After the Mahakali River and the Khahare River, which originates from the Chure Mountains, eroded the settlements during the rainy season, locals have been moving their homes and tents to safer places for years.
What you should know
The Chure Mountains to the east and the Mahakali River to the west. In recent years, settlements have expanded extensively in the Ghadighanch area of the Chure foothills on the banks of the Mahakali River in the Khalla.
There are also many Khahare rivers flowing from Chure in the vicinity of Khalla. After the Mahakali River and the Khahare River originating from Chure eroded the settlements during the rainy season, the locals have been moving their houses and huts to safer places for years.
In the past, Brahmadev Border Bazaar near Tanakpur in India was the main trading center of the remote hilly region. From Brahmadev, clothes, salt oil and daily necessities were transported to the hilly districts of the far west through Khalla Musetti. After the road expansion, the old footpath here began to become deserted. Since the 1940s, the settlement in Khalla Musetti has started expanding with the encroachment of government forest areas from the hilly districts and the occupation of public land.
92-year-old Haridatta Joshi from Darchula arrived here in 2040. Joshi and a few other people decided to settle down here and start farming. From that time on, they started earning land illegally by clearing small plots of land and encroaching on government forest land. In the early days, the forest administration used to arrest them and burn their huts to prevent land encroachment. They would hide in the forest all day and stay in their huts at night to avoid being arrested by forest officials. One day, the forest officials would come and burn their huts along with their clothes and rations.
Joshi spent 5 years in jail repeatedly for encroaching on forest land during the expansion of the settlement here. At that time, whenever the district forest chief changed, he would be the first target. Gradually, the settlement expanded. Forest workers also stopped causing trouble.
Initially, it was very difficult to settle in the area located in Bhimdatta Municipality-9 of Kanchanpur. There was not much crop production. Everything had to be bought from Tanakpur in Uttarakhand, India, across the Mahakali. Even the footpath to reach Tanakpur was not easy. There were many problems with electricity, telephone and drinking water. Joshi says that he reached Tanakpur by walking through Brahmadev and made a living by bringing salt, flour and rice from there.
With the expansion of the settlement, there has been talk of public land surveying in this area. Recently, especially during the elections, every candidate and political party who comes here has been repeating the commitment to survey the land and provide land certificates. But so far, neither the land has been surveyed, nor have the residents stopped demanding land certificates. Every election The demand for their land survey and land title deeds has been a major election issue.
‘I spent my entire life on public land, I even went to jail for it, and even now I have no hope of getting the land title deeds,’ Joshi said, ‘No one who lived here with me at the beginning is here, the second generation has also grown old waiting for the land title deeds, but there is no telling when it will be surveyed and the land title deeds will be received.’
His land is on the banks of the Mahakali. The Mahakali floods are also eroding it. In 2070, nine families from the riverbank area were displaced by the Mahakali floods. Some of them have been displaced from this place elsewhere, while some families are living in the same area by building houses and huts on the land of Siddha Baba’s temple.
‘They say they will give the red papers, but the land has not even been surveyed yet,’ said 82-year-old Dabal Kathayat, who migrated from Masta in Bajhang in 2060, ‘Everyone shows up during elections. They make various promises to ask for votes, but no one comes back after the elections.’
This issue has been in the news since the first Constituent Assembly election. After the constitution was promulgated, everyone has raised this issue with priority in all local, provincial and House of Representatives elections.
After the Land Problems Resolution Commission called for applications last time, locals here have also applied for the survey of the land they use. Those who applied have also received a certificate for the survey. But there is no indication when the survey will be conducted. ‘They say the survey will be done, but we don’t know when it will happen,’ said Anjali Bohara, a local and the only public representative of the area who is also a member of the executive committee of Bhimdatta Municipality.’
Her family has been living here since 2042. She said that her father’s family came here from Bajhang after rumors spread that they would get a public land in Khalla near Brahmadev. ‘We got married here, there was 1 bigha of land on the river bank.’ The severe flood of 1970 washed away all the houses and property, and now we are living in a hut on the temple land,’ said Bohara. ‘The houses of 9 families were uprooted by the floods of Mahakali.’
Joshi says that after the first local level elections, road and electricity services were started in the area on the initiative of the municipality. But recently, work is underway to open a track in the Brahmadev area under the Mahakali Corridor. Due to which the road from Brahmadev to Khalla has been blocked. ‘In winter, we are walking along the banks of the Mahakali, and when the road is not opened during the monsoon, we are stuck,’ said Joshi, ‘Our demand is that the road should be opened before the monsoon.’ Currently, the electricity poles on the roadside are also buried in the banks of the Mahakali. It is likely that the poles will collapse and electricity will be disrupted when the Mahakali flows.’
There are three settlements in the area, namely Khalla, Tundikhel and Masutti. Around 400 families live in all three settlements. Most of them have migrated from the hilly districts of the Far West. The area, which is also close to Brahmadev Mandi, is also known for Bhimdutta Pant’s salt scandal.
The settlement of Khalla is about 5 kilometers north of Brahmadev. Musutti is 3 kilometers north of it, and Tundikhel is in between. There are half a dozen rivulets from Brahmadev to Musetti. During the rainy season, the movement of people is stopped due to the rivulets. Due to which the studies of the students of the area are also disrupted.
There are three basic schools in the settlement here, namely Bhimdatta, Baijnath and Saraswati. Saraswati and Baijnath offer education up to grade 5, while Bhimdatta offers education up to grade 8. After passing grade 8, students are forced to come to Brahmadev for their studies. Students who come to Brahmadev during the rainy season face a lot of problems.
According to Bohara, a member of the municipal executive, there are about 500 students in the settlement of Khalla Musetti. ‘There were only 10-15 percent voters here, most of them made voter ID cards after 2074 BS,’ she said, ‘But even though the number of voters has increased, most of them have gone to India for employment. If they don’t go to India and work, they won’t be able to make ends meet.’ Locals believe that this time’s election was not very exciting. ‘In the past elections, candidates and their workers would go to meet voters and ask for votes, but this year it seems to be quiet so far,’ says executive member Bohara, ‘Falgun 21 is almost here, will the election atmosphere heat up?’
