Amid financial hardship and fear of wild animals, the Sarki family has been living a difficult life in a forest hut for four decades.
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There is a small hut in the middle of a dense forest near Banagaun, Kalimati Rural Municipality-7, Salyan. From a distance, it looks like a cowshed for cattle and goats. It is covered with straw and wood, covered with a blue tarpaulin on top, and there is no door or wall in front. It is a weak structure that can collapse even in a normal wind.
This hut is not a cattle shed, but a shelter for 56-year-old Jit Bahadur Sarki and his family of five for four decades.
The hut, located in the middle of a dense forest with perennial trees, leaks water during the rain. Since the front part is open, there is also the fear of wild animals.
Jit Bahadur, who is in a miserable financial condition, says that he has to live in the hut because he has no means of earning income. 'The rain during the rainy season, the wind and cold in the winter are bothering me,' he said, 'I keep worrying about when wild animals will attack.'
His family is unprotected while the tiger that entered the Banke National Park is wreaking havoc. Even though the government is building houses for the economically weak, poor and Dalit communities through the Janata Awas program, they are being left behind.
Jit Bahadur has built a small hut nearby and raised cows and goats to earn income. 'There is no other means of income. There is no ancestral property. Wild animals destroy crops planted on public land before they can ripen,' he said. 'It is difficult for a family of five to make ends meet by selling goats and working as laborers.'
There is a fear of tigers here as it is near Banke National Park. In the second week of Poush, a tiger killed three people. Every day, farmers enter the cattle and goats kept in the pens and kill them.
He said that although he heard that the government is building houses for homeless Dalit and poor families, no one has helped him so far. He has been living in a hut at various risks due to his weak financial condition and has appealed to the concerned bodies to help him build a house.
Jit Bahadur's wife Pansali narrated the pain of not only the fear of wild animals but also the pain of not being able to sleep all night during the rainy season and the very cold nights in winter. 'During the months of April and May, when there are forest fires, people have to leave their homes and flee to safer places,' she said. 'Sometimes, if they get sick, they have to leave immediately without getting treatment.'
Mitralal Rijal, ward chair of Kalimati Rural Municipality-7, said that support has been started for Jit Bahadur. 'Financial support has been started from the relevant bodies and stakeholders for the construction of his house,' he said. 'Since the municipality has started a thatched roof campaign, initiatives are being taken to provide him with a roof covering and to build a house through the Janata Awas program.'
