The District Forest Office, Surkhet on December 2, 2012 mowed down the entire settlement, where Pariyar had dreamt of starting a new life, accusing the settlers of encroaching public land. [break]
Since he had spent all his hard-earned money on buying the land, Pariyar now remains homeless. He was little aware that the plot he had purchased belonged to the Khanddevi Community Forest.
“I was on top of the world when I bought the land. The plot was perfect and I couldn´t resist my desire to own it. I spent all my savings and had even borrowed money to purchase the land,” said Pariyar.
Families of twenty-seven other households in the settlement were also rendered homeless when the DFO tore down the houses. “I would have never bought the land had I known it was a public land. I was easily tricked by the former landowner,” said Pariyar.
Chandra BK shared that the forest officials tore down the houses and shooed them away. “Former landowners had promised to hand over the land ownership certificate but they never did. I had never thought that we would be driven away from the houses we had paid money for,” said BK.
Other displaced settlers, most of whom are Dalits, have returned to their former settlement. “We have lost everything,” said Jashbir Nepali. Of the 27 households in the settlement, members of 22 households have already returned to their previous homes.
The remaining five households have settled near the Kalyan River.
“We have braved the cold winter but I wonder how we will survive through monsoon rains,” said Nepali.
Chairperson of the community forest Tikaram Chantel, however, said that he would have no problems if the members of the community forest allow the displaced families to live there. “But then it would be against the laws,” said Chantel.
Meanwhile, District Forest Officer Shambhu Prasad Chaurasia said that they had to evict the settlers as they had been occupying public land. “We cannot allow squatters to settle in the forest. It is not our responsibility to settle the squatters,” said Chaurasia.
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