Acclaimed comedians, Sitaram ‘Dhurmus’ Kattel and Kunjana ‘Suntali’ Ghimire, garnered national attention in recent months through their efforts to aid flood victims in Tarai. Soon after the August flash floods, photos of Kattel carrying a flood victim on his back first surfaced on the internet and quickly went viral.

In October, the Comedy duo’s Dhurmus-Suntali Foundation laid foundation for a model settlement in  Chandrapur-8 Municipality of Rautahat district which had been devastated by flooding.

Monday, marked the 100th day of building the settlement which is expected to be settled into sometime in the next few weeks. When completed, the new settlement will comprise of 47 houses along a 12 kattha [about 0.4 hectare] area. According to Kattel, of the Rs 50 million needed to build the settlement, the foundation is still short on Rs 10 million. “Nevertheless, we remain optimistic that we will be able to raise the sum in the near future,” said Kattel.

There are 231 people currently working on the project. All the houses in the new settlement are two storey high and are raised five feet from the ground as a preventive measure against future flooding. The residents of the new settlement are from the Musahar and Chamar communities, both of which are recognised as scheduded castes. Emphasising the need for further humanitarian aid in the affected zones, Kattel said, “our work is meaningful as we are not just building a settlement here, we are building bonds that will transcend communal and regional differences. We are thus building a new sense of solidarity between Nepalis.”