KATHMANDU, July 10: Families forcefully displaced by the government from informal settlements in Kathmandu say they are once again at risk of homelessness after being ordered to vacate the government holding centre where they had been temporarily relocated following eviction from their homes.
After informal settlements in various parts of the capital were cleared on April 25, the government moved displaced families to temporary holding centres. Around 100 people were accommodated in Block B of a holding centre at Ichangunarayan in Nagarjun Municipality, where authorities had assured them they would eventually be permanently resettled.
However, residents now say they have been instructed to vacate the holding centre without any alternative housing arrangements, raising fears that they will be forced back onto the streets.
The residents include elderly people, chronically ill patients, single women, daily wage labourers and children. They say uncertainty now surrounds not only their housing but also their access to healthcare, employment and education. According to them, the government is pressuring them to leave despite failing to provide alternative accommodation.
"We couldn't find a safe home even at the end of our lives"
Seventy-year-old Narmati Khatri had lived in Shantinagar for more than two decades before the settlement was demolished. She was relocated to the Ichangunarayan holding centre, but now fears another displacement.
"We lived there for nearly 30 years. No matter which government came to power, no one forced us out. Now, at the end of my life, I still couldn't get a safe place to live," she said.
Khatri, who suffers from asthma, heart disease and other chronic illnesses, said she must take medication regularly but can no longer afford both medicine and food.
Living with fear
"How can Rs 25,000 cover medicine and meals? Vegetable prices are soaring. I don't know whether the government brought us here to help us survive or to let us die," she said.
She added that food assistance previously provided had stopped in recent days, while the water supply had also been cut off.
"Don't send us to some remote place. We need somewhere with access to water, hospitals and medicine. They brought us here promising proper management, and now they're telling us to find rooms on our own," she said.
"They promised resettlement, now they tell us to leave"
Gopal Sunar, another displaced resident from Shantinagar, said the government had relocated families to the holding centre after promising permanent rehabilitation but was now asking them to leave without offering any alternative.
"They brought us here saying they would manage everything. Now they're telling us to vacate the holding centre and find somewhere else to stay," he said.
Sunar said the government had collected citizenship certificates, family details and other documents after promising to rehabilitate landless families who had remained without land for three generations. Residents had also been issued identification numbers, but he said nothing had come of the process.
"They collected all our documents and even issued identification numbers. How can they evict us again without rehabilitating us?" he asked.
Sunar, who has three young children, said they had been unable to attend school for the past three months following the eviction.
According to him, political parties have repeatedly used the landless community as a vote bank during elections.
"Every leader comes during election campaigns, but no one returns after the elections are over," he said.
"We are denied rooms because we are Dalits"
Dilmaya Pariyar, another resident of the holding centre, said she had long suffered from thyroid disease and back problems. She alleged that landlords refuse to rent rooms after learning that she belongs to the Dalit community and currently lives in a holding centre.
"At first they agree to rent the room. But once they find out we're Dalits and that we've come from the holding centre, they make excuses and refuse," she said.
Because of her health condition, she is unable to work regularly and struggles to earn a living. She said the government should at least ensure safe housing.
"The government won't let us stay here, and we can't find a room outside. Where are we supposed to go?" she asked.
She said worsening housing and food insecurity had forced her to send her two young children to Surkhet.
"I searched for a room for six days but couldn't find one. My children's education has been disrupted. First they stopped providing food, now they've cut off the water too. Where is a sick person supposed to go?" she said.
Pariyar, who also suffers from high blood pressure and high uric acid levels, said the government may not be able to provide employment but should at least ensure permanent and secure housing.
Demand for permanent housing
Most families staying at the holding centre said their primary demand is permanent housing. They argued that the relief money provided by the government is not a long-term solution and called for sustainable arrangements that would address basic needs such as housing, food, healthcare and children's education.
Residents have been given until Saturday to vacate the holding centre. Officials from the Bagmati Civilization Integrated Development Committee recently posted a notice at the site directing them to leave. The original deadline had been July 3, but authorities later extended it until July 11.
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