Dipmala Silal, an auxiliary nurse and midwife at Dogadi Health Post in Partola in ward 5 of Khaptad Chhededaha Rural Municipality, went into labour one dry August day. She was rushed to the birthing centre operated by the health post for safe delivery. When she was just about to enter the maternity ward, the ground under her shook and the next moment she found herself sitting on the floor surrounded by landslide debris.

“In a matter of minutes, the hillside behind the health post gave way. The building took most of the damage from falling rocks and dry mudslides. We went out and waited for the dry landslide to stop before going in,” said Silal. “Those were the most traumatic moments of my life. Thankfully, I had a healthy delivery.”

According to Silal, this was not the first instance of a dry landslide occurring on the hillside. Two years ago, a landslide erupted on the rocky hills sheltering the health post.

“Landslides are common in this area. When pregnant women come for delivery and have to be kept under observation, we stay alert all night long,” she said. “The locals have no other health posts to go to since this is the closest one for the villagers of ward 5 and surrounding areas.”

According to the officials of the health post, more than 100 women from wards 3, 4, 5 and 7 give birth at the birthing centre every year. Everyone from the health workers to the service seekers visiting the health post is at risk, they say.

In July 2022, the maternity ward of the health post was partially buried in a landslide. The health post was moved to a cold storage unit in Binapata, but the maternity services could not be moved to the new location. The maternity services were resumed a few months later from the old birthing centre at Partola after clearing out the July landslide debris. Pregnant women were most affected by the interruptions in the maternity services, says Dal Bahadur Rawat, in charge of the Dogadi Health Post.

A couple of months later the health post was moved out of the cold storage unit since instances of thefts started becoming frequent. “The cold store unit was not safe to store medicines and other medical equipment. There were some instances of robbery so we had to move to the ward office building in Binapata,” said Rawat. “Currently, all health services except maternity services are being provided from the ward office building which is also damaged by landslides. The birthing centre is still back in the old building in Partola.”

“We have been moving the health post from one place to another like a cat with its kitten,” said Rawat. “The building in Partola is in dire need of repair. Health services are frequently interrupted since we can’t operate out of this building when there is a constant risk of landslides.”

The birthing centre in Partola is about a 10-minute walk from the health post in Binapata.

“Since the health workers have to go back and forth between the health post and the birthing centre, there is always some delay in service delivery,” said Rawat. “We have requested the rural municipality several times to make arrangements for the health post and the birthing centre to be moved to a safe place, but we haven’t received any reply from them.”

According to Krishnaraj Joshi, chief administrative officer of the rural municipality, a lack of budget has thwarted their plans to provide a new building for the health post. “We don’t have the budget to construct a new building for the health post and the birthing centre. We tried renting space, but the houses in the villages are not suitable to operate a health post out of,” said Joshi. “We are now planning to take measures to control the landslides in the Partola area so the health post and birthing centre can operate smoothly without fear.”