By Amarraj Naharki
Tanahun, Oct. 3: Manbir Gurung is now living an isolated life in a cave with his wife, a son and a daughter, after he failed to manage house rent and cost of living for his four-member family.
He lost all the sources of income following the enforcement of lockdown and the COVID-19-induced restrictions.
After failing to find any source of income, the poor family has now shifted to a cave near the bank of the Buldi River at Ashapuri in Byas Municiplaity-2.
Poverty has forced Gurung, his wife Udasiya, his 20-year-old son Ganesh and 13-year-old daughter Puja to move to the cave without proper food and basic facilities, said Karna Bahadur Khadka, chairman of Pulchowk community development organisation.
“We came to know that earlier the family was living in a rented room in a house of one local, Moti Kumar Joshi. Now they are living in the cave citing their inability to pay the house rent,” said Khadka.
Manbir said after the enforcement of lockdown he was facing challenges to earning a living.
Gurung, daily wage earner, had been struggling hard to support his family even in the normal time and was without any work for a long after the lockdown.
“Due to the financial crisis, we are unable to pay the house rent for many months. So we decided to leave the house and stay here,” he said.
Wiping her tear, Udasiya Gurung said “We are extremely poor, we have no land, and we cannot afford conventional housing and move elsewhere.”
“We have been workless since long and have no courage to stay in the same house without paying rents for many months,” she said, adding that her family had been surviving on the food grains and vegetables provided by the villagers for several months.
As the construction activities and all other works have come to a complete halt, daily wage earners like her husband has been battling hunger, said Udasiya.
After seeing their condition, locals have been demanding with the local authorities to rehabilitate the family back to society.
Dr. HB Chhettri, a local of Pulchowk, said, “At a time when nomadic indigenous ethic groups like Kusunda and Raute have already left the jungle, seeing this family shifting to isolated life is extremely painful.”
He further asked the government to rescue the family immediately and ensure their rights to housing.
Another local of the village, Radha Basnyat, said because of their poverty their daughter’s wish to continue her study has also been shattered.
“Her dream remained incomplete because her parents cannot afford to buy copies and pencils,” said Basnyat.