By Amrit Prasad Poudel

Beni, July 14: Every family wants to give a decent funeral to their deceased loved ones. They want to give a proper send off to the mortal remains of their departed relatives. But alas, the family of Bir Bahadur Nepali did not receive any such ceremony.
The landslide that occurred in Bima, Myagdi on Friday killed the entire family, except one member, leaving no one to light the funeral pyre.
The landslide occurred at 3 am in the morning and swept away 31 people in Bim, Dule and Nurbang of Malika Gaunpalika – 7 and Marang, Kalleni, Ramche and Rikha of Dhaulagiri Gaunpalika – 6. It had been raining torrentially since the night before and the hills above the settlements could not hold any longer.
Of the 31 people, the bodies of 27 have been recovered while four – Alisha KC, Janima KC, Sabin Pun and Gita Roka – are still missing.
The Nepali family were fast asleep in their home in Bima when the landslide struck. Gaudevi Nepali, Bishesh Nepali, Bir Bahadur Nepali, his three-month-old son, Bishnu Nepali, and Sandeep Nepali went to bed Thursday night but could not wake up to see the next morning.
One member, Purna Bahadur Nepali, survived but has been critically injured and is undergoing treatment in Pokhara. The disaster almost wiped out the entire bloodline and their bodies had to be cremated by a distant relative.
In the same place, a 10-year-old child lost his mother and four-year-old sister. He and his father woke up early to go to work in their field but the two women slept in. Now, the child is observing the 13-day mourning ritual at the home of his uncle in Ward No. 2 of Mangala Gaunpalika, 15 kilometres away from Bim because no trace of his home in Malika remains.
Similarly, nine people from the same family were killed in Dhaulagiri – 6, Marang. They were lined up in one place and cremated. For another nine people in Bensi, seven were lined up and cremated in one place while two were cremated separately.
According to Deputy Superintendent of Police, Kiran Jung Kunwar, of the Myagdi District Police Office, six people who were injured in the landslide and had received treatment at Beni Hospital have recovered and returned home. He also informed that 20 houses in Marang, 10 in Bim and five in Takam had been damaged by the natural disaster.
Chief District Officer, Gyan Nath Dhakal, said that the displaced individuals had been rescued and relocated to various community buildings, schools and their relatives’ homes. “A total of 896 people from all over the district, including 590 people from Dhaulagiri, 196 from Malika, 85 from Raghuganga and 25 from Beni, have been relocated to safer places,” he said.
Landslides have wiped off entire families and uprooted many homes in Myagdi.