lifestyle
DHADING: For the first time, a high level team from the district has reached a remote Chepang settlement in Brussbang for a field visit, in Dhading district, on Sunday.
The team, comprising District Coordination Committee Chief Jagannath Nepal, Chief District Officer Shyam Prasad Bhandari and other high level officials from the district, held meeting with the Chepang community.
After returning to Dhadingbesi, district headquarters, the team recommended to relocate Brussbang Chepang Community to a safe place in the district citing plummeting temperature in the mountains.
One of the locals, Phul Maya Chepang, shared during an interaction with the team, it was a far cry for a woman like her in the village to have nutritious diet during pregnancy as most of them struggled there to mange two square meals a day.
As many as 36 Chepang households in the area have been compelled to live hard lives for years. They are struggling for food and drinking water for years.
"Ensure supply of drinking water in the village or else relocate us to nearby areas with school and drinking water facilities," one of the local leaders, Prem Bahadur Chepang, urged the visiting team.
"They will be relocated to an area facilitated with drinking water, school, health posts, and housing in coordination with the stakeholders. It is hard to supply drinking water at top of the mountains as there are no water sources nearby," CDO Bhandari said.
Nepal Chepang Forum Chairperson Jeetindra Chepang said the government has failed to address their issues despite holding discussions for the past six years.
Meanwhile, Chepangs have been earning their livings by selling wicker baskets and other items made of bamboo in the district.
The team, comprising District Coordination Committee Chief Jagannath Nepal, Chief District Officer Shyam Prasad Bhandari, Devi Datta Battalion Chief Lieutenant Colonel Bharat Budathoki, Benighat Rural Municipality Chairman Pitta Bahadur Dallakoti, DSP Ram Bahadur KC, Non-profit Organisations Federation Dhading Chairman Damador Aryal, Ward Chief Tanka Bahadur Thapa, Food Authorities and media persons, held meeting with the Chepang Community today.
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