Chakradhwaj Tiwari, a resident of Ramche Sahele in Bahrabise Municipality-9, has become restless since the monsoon began. The landmass above his settlement has caved in and could result in landslide, he says. His house is also at risk of floods from the nearby Andheri stream.
“The stream gets flooded when it rains in the area. The entire settlement is at high risk of landslides as the construction of Tamakoshi transmission line has left incomplete,” said Chakradhwaj.
According to him, the land just above the settlement has caved in because of pits that were dug to place utility poles for the Tamakoshi transmission line.
Landslide and Flood
On Sunday, the flooded Andheri stream swept away an animal shed and damaged the paddy field of Krishna Tiwari, a resident of Ramche Sahele. Krishna managed to take his buffaloes and cattle to safer places before the shed was swept away.
“We feel as if we are living on the edge every day. We don’t know when the floods and landslide will sweep away the whole settlement,” Krishna told the Post. “After what happened in Lidi and Ghumthang Gagpuje in the past, we cannot be too cautious.”
According to Krishna Bahadur Rayamajhi, the ward chief of Bahrabise-9 who recently visited the area, around 50 houses at Sahele, Chambote, Pipalbot, Bhirkuna and Pakha Chautara in the ward are at risk of landslide.
People of several settlements in Sindhupalchok, a hill district of Bagmati Province, are living in abject fear of landslides. Sindhupalchok has been battered by a series of natural disasters over the past decade. The earthquake of 2015—which killed 3,570 people and destroyed over 90,000 houses— has made the district’s topography vulnerable to landslides, geologists say.
As per the data available at the District Police Office in Sindhupalchok, landslides had swept away Bhirkharka Nagpuje and BK Tole of Bahrabise-7 on 13 September 2020, killing 15 people. Sixteen people went missing in the calamity.
