The April quake severely affected the lives of the people of Nanglebhare, who are now struggling to return to normalcy. They did receive a few relief materials and 15,000 rupees from the government, but are now expecting to receive a more solid support that will help pave the way for their lives to return to normal.

Still deprived

Nanglebhare is not far from the city of Kathmandu. It lies in the Kathmandu district and is about 15 km to the east of thecity, neighbouring Sindhupalchowk. Like in other quake-affected areas, many houses  in Nanglebhare are no longer standing and those that are standing are either cracked or on the brink of collapse. The earthquake destroyed about 90 percent of the households, mostly impacting the poor and marginalised families. Many of the families have somehow managed to live together in small and narrowly built cottages, where the risks of the spread of communicable diseases are ever-present. The people have heard about the government’s plans for reconstruction, but doubt they will receive the resources on time. It was interesting to note that people of this area are well aware of the nitty-gritty of local politics and assume further delays in the reconstruction activities. A community leader argued that neither political leaders nor development agencies have seriously addressed their problems.

However, the adolescent girls in the area seemed most vulnerable in the present context. I met a few of them working and it appeared as though their lives had moved towards darkness. When I asked them if they go to school, all of them started to look at each other with pale faces. Their shy and soft response made me realise that they do not. I wondered what kind of lives they would lead if they did not acquire education and asked them about it. They said that they would either get married or move to cities in search of work.

Last year the village turned into a municipality but people still have not got used to the idea of living in a municipality. In fact, this conversion has brought no good news for the marginalised and deprived people. Ram Lama, 65, a local who lost his son during the Maoist insurgency commented, “Yes, the name of our village has changed, but nothing else has.” His community Patap is also a part of the municipality now, but has not achieved anything significant.

The Patap community is a small cluster of Nanglebhare; its inhabitants are mostly Tamang  who reside on infertile sloped land without much irrigation facilities. The harvests they produce do not even last for a year. As a result, wage labour is the only remaining means of livelihood for the people, who are compelled to move out of the community in search of jobs.

Not so far

Moreover, people in the region have to struggle even for basic facilities. Water taps have been set up, but they do not usually work. Many families still fetch water from natural sources. The community is connected with an unpaved road which is not functional in rainy seasons. Healthcare is another pain, as people have to walk for one and half hours to the nearest health post. Many of them simply choose not to go there and  tolerate a few days of illness or seek treatment from traditional healers.

This applies to children as well. The children in the village were quite smart and impatient but their personal sanitation practices—long nails, dishevelled hair and dirty clothes— made me sad, although all this did not prevent them from having fun with their friends. I was also saddened to hear from a few schoolgirls that they do not have lunch at school after their morning meals at home. They usually have no pocket money to buy snacks. Once they come back home at evening, they might get some snacks, otherwise they have to be patient until dinner time. The girls also shared that they try to do their homework at school, as they have much work to do at home.

Although Nanglebhare is a part of Kathmandu district, the plights of its people are similar to those of the remotest areas of Nepal. It has many stories to tell, but the problem is that they are not heard. It is high time that their stories were heard and actions taken to rebuild their lives. Until and unless the Capital pays heed to Nanglebhare’s concerns, no matter how much Kathmandu develops, it is worthless for the people of Nanglebhare. Therefore, their issues must be given utmost importance to bring about necessary changes in their community so that they also feel they are a part of Kathmandu.

KC is pursuing an Mphil at Institute of Advanced Communication Education and Research