KATHMANDU, Aug 8: Squatters living on riverbanks in Kathmandu are forced to live an uncertain life; fearing both natural and political dangers.
The valley's unpredictable weather supplemented by heavy monsoon rains this year threatens to damage their settlement areas, having already damaged many structures in the past already.
At the same time, political pressure from Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) requesting for forms filled with the details of their identity, and the construction of walls along the river banks without any dialogue has also made many worried of being displaced in the near future.
1,465 families residing on river banks in guise of landless squ...
Fifty-nine year old Damar Praja, originally from Dhading district and currently living on the Bagmati riverbank near Prasuti Griha, says that his future is unpredictable. “I may become homeless any day”, Praja said, adding, “Our settlement has been completely erased and then rebuilt a total of eighteen times so far”.According to Praja, the floods of 2050 BS in the then Mahadevsthan Village Development Committee (VDC) entirely removed all traces of his ancestral home and the farming land he used to own after which he was forced to live as a slum dweller.
Krishna Bahadur Tamang, who was born in Kavre, says that he has to live under a constant threat of water levels rising in Bagmati when it rains. “It's difficult to sleep at night, when rain pours heavily down on our huts. Water may submerge us anytime”.
Tamang says that circumstances forced him to live here, and he is open to being moved to elsewhere in the valley if the government is ready to assist them. Elderly people, children, and the disabled suffer the most, he added.
KMC, on the other hand, believes that not everybody in the slums is what they claim to be. KMC Spokesperson Gyanendra Karki says that identifying each slum dweller is necessary as there are many who live under the pretext of being a squatter so to acquire free land. “Many have homes and property in their local hometowns or villages”, Karki told Republica. The metropolitan city has begun sending forms to the slum dwellers asking them details regarding their family history and place of birth so as to confirm their identity. Karki said that KMC hopes to decrease the number of slum dwellers by identifying the fake and real ones, and then relocating the latter somewhere within the valley.
However, KMC's latest moves have angered many squatters who believe that by sending such identity verification forms on their doorsteps, the government is questioning their entire existence. Min Kumar Rana Magar, Kathmandu District Chief of All Nepal Squatters' Association (Revolutionary) complains that the government has “terrorized" the squatters. He says that the government does what pleases it without even caring to send them a notice.
Magar says that he and his fellow squatters are willing to be moved to elsewhere in the valley. However, if the government isn't willing to come up with an alternative, they will continue to stay where they are despite any second-party-efforts. “We will hold tents and live in this very slum full of stinging nettle bushes if we have to”, Magar said.
