About five dozen families have left their homes in Nayagaun settlement of Bishalpur VDC-2. While most of them are taking shelters at their relatives´ places and neighbours´ houses, some are spending nights in cow sheds.[break]
"We are always fearful of landslides," says Jaya Dutta Bhatta, a resident of Bishalpur-2. "We have not slept properly for many days. Fear of landslides keeps us awake even in nights."
In the last few years, there have been landslides in as many as 68 places of Bishalpur VDC, including Nayagaun settlement.
The District Soil Conservation Office (DSCO) of Baitadi has already recommended that 200 families living in three settlements, including Nayagaun, be relocated at the earliest as they are highly vulnerable to landslides. The other two settlements that are listed by the DSCO as flood-prone include Katulegaun and Lwasgaun.
The DSCO has been building gabion walls to control landslides in Nayagaun every year. But, as landslides continue to occur and damage gabion walls, the DSCO says relocation of houses is now the only option to avoid landslide damages.
Although just around 60 families have fled their homes, nearly 500 families living in several parts of Shivapur are still vulnerable to landslides. "It has been difficult for us to avoid losing our lives," says Binod Bohara, a local resident. "Landslides can strike us any time."
"Risk of landslides in Bishalpur is not new," says Mangal Jagri, chief of the Baitadi DSCO. "The locals of Bishalpur are tormented by landslides throughout the monsoon seasons."
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