Nepali workers die in landslides in Kedarnath region every year

The bodies of the three people from Chitwan were brought to Nepal and the last rites were performed, while the last rites of the Dailekh family were performed in India. They used to work as carpenters in Fanta area, who were living in huts on the side of the road connected to the small canal. In the middle of the night, the landslide swept away the four people along with the tower. According to the Badrinath police, the area where they live is considered to be prone to landslides. Due to the landslides, the roads are also blocked in places in the area.

A similar incident happened in July last year. 16 Nepalis died in a landslide in Gaurikunda, which is considered the departure point of Kedarnath. Out of which 4 bodies have not been found yet.

Even in Garikunda, a house built by the Mandakini river on the roadside was washed away by a landslide and taken into the river. In a two-story wooden house, the hotel was operated on the lower floor, while the workers used to sleep on the upper floor. Amar Bohra of Jumla Patarasi was running a hotel on the bank of the river. Badrinath, Kedarnath and other religious tourist areas are major employment destinations for Nepali workers. A large number of Nepalese have come to the area because of good income in the short time of

season. However, Nepalis have been losing their lives every year while living and working in risky areas. Umar Prasad Chaturvedi, a counselor at the Nepali Embassy in Delhi, said, "The number of Nepali workers is increasing, and the risk is also the same." There are thousands of Nepali workers.

Nepali workers are used to transport tourists in Badrinath and Kedarnath areas. Nepalese people make a horse, doli and doko rope to carry them. Gaurinath to Kedarnath is 22 km and two-way 44 km, one person can earn 30 to 40 thousand rupees. But Bhim Bahadur KC of Salyan, who has been working in Gaurikund for 4 years, says that some people die while carrying heavy things uphill. "A person can earn up to 40,000 in a day, but they can also die on the way," he said. According to him, it is difficult to carry heavy things uphill from Gaurikund and there is also a problem of leakage.

'For the sake of money, many people live in huts along the roadside, that's where landslides happen,' says KC, 'The mountain here is very gentle, the road is blocked from time to time by landslides.' It happens. He said that the owner should be paid 30/40 thousand per season for building the enclosure.

The season of Kedarnath lasts from Baisakh to October. During this period one person can earn at least 3 lakh more. Therefore, despite the risk, Nepali workers have become attractive. Those who died due to landslides or other accidents do not get any relief or compensation, not even the wages of their work. The Nepalese working in the field say that there is no accounting for it, so it is a problem to get wages.

The same thing happened in the case of 4 people who died near Kedarnath last time. 'We don't know how much wages we got, how much we were left to get,' said Saraswati Parki, the niece of Tul Bahadur Periyar, who died in the landslide, 'Now we talk only when the owner comes, we don't even know the owner.' Floods and landslides caused great damage. It is estimated that many workers died at that time. Nepali workers are also believed to have died among them. But so far, there has been no investigation on how many Nepalis have died. At that time, not much has come out about the human losses. Councilor Chaturvedi says that even though there is a provision for Nepali workers to register their names in the local administration there, since the complete details are not written, it is not possible to find out the exact data.