With no embankments, Rapti River makes more people homeless

Published On: August 26, 2018 09:11 AM NPT By: Arjun Oli


KANCHANAPUR, Aug 26: Chhal Bahadur Budha of Raptisonari -2 planted paddy and corn in his fields last month. Almost every day he would visit the fields to see the growth of the plants. Seeing their growth, he would smile thinking that he would be harvest a good yield that would last for at least six months. 

“It was growing so well that I was elated. For a farmer, healthy growth of crops is everything,” said Budha. “I would feel very good to visit my field early in the morning, almost every day,” he added. 

Budhas dream of harvesting the crops were dashed recently. Rapti River swept away his paddy fields. The place where once his paddy fields were is now filled with water and silt left behind the floods. 

“With that only piece of land washed away by the river, I don’t have any land to cultivate crops now. There is only water in my field. It is now a part of the river,” lamented Budha. “I am a landless man now,” 

Budha had eight kattha of land. He had planted paddy in half and corn in the other half. As the land plot was swept away by the river, Budha has indeed become a landless man now.

Budha is actually from Salyan. The family migrated to Raptisonari in search of safe place; Salyan hills were prone to landslides. 

“We came here to escape landslides.  But, see our destiny, here river sliced off our land. There is no respite for poor no matter where they go,” Budha noted. 

The migration was not an easy option for Budha’s family. They did not have a penny with them. Selling off the land and house back in the village would not be a wise decision either, as it would not offer them an amount that would help them to migrate. 

“With a great difficulty we managed to make some money. And, we spent all that here to buy that land,” Budha reported. 

The family bought land in Kachanapur of Raptisonari at the rate of Rs 100,000 per kattha. The debt remains to be paid while the land is gone! 

“We were poor but not beggars. Now, it feels we have become a beggar. We look up to the government, may it will send some help our way,” Budha said. 

Along with sweeping away their farm, the river damaged the family’s home on Thursday. The family is presently seeking shelter in a local public school. When the school asks them to move out, they have nowhere to go. 

“This is schools’ building. They won’t let us live here forever. Where are we supposed to go, when they will ask us to vacate the school premises?” Budha questioned. 

The story of Dija Budhathoki, Budha’s neighbor, is no different. The family lost 28 kattha of land to the river. 

“Now, we have only 2 katthas of land left,” laments Dija. “Our land was very fertile. Others would envy. But, now we are landless,” she added. 

Since the past four years, Rapti River has wreaked similar havoc in the area. Locals lament that the lack of embankments in the river has led to the situation.

The ‘river menace’ has left hundreds of people in Banke and Kanchanpur helpless. After their fields and houses were ‘swallowed’ by the river, the flood victims have become homeless. Many of them are taking shelter at schools and temples. 

According to Dija, the settlements were at risk and everyone knew that. Villagers were pressing authority concerned to construct embankments on the river’s banks. “But they never heard us, and now we are one of the victims. There are many others like us,” Dija said. 

Kachanapur is one of the most affected villages according to Madan Oli, ward member of Raptisonari - 2. From the village alone, the river has claimed 15 bigas of land this year alone. 

“Last year, we went to the office of People’s Embankment Program in Lamahi requesting them to build embankments along the river. They gave assurances. But they never built the embankments. If they had, the flood victims would be living in their homes,” Oli said. “They had told us that they would send technicians, but the technicians never showed up,” he added. 

Rapti River has affected around 28 kilometers of area from Aggaiya to Rajpur in Raptisonari-2 alone. There are hundreds of other villages, where the river intervenes. 

Victims have urged the provincial and central government to make a long-term plan to address the issue. Krishna KC, provincial lawmaker elected from Banke’s constituency -1, also informed that hundreds of farmers were affected by the river. “We need to make a short-term and another long-term plan to solve the problem. We are raising the issue in the parliament,” she said.Erosion by the Rapti River claimed eight katthas of land and home of Dija Budathoki of Kanchanapur-2, Banke, pictured above, on Thursday. Her family is presently taking shelter at a local school.


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