ReliefWeb

• ANISH TIWARI, JURE (SINDHUPALCHOK)

One hundred and twenty-two families who were rendered homeless by the 2014 Jure landslide have demanded that the government release the donations collected for the affected families.

The government had announced to provide Rs300,000 housing construction aid for the landslide victims in three installments, and an additional Rs50,000 for those families who had also lost their land in the landslide.

The affected families had received the first instalment of the aid after signing the agreement. However, a majority of the victims said they have no land plots to construct their houses. “My family has been living under a temporary hut in Koleni for the last four years. I have no land plot to construct a house,” said Ram Bahadur Tamang of Itani in Balephi Rural Municipality. “I could purchase a land plot if the government distributes the donation amount.”

Lakhan Tamang, one of the landslide affected people who is living in Pallo Koleni, said the housing reconstruction aid is not sufficient to build a house. “We want the authorities to distribute the collected amount to the affected families,” he said.

Currently, the landslide-displaced families are taking shelter in Myagneside Koleni, Kalleri and Dabiphant areas.

Chari Bahadur Tamang, the ward chairman of Balephi-8, said, “The affected families have been demanding the release of the donated money saying that the house reconstruction aid is insufficient.”

Rs22 million collected in the Jure Landslide Relief Fund at the local level has been sitting idle at the District Disaster Management Committee (DDMC). However, the committee has not utilised the fund for victims’ rehabilitation.

The massive landslide on August 2, 2014 had blocked the Bhotekoshi river and formed a lake at Jure in Mankha VDC, destroying a kilometre section of the Araniko Highway. One hundred and forty-five people were killed in the landslide.