On Monday morning, staff at the Nepal Red Cross holding centre in Banepa, Kavrepalanchok, told displaced squatters that the canteen would serve its last meal that day.

“From tomorrow, the canteen will be closed. You’ll have to make your own arrangements,” residents recalled being told.

The announcement has left hundreds of families, already uprooted by the government's riverbank clearance drive, facing fresh uncertainty over where they will live and how they will feed themselves.

When residents asked why the meals were ending, canteen staff said they had only been funded to provide food until July 3 but had continued serving meals for several more days out of sympathy.

“We were ordered to stop on Friday. We only had funding until then. We kept serving meals for a few more days because we felt for you. From tomorrow, we simply can't continue,” Rima Pokharel, a resident at the Banepa holding centre, quoted the staff as saying.

Pokharel said many families include elderly people, young children and people with chronic illnesses, making the loss of food support especially alarming.

“There are sick people here. There are children. Our situation is going from bad to worse, and no one is listening to us,” she said.

She questioned whether the government's assistance was enough, saying not every family had received the promised Rs25,000 payment, while those who had received it could not survive on the amount after losing their homes and belongings.

“Some families haven't received the money at all. Even for those who have, what can Rs25,000 cover? We lost everything when our homes were demolished,” she said.

The situation is similar at a hotel near Kathmandu's New Bus Park in Mitranagar, where displaced families had been staying under a government arrangement.

Sabina Magar, one of the residents, said hotel management had repeatedly pressured families to leave, forcing them onto the streets on Monday morning.

“They came on Sunday and told us we were only allowed to stay until Friday. Now we don't know where to go or what to do. We will protest at Maitighar,” she said.

Magar alleged that residents had faced mistreatment since arriving at the hotel.

“They never treated us well. The hotel staff insulted us and used abusive language. We were regularly served stale food. They mixed flour into watery lentil soup and even served the same pot of lentils for up to three meals,” she said.

Although her family has six members, the hotel provided only one room, forcing her to send her children to stay with friends because everyone could not fit inside.

“Despite that, they counted all six of us when claiming meal costs [from the government]. We have been treated unfairly throughout,” she said.

At another holding centre in Kharipati, Bhaktapur, residents said officials from the High Powered Committee for Integrated Development of the Bagmati Civilisation (HPCIDBC) visited on Monday and urged them to leave.

Pawan Gurung, who is staying there, said the committee's project chief, Machakaji Maharjan, told residents that prolonged stays at the shelter could lead to illness and mental health problems and encouraged them to rent accommodation instead.

Gurung said families whose homes had already been demolished could not realistically rebuild their lives with Rs25,000.

“There were people in tears. We explained our problems. He said those who genuinely cannot manage should submit their names, and they would see what could be done,” Gurung said.

According to him, around half the residents at Kharipati are still waiting for the government payment.

“He told us food support would also stop, so we would have to pay for meals ourselves. He said their responsibility had ended and that providing land was not within their authority. He suggested we approach the Ministry of Infrastructure Development with our demands,” Gurung said. “Now we don't know where we will go or what will happen.”

Ananda Singh Bhat, executive chair of HPCIDBC, confirmed that food distribution had been stopped at all holding centres.

“We stopped food services not only in Banepa but at every holding centre. We extended the deadline several times. Now they must make their own arrangements,” Bhat said.

The government had initially instructed displaced families to leave the holding centres and arrange their own accommodation by June 26, before extending the deadline to July 3 after delays in distributing the Rs25,000 assistance.

It also pledged to provide Rs15,000 a month for three months to families who moved into self-managed accommodation.

According to Bhat, 254 of the 388 families currently staying in holding centres have received the Rs25,000 payment.

“Some people never submitted applications. Some chose to remain as protest leaders. Others lacked citizenship documents, or there were errors in their paperwork. We are still working on the remaining cases,” he said.

He added that payments to displaced families staying outside the holding centres have yet to be transferred, but said the process was underway.

Bhat said many residents had already left the shelters.

“About half the people at Nagarkot have gone. We even provided vehicles to help some of them relocate,” he said.

He ruled out any further extension of the deadline.

“July 3 is final. We are not going to use force or send police to remove them, even though we could have. We won't drive them out at gunpoint,” he said.

However, he made clear that anyone choosing to remain in the shelters would now have to cover their own food expenses.

“For those staying in hotels, we have already ended the accommodation because it costs around Rs800 per person per day. For everyone else, we have stopped providing meals,” he said.