Those displaced during the expansion of the then Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve (now a national park) are busy building huts on vacant land at the Herbs Office, saying they will sit on a relay hunger strike.
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Some are building huts with plastic roofs. Some huts have already been built. At first glance, it seems that settlements are expanding in an area that is already being populated.
They are now building huts in the vacant land of the herbal medicine office in front of the Division Forest Office. Some have also started living in dilapidated houses in the area.
Here, those who were displaced during the expansion of the then Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve (now a national park) have started building huts as a relay hunger strike. Those who were living in various camps in the district have now started building huts in a hurry. 'We have been repeatedly tricked into agreeing, now we will not move from here until rehabilitation is done,' said Jaya Bahadur Rokaya, coordinator of the Shuklaphanta Reserve Displaced People's Struggle Committee, 'We have come carrying flour and rice in bags, we eat that, after that we have no where to go.' Earlier, they had also gone on hunger strike in Madan Chowk in Mahendranagar in Bhadau and in Maitighar in Kathmandu in Asar. They broke their hunger strike after verbal agreement in both places.
The displaced people of the reserve have demanded that land be provided without reducing 10 katta, compensation for up to 24 years should be arranged, the displaced people of the reserve should be declared conflict victims, and arrangements should be made for shelter, education and health.
They had also been on a hunger strike in front of the district administration for two days before building a hut on the vacant land in front of the Division Forest Office. ‘We are tired of protesting, now we are building a hut for the last time,’ said displaced person Jeet Singh Air, ‘We have been deceived on various pretexts, a commission was formed in our name, but our situation is the same.’
61-year-old Air was displaced from 4 Hatiya, VDC, Rautelibichwa, in 2058 BS. One bigha of his land was acquired during the expansion of the reserve. Since then, he has been living in the Dhaka camp inside the Shuklaphanta National Park. More than 600 displaced families are living in the camp. The Sangharsh Samiti has stated that 2,473 displaced families are living in 14 different camps in the district.
In 2033, after the then Royal Hunting Reserve was declared Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve, the expansion of the eastern area was started. By 2058, settlements were evacuated from the expanded areas of the park. Most of those who have not been resettled now are those who were displaced in 2058. The eastern area of the reserve, which had an area of 150 square kilometers, was expanded to 305 square kilometers. Shuklaphanta was upgraded from a reserve to a park in 2073.
32 commissions have been formed since 2037 to rehabilitate the displaced. The commissions and committees formed with a period of 3 months to a year are stuck on the number of displaced people. The 32nd commission, which was last formed last year and coordinated by former Court of Appeal judge Jayanand Paneru, showed the number of displaced people at 2,027. Before that, in 2071, the 29th commission led by former Court of Appeal judge Thakur Prasad Sharma had submitted a report stating that the number of displaced people was 1,480 and that they should be rehabilitated. Previous commissions have put the number of displaced people at 2,473.
