Rasuwa, April 23

Chheku Lama of Haku VDC-8, Rasuwa was displaced after the deadly earthquake of April 25 last year damaged his house and the land where his house once stood caved in.

Lama then moved to Laharepauwa VDC-1, a day’s trek from his village. He rented a piece of land and started living in a makeshift tent there. However, as he had rented the land only for a year, the landlord has started asking him to vacate his land. Lama has been living in the temporary shelter along with four of his family members.

“The landlord has been asking us to leave this place. This has put us in great dilemma,” said Lama.

No different is the plight of 300 other quake victims living on rented land. With monsoon approaching, the displaced earthquake victims are fretting about their new shelter.

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Displaced Dawa Tamang lamented that they had neither house to live in nor land to grow crops.

“Though people strong enough to work are toiling in different places to eke out a living, the elderly and children have been left to fend for themselves,” said Tamang.

Displaced quake victims said their repeated pleas to the government to help them return to their village had fallen on deaf ears.

“We have no courage to go back to the village. The dry landslide after the quake killed many people. The landslide has swept away the entire village. How can we return?” Tamang wondered. Tamang also demanded that the government rehabilitate the displaced quake victims before monsoon.

Displaced Dawa Cheng Tamang from Haku VDC-6 said people displaced by the quake had requested the landlords to extend the lease agreement, but to no avail.

The quake displaced are experiencing financial problems. They complained that the government had discriminated against the quake displaced in relief distribution.

Sangnorchi Tamang said the state had provided relief to those living on public land but not to those living on private land.

Putting rehabilitation of the displaced on hold, the government had distributed Rs 50,000 to each of the quake victim family in Rasuwa.

CDO and District Disaster Rescue Committee Chairman Krishna Prasad Adhikary said efforts were under way to rehabilitate displaced victims.

The displaced quake victims are facing many problems. It is high time the government came up with a plan to rehabilitate them before the monsoon.