{"id":962,"date":"2025-04-24T08:04:07","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T08:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ambedkarsociety.org\/assa\/?p=962"},"modified":"2025-04-29T08:20:41","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T08:20:41","slug":"nepal-no-relief-yet-for-bajhang-dalits-devastated-by-2021-floods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ambedkarsociety.org\/assa\/nepal-no-relief-yet-for-bajhang-dalits-devastated-by-2021-floods\/","title":{"rendered":"NEPAL: No relief yet for Bajhang Dalits devastated by 2021 floods"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dashain, Nepal\u2019s grandest festival, had filled Seku village in ward 9 of Kedarsyun Rural Municipality with joy and festivity. Relatives had returned home, friends reunited and the village echoed with laughter and celebration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But just a day after Teeka<\/em>, Dashain\u2019s main day, the sky turned dark with hovering clouds. On the evening of October 16, 2021 rain began pouring relentlessly. Nearby streams roared louder with every passing hour and soon the roads and trails turned into rivers of muddy water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sher Damai, aged 65, of Seku village just below the rural road was preparing to go to bed. But the noise from the nearby stream unsettled him. A sense of impending doom filled his heart. While the rest of his family slept peacefully, he remained restless. By midnight, as the rain was still incessant, he stepped outside to assess the situation. What he saw was terrifying\u2014floodwaters had already reached the doorstep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sensing danger, Sher quickly gathered his sleeping children and climbed uphill. \u201cThe moment we reached the road a few metres above, the house collapsed with a deafening crash,\u201d Sher recalled the disaster. That single disaster damaged 15 homes in Seku village, which is home to 85 Dalit families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was an extension of the monsoon by a few days in 2021, wreaking havoc across the country. Bajhang, a remote hill district in Sudurpaschim province, was the hardest hit. According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), a total of 1,145 homes across the district needed reconstruction while another 854 required repairs. Of those affected, 463 families were from Dalit communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four years have passed, and most of the victims are still waiting for the government to deliver on its promise of reconstruction aid. The neglect has hit Dalit communities the hardest, pushing nearly 3,000 people to migrate to India in search of work. More than 125 homes are now locked and abandoned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Govinda Pokharel, the former vice-chairperson of the National Planning Commission and past chief executive officer of the National Reconstruction Authority, termed the situation a clear failure of governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe government should have first provided temporary shelters and then ensured permanent housing within two to three years. But Dalit and poor families, whose only asset was their home, were left with nothing,\u201d said Pokharel. \u201cThey had no financial alternatives. The state ignored them, and in return, people lost faith in the state and left the country. It\u2019s a tragic failure of responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After every disaster, a few helping hands usually appear. A week after the floods, local government teams and aid groups arrived to assess the damage. Some brought relief supplies. Among those waiting in line was Deepak Luhar of Seku, whose house had been filled with sludge from a landslide that broke through one of the walls. He and Sher had fled in haste, managing to save their lives but could not save their homes and salvage belongings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sher and Deepak submitted applications to the ward and rural municipality offices for reconstruction aid. \u201cWe were told that if we filed a request with the ward and rural municipality, we\u2019d receive money to rebuild homes. It\u2019s been four years and we\u2019ve received nothing,” lamented Deepak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many Dalit families from Bajhang were forced to migrate to India for work after being excluded from the government’s beneficiary list or receiving only the first installment or falling into debt from trying to rebuild homes on their own. Some homes are now vacant while other families are preparing to leave the settlement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sher borrowed money to repair his damaged home, but the repaired house is still unsafe. Cracks have developed and stones fall from the walls. Deepak\u2019s family, on the other hand, is staying in a neighbour\u2019s home. Both men make ends meet by stitching clothes and forging tools for non-Dalit neighbours, receiving grain twice a year in return. The rest of the time, they rely on daily wage work and loans to survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their dreams of building strong, permanent homes remain out of reach as the loans they\u2019ve taken continue to pile up. In April 2022, Deepak’s brother and his wife migrated to Bengaluru, India, with their infant child for work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two years earlier, Sher\u2019s three sons and two daughters-in-law had also moved to India with their children. \u201cThey went to India hoping to earn enough to rebuild the house. But it is not easy to save money,\u201d Sher said. \u201cI don’t know when we\u2019ll ever rebuild our home and live safely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discriminatory in enlisting beneficiaries<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neither Sher nor Deepak\u2019s names appear on the NDRRMA\u2019s official list of victims eligible for government aid for reconstruction. When informed about this, their frustration boiled over. \u201cPeople with far less damage\u2014some with none at all\u2014are on the list but our names were removed. How is this justice?\u201d Deepak questioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NDRRMA records show that 46 Dalit families from ward 1 to 9 of Kedarsyun were affected by the 2021 disaster. Of these, 33 homes needed rebuilding and 13 required repairs. Yet, even those included in the list have not received any aid after four years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One such person is 63-year-old Kainsi Od of Dundil village in ward 1 of Kedarsyun. Her mud-and-thatch house collapsed during the rains, forcing her family of 19 to live under a tarpaulin for two months. When her grandchildren began falling sick from the cold, she took out a loan and built a small shed. Repairing the old home and installing a tin roof cost her over Rs650,000 in loans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of her family\u2014four sons, three daughters-in-law, and nine grandchildren\u2014moved to India to repay the debt. Now, only Kainsi and two granddaughters live in the village. \u201cWe cannot find work here. We had no choice but to send them,\u201d she said. \u201cIf the government had kept its promise my family wouldn\u2019t have had to leave and I wouldn\u2019t be left alone in old age.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the 23 Dalit families in Dundil village, six were included in the reconstruction list. But locals say 13 families\u2019 homes were damaged. \u201cThe officials came and recorded everyone\u2019s names. Then they cut some, added others. We don\u2019t know how or why,\u201d said Dharma Od. \u201cThose who could get loans managed to repair their homes. Others left for India.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Broken promises<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the wake of the disaster, not just local officials but top national leaders arrived in Bajhang by helicopter\u2014then prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, home minister Bal Krishna Khand, Sudurpaschim chief minister Trilochan Bhatta, provincial Speaker Arjun Thapa and federal parliamentarians all promised swift reconstruction. Under the disaster management procedure 2020, affected families in mountain districts like Bajhang were to receive Rs 500,000 for rebuilding and Rs50,000 for repairs. Those needing relocation would get an additional Rs300,000 for land purchase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But most flood and landslide victims in Bajhang remain empty-handed even four years later. The aid procedure mandates that local disaster committees identify beneficiaries and submit lists to the district. These must be accompanied by documents proving ownership or risk. The district committee then verifies and forwards the list to the national authority for aid distribution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source: Kathmandu Post<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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