Eighty-year-old Shamsher Bahadur Magar is among the 57 people displaced by a landslide that struck his village and two others on August 3.

The landslide victims have pitched tents on a hillside, Behuli danda, close to their villages, but do not feel safe since the hillside is also prone to landslides.

“There are 57 of us living on this hillside under tents to escape the landslide in the village. But we aren’t safe here either. It’s been more than a week we have been waiting for authorities to move us to a safer place, but no one has come,” said Magar.

A total of 13 families have been displaced from their homes in Salle, Tallo Salle and Hurpung villages in Gaurishankar Rural Municipality-8 in Dolakha. The villages are located in remote areas difficult to reach, especially after the landslides damaged roads and suspension bridges leading to the villages from Charikot, the district headquarters.

The displaced families, comprising mostly children, women and elderly, have built temporary shelters using tarpaulin tents at Behuli Danda. They have carpeted the ground with hay and dry shrubs to keep warm, according to Magar.

Magar said the displaced families have not had a good night’s sleep since the disaster struck. A heavy downpour means the tents leak causing misery. “It has been raining every day and even at night. The tents don’t hold up to heavy rains and water seeps into the ground making it difficult for us to find dry space to make our beds,” said Magar. “The tarpaulins were distributed a week ago by local authorities and since then no one has come to ask about us.”

The journey to the villages is filled with risks during the rainy season with landslides, big and small, erupting in several places. “One has to walk for five hours to reach the nearest town if we are to run out of food and essentials,” said Magar. “Our only hope is if the local authorities send us relief before we run out.”

According to Tul Maya Magar, another displaced local, around 10 families from Salle fled and took shelter in a cave the whole night on August 3 after the landslide struck the village from all sides. “Now we are living in a constant state of fear because it hasn’t stopped raining,” she said.

Ramesh Magar said that although some houses in the landslide-hit villages weren’t completely destroyed, continuous rainfall has eroded the landmass, loosening the soil. “Another landslide is waiting to occur. We can’t risk going back just yet although Behuli Danda is also not a safe place during the monsoon season,” said Ramesh.

Almost all the roads and bridges have also sustained severe damage or have been swept away by landslides, according to Ramesh. “We are completely cut off with no roads and bridges. The only way to reach us is on foot and that too is risky,” he said.

Exposure to elements coupled with bad weather conditions has led to several children and elderly people in the temporary shelter falling sick. According to Man Bahadur Shrestha, another displaced man, the families are worried about the sick since it is impossible to take them to a health centre given the bad road conditions.

“Leaving this area has become difficult as the landslide has damaged several road sections,” said Shrestha. “The children and the elderly are becoming ill and there is no way to reach the hospital. We will have to carry the patients on our backs and walk for almost five hours to reach the nearest health post.”

“The tents leak during rainfall. We are living in very poor conditions—it’s wet and cold all the time. People are falling sick because of that,” said Shrestha.

Providing relief to the landslide-hit area is also a challenge in itself as it requires embarking on a 2-day treacherous cliff-side trail journey from Charikot, the district headquarters. It usually takes three to four hours by road from Chairkot to Chisa Khahare and then another couple of hours on foot to reach the villages. But since the August 3 landslide has damaged all roads leading to the villages, the journey is not possible.

A suspension bridge connecting Chisa Khahare to the villages and a footpath were also damaged by the landslide.

Shrestha, who was on his way to the Behuli Danda carrying a sack of rice and a carton of noodles for the displaced, said, “The landslide has taken everything, there is no house to live in. I came down to Chisa Khahare to collect some relief. I have a long and hard journey back to Behuli Danda.”

Most of the displaced victims complain that their well-being has never been prioritised by the local government. The absence of immediate government intervention has only further established their views on the apathy of the government, says Gangamaya Thami of Hurpung, who has been taking shelter at a local school with 14 other displaced families.

“The state did not care about us in the past, but we were hoping the authorities would play a bigger role in helping us resettle,” said Thami.

Kopila Magar, another displaced victim, is worried about her cattle. She had left them to graze in the forest when the disaster struck. “I had left my goats and cows to graze in the forest and they haven’t come back. They were our means of livelihood. Our lives will never be the same again.”

The landslides that erupted in Salle have moved towards Topatar. The August 3 disaster killed two people while two have gone missing. Nine houses have been damaged in Topatar, a small market area in the rural municipality.

Sange Sherpa from Bhisme village says the landslide has surrounded the village from all sides. “Around 22 families have left the village. Electricity and communication have been disrupted in the village for more than a week after the power poles were damaged by landslides,” said Sherpa.

Meanwhile, Chief District Officer Komal Prasad Dhamala said that the District Administration Office has urged the Home Ministry for the relocation of the victims as soon as possible.