Gandaki Province
Dry landslide hits Tibetan refugee camp; nine families displaced
A dry landslide hit a Tibetan refugee camp at Chhairo in Gharapjhong Rural Municipality-1, Mustang, on Monday morning, displacing nine families and leaving 41 others at riskPhysical infrastructures including a primary health centre building, a public toilet and an animal shed worth Rs 3
Lal Prasad Sharma
A dry landslide hit a Tibetan refugee camp at Chhairo in Gharapjhong Rural Municipality-1, Mustang, on Monday morning, displacing nine families and leaving 41 others at risk.
Physical infrastructures including a primary health centre building, a public toilet and an animal shed worth Rs 3.5 million were destroyed in the disaster. According to Tul Bahadur Karki, deputy superintendent of police, a 300 metre-long land mass collapsed into the Kaligandaki river. A 50 metre-long path leading to the settlement was also damaged.
Nine families have been displaced due to the landslide and are taking shelter at their neighbours’ homes. According to the locals, the landslide occurred just 20 feet from the settlement at round 2:30 in the morning.
Chief District Officer Ganga Bahadur Chhetri, along with the people’s representatives and security personnel, reached the incident site and inspected the area for damage.
Norbu Phuntsok, a 64-year-old local, told the Post that the landslide must be controlled before the advent of the rainy season, otherwise the flood-swollen Kaligandaki river will wash away the whole settlement.
“We cannot solve the problem by ourselves. The government should immediately step in to resolve the problem,” he added.
The Tibetan refugees, with support from their relatives living abroad, have been constructing an embankment on the river bank just below the settlement. The camp, which was set up during the Khampa revolt in 1972, has 50 households with 225 people.