“The flood left us landless. We have gone from pillars to posts seeking rehabilitation but all we received was mere assurances from local to central authority,” said Pandeya. [break]
Like Pandeya, three dozen households rendered landless in the flood have been living in huts they made in the forest. The ravaging flood in Ranjun, Pantura and Sirsha in 2004 in had swept way a settlement killing 32 people and rendereding 30 families homeless.
They grieved that local and central authorities had turned deaf ears to their request of rehabilitation. They said that politicians never come to their village except during elections to ask for vote.
The displaced families had settled themselves in the forest near Shirsha and Jogbuda VDC. “After the river eroded all our land, we are now forced to live in the jungle,” said Ganesh Nath. “It has become really hard for us even to keep away wolves from the door, after we lost all our arable land,” he added.
Besides difficulty in earning livelihood, their children are devoid of educational opportunities. According to Chief District Officer Rishi Ram Tiwari, the district administration office was aware about the people living in the jungle. “Due to the lack of budget, we are unable to rehabilitate them to a new and safer place,” said Tiwari.
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