In the first week of November, the District Security Committee team had conducted an on-site inspection and requested the authority to proceed with the necessary process on that basis. However, the authority has neither moved forward with the relocation of the risky settlements nor has the necessary funds been released for the construction of temporary housing.
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72 households in Sawne and Keureni villages in Hiledevi, Sunapati Rural Municipality-3 are still forced to live at high risk. The locals are risking their lives as the land continues to slide towards the Khanikhola below the village.
According to locals, the risk has increased with the onset of rain. Ramhari Shrestha of Sawne says, 'This year too, it has rained for a while, it rains for a while, and then it dries up. The state did nothing, and the local level also did not show much interest.' According to him, if the houses cannot be moved to a safe place before the rains, the risk of the mine flowing towards the river is increasing.
A major landslide occurred in the Sawne-Keureni area in 2035. Although the settlement was relocated at that time, the locals returned and started living there after the landslide stopped. But since the land has started shifting again since the second week of Asoj 2081, the risk has increased again. Meanwhile, locals say that the incessant rains on Asoj 17, 18 and 19, 2082, have made the situation even more dire.
More than 72 households in Sawane and Keureni are at high risk. Some houses have collapsed, while many have become uninhabitable due to the cracks. Due to the lack of a safe alternative, locals are still forced to live in their cracked houses.
Sita Khadka, a landslide victim from Keureni, says, 'For two years, we have been asking for help in many places - saying that we are at risk. But nothing has been done except to go and see and tell us to move the settlement. The house is about to collapse, stones and mud fall when we sleep at night, we have to live in fear.' 
The locals are further worried that the situation will become more complicated in the coming days as it is raining before the monsoon starts this year. They have demanded that the concerned bodies immediately arrange for relocation to a safer place.
In the first week of last Mangsir, a district-level team led by Chief District Officer Shyam Krishna Thapa inspected the risky settlement on-site. During the inspection, it was concluded that settlements including Keureni and Sawne had become completely unsafe and it was made clear that they could no longer be inhabited. The team had also requested the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority to immediately move the necessary process to relocate 65 vulnerable households to safer places.
In addition, beneficiaries were selected as per the Temporary Housing Construction Grant Criteria-2081 for disaster-affected families and their details were entered in the disaster portal and a demand was made for the release of the first installment. Similarly, 35 tents and 20 tarpaulins were distributed as immediate relief based on the on-site report prepared by the officials of the District Security Committee.
Sunapati Rural Municipality has identified three different places in the same ward for landslide victims. However, locals say that even after a team of geologists has returned to the identified places, no decision has been made yet about the place to be relocated. According to Tek Bahadur Shrestha, a resident of the landslide-affected area and ward member of Sunapati Rural Municipality-3, unless the settlements are immediately relocated, the locals of Keureni and Sawne cannot be free from fear with any relief or compensation.
According to him, so far, 4 families whose houses have completely collapsed and are uninhabitable have moved to safer places. 2 of them have gone to Bethan, while the remaining 2 families are living in a safer place in Hildevi. He said that even the tents provided by the District Disaster Management Committee have been torn apart by the wind and are unusable. Most of the houses are now cracked and in a state of collapse at any time, forcing many families to live there at their own risk.
The meeting of the District Disaster Management Committee held on November 20 had decided to relocate the risky settlements through geological studies and to request the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority to provide the necessary budget for the construction of temporary housing for the beneficiaries whose houses were damaged. But the decision could not be implemented for a long time.
In the first week of Mangsir, the District Security Committee team had conducted an on-site inspection and requested the Authority to proceed with the necessary process on that basis. However, the Authority neither proceeded with the relocation of the risky settlements, nor did it release the necessary funds for the construction of temporary housing.
Meanwhile, the District Disaster Management Committee meeting held again on Chaitra 20 decided to request that the process be expedited. As per the same decision, a geological study team has now been deployed after a letter was sent to the Authority again. The team completed a detailed study of the risky area in 3-4 days, informed Ramechhap Chief District Officer Shyam Krishna Thapa.
According to him, as the settlements are becoming more vulnerable as the rainy season approaches, a strong request has been made again to proceed with the relocation process as soon as possible and to release the necessary budget for temporary housing. 'This time, it is our priority to move the settlements to a safe place at all costs before the rains begin,' he said. 'We expect the process to proceed this time.'
In the House of Representatives meeting held on Tuesday, Dr. Krishnahari Budhathoki has raised the serious issue of increasing disaster risk in settlements such as Keureni and Sawne in the district. He noted that more than 72 households in those areas are at high risk and drew the government's attention to immediately moving forward with the process of resettlement.
Speaking in parliament, MP Budhathoki said that Keureni settlement of Sunapati rural municipality has been completely destroyed and the residents need to be immediately shifted to a safe place. He also stated that the lives of thousands of citizens have become unsafe due to the Ghyapche landslide, describing it as a serious humanitarian crisis. 'It is necessary to relocate 72 households as soon as possible. The Ghyapche landslide has put a large population at risk,' he said. 'I strongly demand the government to resolve these problems immediately.' He urged the government to take effective steps for early relief, rehabilitation and long-term solutions in the disaster-affected areas.
