By Manoj Timilsina, Rautahat, Feb. 25: It has been 31 years since the landless squatters settled in the nearby jungle of Lamaha, Chandrapur Municipality-6 in Rautahat district. They have been compelled to live a hard life because of a lack of basic amenities in their settlement since 1988.

They have approached concerned authorities and people's representatives to arrange a safe and managed settlement, but their appeal has been ignored.

Some 14 families live in the Lamaha area of the East-West highway. Despite being 31 years of settlement, the settlement lacks some basic amenities such as electricity, drinking water and school.

However, during every election, they receive assurance that they will be acquainted with every facility. The Forest Office has been pressuring the concerned authorities to not provide any government facilities to the settlers as the area falls under the national forest area.

Ful Maya Pulami, a resident of the settlement, urged, "I wish we were shifted somewhere where we have some land and a safe settlement".

Pulami said, “I am in deep grief as I have not received any better options of settlement despite having been assured by the authorities many times. Here, we are in the compulsion to drink well water because of lack of better options."

Not only water, but the electricity and school is also out of reach. As a result, many children of school-going age are found grazing the cattle or playing in the fields.

One has to travel as far as seven kilometers east to Chandranigahpur and 12 kilometers west to Nijgadh to go to the market and school.

The squatters settled here after they were removed from Dhiyal and Dangdunge village of Makawanpur.

Pulami said that those who were in reach of power have been resettled providing the land but those who are vulnerable are sidelined. People of the squatter’s settlement are in a much vulnerable financial situation, where males are laborers and females are busy rearing the children, aged and the cattle.

Worse, there is the fear of attack of wild animals in the settlement.

The then Forest Minister during the Panchayat regime in 1988, Hem Bahadur Malla had removed the village of hills and the new settlement of Gujara Municipality was shifted to Katani village.

The area falls under the forest area. So it is said that no new structures can be built and the municipality is unable to do any development work there, said Binod Singh, Chief at Division Forest Office, Rautahat. He added that there is a dire need for resettlement.

Mayor of the Chandrapur Municipality Ram Chandra Chaudhary said that there are no such plans to relocate the settlement or to provide people with access to basic facilities. The basic facilities like education, health, and nutrition are out of reach of the landless here, so attention should be made to resettle the squatter’s settlement.