As many as 54 families have been displaced after a massive landslide struck Jogle Gaira settlement in Shitganga Municipality Ward No. 12, Arghakhanchi, on Friday.

The families affected by the landslide have been taking shelter in a local school and a nearby meadow.

“The landslide destroyed our house and the land on which it was built is sinking. The landslide also swept away our fields,” said Saraswati Thapa, a displaced local.

There was no human casualty in the devastating landslide since the villagers had evacuated the settlement on time, said Thapa.

“But we only had that house and the plot of land. Now the entire settlement is sinking and we don’t know where to go,” she said.

The land on which the settlement stands continued caving in on Sunday as well. According to Baburam Gaire, the ward chairman of Shitaganga-12, Friday’s landslide swept away 17 houses while 18 others developed cracks.

“By Sunday, 19 more houses had developed cracks,” said Gaire. According to him, 54 families have been shifted to a local school and a meadow.

“Only 16 houses in the settlement are safe now. But they will also be at risk if the land continues sinking,” Gaire said.

Around 700 ropanis of arable land, according to Gaire, has been damaged by the landslide.

“All the resources have been mobilised to pitch tents and provide relief to the displaced families. They should be resettled to a safe location, as their settlement is not safe,” said municipality Mayor Surya Prasad Adhikari.

“I have been staying in a nearby meadow with my four family members. The municipality and various organisations provided us food but we are really worried about our future,” said Teklal Gaire, another displaced victim.

In Rupandehi, scores of families have been displaced as floods in the Tinau, Danab and other streams wreaked havoc on Friday night. The floods swept away 17 houses, damaged 24 others while several settlements in Butwal, Sammarimai, Tilottama, Mayadevi, Devdaha, Marchawari and Lumbini Sanskritik, among other local bodies in the district, have been inundated.

“The flood inundated our house and damaged our food grains and other goods. My seven-member family is now taking shelter in my sister-in-law’s house,” said Sangita Tharu of Devdaha-3.

The floods triggered by rainfalls also inundated hectares of paddy fields in the district.

“The floods damaged crops planted in eight katthas of land. The paddy field is like the sandy banks of the river now. What will we eat this year?” said Samita Tharu, another woman of Devdaha.

(Sangu Paudel contributed reporting from Rupandehi)