Nepal: Why do people continue to live near landslides?

Source(s): OnlineKhabar

By Binod Prasad Parajuli, research associate at Practical Action Consulting South Asia

[...]

As monsoon clouds, which bring over 80 per cent of the annual rainfall in Nepal, hover over the country, the people of Bajura, especially the poor, find themselves in trouble as they cannot move to safer grounds.

“We do not have money to buy land in other places and we have a loan to repay in the village. We cannot leave without repaying the loan,” says Piuli Damai, a resident of Khapdad Chhededaha-2.

While Damai and her community members understand that a landslide is imminent, there’s little they can do about it. They feel helpless as they do not have access to basic services, which often determine a community’s capacity to adapt in the face of disasters, and because they simply do not have the resources to do anything. According to the National Planning Commission, Sudurpaschim Province scores 0.230 on the multidimensional poverty index, the highest in the country. In a landscape prone to natural disasters, 51.22 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.

[...]

If poverty, disasters and climate change were not enough, the poorest of the poor in areas such as Bajura need to deal with social stratification based on caste, occupation, and income. It is observed that during the time of a disaster, people receive support proportional to their social position. Also, most of the people hesitate to ask for the support beyond their social groups closing the door for the possibility of collaborative efforts to resolve problems. If a household moves to a new place, it takes time for the people to form such social groups and this makes life difficult.

[...]

Explore further

Hazards Landslide
Country and region Nepal
Share this

Please note: Content is displayed as last posted by a PreventionWeb community member or editor. The views expressed therein are not necessarily those of UNDRR, PreventionWeb, or its sponsors. See our terms of use

Is this page useful?

Yes No Report an issue on this page

Thank you. If you have 2 minutes, we would benefit from additional feedback (link opens in a new window).