Nawalpur, Dec. 19: Arkhala village in Bulingtar Rural Municipality-4 of Nawalpur district is an old Magar settlement. It is 927 metres above sea level and is touched by the East-West Highway.

Buildings of Setinag Secondary School which stand on the top of  a hill at a corner of  Arkhala village are at high risk as there are landslides everywhere around the hill down. The school could collapse at any time as landslips are continuously pulling down the hills from three directions. 

Currently, 240 students are studying at the school established in 1959 AD. Students and teachers fear for their life every day, especially during the rainy season, due to the risk of the landslides. The students concentrate more on the disaster than their studies. The landslides have also put the entire beautiful village of Arkhala at risk.

According to Sundarmani Subedi, vice-principle of the school, one of the landslides is only 60 metres away on the west side of the school. “The beams of the school building have already developed cracks, and we are teaching under constant fear. The landslide started due to the bad engineering for the expansion of the Kaligandaki road project in 2019. Every year during the rainy season, huge landslides occur posing a threat to not only the school but the whole village,” he added.

He informed that the constant fear of landslides has caused mental anxiety among the students and teachers. “A huge landslide took place near the school while widening the road. During monsoon, students do not concentrate on their studies and ask the teachers whether they could close the school or study on open grounds and even teachers are in panic while teaching,” said Subedi. 

The students have no option but to attend the classes at the rickety school as there is no other school in the village.

Aarti Baral, a 10 grader, said that students focused more on how to avoid landslides in case they occurred than on the lessons. “I am always in fear when it rains because our school is at risk of getting pulled down by a landslide,” she said.

Milan Pulami, another student studying in grade 9, said that the whole school and village were at risk and said the landslide problem should be addressed in time.

Ram Bahadur Pulami, Chairman of the School Management Committee, informed that the school could not be relocated in another place due to the lack of adequate land in the village. 

“I have time and again requested the responsible authorities and leaders of the provincial and central governments to be serious about the issue of landslide, but nobody has paid attention.  Our village is surrounded by landslides from three sides and all of us living in fear of possible destruction of the entire village,” said Min Bahadur Ale, Ward Chairman of Bulingtar Ward No. – 4.

Khem Bahadur Susling, Headmaster of the School, said that he had informed about the dire situation to the elected leaders and Road Division Office in Butwal. “Leaders and responsible authorities have given us assurance about addressing the issue but no one has yet tried to solve it,” Susling said.

However, Dr. Shashank Koirala, Member of the House of Representatives elected from Nawalpur district, said that initiatives were being taken to prevent landslides. 

Talking to The Rising Nepal, Koirala said, “A big amount of money is required to manage the landslide problem. I have already asked the Finance Minister and Physical Infrastructure and Transport Minister to allocate budget for landslide prevention as well as to construct road without causing a danger to the village.” The estimated cost for the landslide prevention project will be around Rs. 330 million, according to Dr. Koirala.