Around 49 families in Sidingba Rural Municipality in Taplejung have been displaced by this week’s floods and landslides that claimed three lives while three people are still missing.

Man Bahadur Rai, chairman of Sidingba Rural Municipality who reached the landslide-affected area five days after the disaster, said that areas that were considered safest in the district are also at risk now. “The relocation of the families in the disaster-prone areas is of major concern now,” said Rai.

There are nine local units in Taplejung, including one municipality and eight rural municipalities. In the recent disaster, ward 6 of Sidingba Rural Municipality incurred the most damage compared to the other local units in the district, according to Rai.

Kamal Kadariya, a school teacher at Nilgiri Secondary School in ward 6, said that the four days of continuous rainfall since June 15 have damaged nearly 50 houses. “The authorities and security personnel are trying their best to provide relief and relocate the victims and those who are at risk, but if it rains again, then more destruction is likely to occur,” he said.

Settlements near rivers and streams in the district are the most at risk.

Soma Rai, a local of Yamphadin, Sirijangha Rural Municipality ward 8, said that his settlement is at risk of flooding in case of heavy rainfall. “Wherever it rains heavily, the whole ward gets flooded by the Tumiya and Kabeli rivers. The Super Kabeli Hydropower Project under construction is also responsible for the damage caused by this year’s floods. The excavation of riverbed materials during the construction of the project has put the settlements at more risk,” said Soma.

According to the District Disaster Management Committee, the Kanchenjunga Secondary School, the ward office, the health post, the police post, the Kanchenjunga conservation area office, and 10 private houses located in Sirijangha Rural Municipality-8 are at risk.

Omprakash Rai, a local of Suketar, says haphazard construction of roads by the consumer committee and hydropower companies has exposed the area to natural disasters like landslides and floods.

Over the years, landslides have displaced several families in Taplejung. Landslides in Nangkholyang, Sinam, Linkhim, Phurumbu, Aankhop, Niguradin, Phulbari, Yamphudin, and Tapethok of Thumbedin in Phungling Municipality are some of the recurring landslides in the district that amount to loss of lives and properties every year.

Sanchapal Maden, a former member of the Constituent Assembly, said that several settlements in the district have been prone to landslides for a very long time. “In order to prevent big landslides from happening in the future, the government has to conduct soil studies in the areas that are at risk,” Maden said. “If we know why some areas are more prone to landslides than others, the authorities can take preventive measures.”

According to Bijay Prakash Banem, chairman of Mauwakhola Rural Municipality, Odak and Tamrang settlements in ward 4 of the rural municipality are also at high risk of landslides. “But the locals have refused to move to another location,” Banem said.