National
78 quake-displaced families forced to live in community forest
Seventy-eight earthquake displaced families from the marginalised Thami community in Bosimpa and Buma villages of Dolakha district are still living in temporary huts on a land belonging to Panipokhari Community Forest.Rajendra Manandhar
Seventy-eight earthquake displaced families from the marginalised Thami community in Bosimpa and Buma villages of Dolakha district are still living in temporary huts on a land belonging to Panipokhari Community Forest.
It has been nearly three years since the devastating earthquake of April 25, 2015, but the government has not made any effort to resettle them to a better place.
“The government has assured to construct the permanent settlement for us, but we do not know when that is going to happen,” said Bhim Bahadur Thami.
“We have spent three winters in this forest waiting for the government to build us new homes,” he added.
The displaced families cannot return to their old homes because of the landslides that struck their settlements following the earthquake.
The District Natural Disaster Rescue Committee has announced to shift the settlements to a safer location. But that was a long time ago and the earthquake-displaced families are growing increasingly despondent.
“I do not think we will ever get out of this place. The government is doing nothing about our situation,” said Manamaya Thami.
Sagar Acharya, the district chief of National Reconstruction Authority, claimed they are in the process of resettling the earthquake-displaced families of Bosimpa and Buma.
“We are levelling the ground to construct new homes for 78 displaced families near Panipokhari Community Forest,” he said.