Three displaced families in ward 12 of Dhulikhel Municipality, Kavrepalanchok, have been languishing in Shankheshwari Basic School in Shankhupatichaur over the past one and half months. The school resumed its classes after Tihar festival and needs its building for smooth operation of the learning process. But the victims of rain-induced disasters in the last week of September have nowhere else to go.

“We came here and took shelter after a landslide damaged our house. We don’t have a safer place to build a house. We also don’t have money to manage land and build shelter,” said Sanu Tamang, who has been taking shelter at the school with her family.

“It had been raining. Our house was damaged and it was at high risk. Our family was in dire need to find a safe shelter. The people’s representatives of the ward office asked us to stay in the school building. We know that the school needs the building now, and now we have to vacate it, but we have nowhere else to go,” she lamented. According to her, her family has been desperately searching for a temporary settlement.

Twelve people from three families have been staying in the school building. The school has three buildings and the displaced families have been occupying three rooms. The school administration says that the learning environment has been hugely affected with the occupancy of the classrooms.

Raju Devi Thapa, principal of Shankheshwari Basic School, said that the school administration allowed four displaced families to stay in the school building as asked by the ward office. “It is our responsibility to provide shelter to displaced people during disasters. There was no problem accommodating them as the school was closed at that time. However, the school reopened after Tihar, and learning and teaching has been affected as three of our rooms are occupied by displaced families,” said Thapa.

Thapa recalls that local people take shelter in school buildings during natural disasters. “Many families took shelter in school during the 2015 earthquake. “Many families had been staying in school buildings during the earthquake as well. But they vacated the buildings in 10-12 days,” said Thapa, urging the ward office to manage alternatives for the displaced families and evacuate them from the school.

Kavrepalanchok is the worst-hit district by the September-end floods and landslides that wreaked havoc in various parts of the country. A total of 78 people were killed in Kavrepalanchok alone while the disasters damaged or destroyed various infrastructures including houses, roads, community building, drinking water projects and utility poles. Preliminary data shows that around 3,000 to 3,500 houses were completely destroyed while 6,000 to 7,000 others were partially damaged in the district.

Hundreds of displaced families took shelter in community buildings, and in the homes of neighbours and relatives. Most of the victims staying in community school buildings have already left since educational institutions came into operation after the Tihar festival.

According to Debaka Dhakal, chief at the District Education Development Coordination Unit in Kavrepalanchok, many affected people took shelters in school buildings but they left the buildings, except for those at Shankheshwari Basic School in Banepa. “As schools are places for education, the children should have the right to learn without any hindrances or disturbances. The local government should manage temporary shelters for the displaced families and shift them from the school,” said Dhakal.

The government authorities have not yet provided any aid for the resettlement and rehabilitation of the displaced families. The affected people, mostly from impoverished communities, are suffering due to the lackadaisical response of the authorities concerned regarding their rehabilitation.

“The government has not provided any budget for the resettlement of the displaced families. We will shift the displaced families from the school as soon as the government releases the budget,” said Ashok Byaju Shrestha, mayor of Dhulikhel Municipality.