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For seventy-two-year-old Krishna Bahadur Chepang, home is a fragile strip of unregistered public land along the banks of the Parbi Stream in Madi Municipality, Chitwan. It is a precarious existence, dictated by the roar of monsoon waters and the constant, gnawing fear of eviction. Yet, for Krishna, this relentless uncertainty is simply the only life he has known for over four decades.
Since September 7, 1985—the fateful night a catastrophic flood and landslide tore through his ancestral home in Dhading—Krishna has been displaced six distinct times. From Dhading to Sagbari, across the unforgiving terrain of Kusumkhola, and into the crosshairs of state conservation authorities who infamously used elephants to demolish his hard-built home, his journey has been a relentless cycle of catastrophe. Each time disaster struck, he clawed his way back to survival, only to be uprooted again by swelling rivers, park rangers, or local hostility labeling him a "squatter."
Today, his four sons have scattered to India in search of labor, two of them lost completely to silence and distance. Looking out over the eroding riverbank, Krishna offers a heartbreaking reality: "Now, these old bones cannot go anywhere."
A Cycle of Endless Displacement
Krishna’s harrowing narrative is far from an isolated tragedy; it is a systemic symptom of a deeper crisis unfolding across the Madi Valley. Marginalized indigenous communities—predominantly belonging to the vulnerable Chepang and Praja populations—are caught in a relentless trap of climate-induced displacement, institutional neglect, and crushing poverty.
When massive floods swept through Kusumkhola in 2017, rendering 225 families homeless, the local municipality stepped in to relocate them. However, the designated resettlement zones—such as Pyauli, Parbi, Bandarjhula, and Krishnanagar—were established directly along high-risk riverbanks and stream beds. While authorities point to newly constructed embankments as a safeguard, experts warn that these fragile defenses offer little protection against major flash floods and debris flows.
Section 52(B) of the Lands Act 1964 explicitly bars the distribution of land ownership certificates on riverbanks and high-risk zones. Consequently, families like Hai Kancha Praja’s—displaced first from Makwanpur and subsequently driven out of Kusumkhola by the Riu River—live without legal land titles, basic structural security, or peace of mind.
The Hidden Toll: Exploitation, Violence, and Human Trafficking
As generational poverty deepens and traditional agricultural safety nets collapse under erratic rainfall patterns and wildlife incursions, the displaced settlements of Madi have become prime breeding grounds for human trafficking, child labor, and gender-based violence.
With no legal land rights, zero compensation for crops decimated by wild animals, and meager local incomes, families are often forced to make agonizing choices. The human cost of this desperation is staggering:
The Trap of Trafficking: Following her father’s untimely death and her family’s repeated displacement, 15-year-old Rupa (name changed) was trafficked to Dhankuta under the false promise of funded education. Instead, she was subjected to forced hotel labor and degrading servitude before being rescued in 2023 through the joint efforts of local authorities and advocacy groups like Samari Utthan Sewa.
Foreign Labor Exploitation: Desperate to support their families, women from Pyauli and Bandarjhula frequently seek employment abroad. Binda (name changed), burdened by a massive loan, flew to Kuwait, only to endure relentless physical abuse, isolation, and captivity before securing a harrowing rescue orchestrated by her husband.
Domestic Crises and Despair: Local leaders report skyrocketing rates of early marriage, polygamy, and family breakdown. Many parents migrate to distant cities or foreign countries for work, inadvertently stranding children with distant relatives or leaving them entirely unprotected. In Bandarjhula, the structural weight of these hardships culminated in the tragic suicide of a 17-year-old girl whose family remained trapped in the vicious cycle of poverty and landlessness.
According to data from Aafanta Nepal, which operates a Border Monitoring Center at the Madi bus park—a critical transit route leading directly to the Indian border—thousands of individuals have received counseling, and nearly 180 vulnerable women and children have been rescued from potential trafficking situations over the past five years.
Structural Apathy and the Looming Threat
Experts argue that natural disasters are only half the equation; the true driver of this humanitarian crisis is systemic state neglect and administrative failure.
Ward No. 9 of Madi Municipality stands as a stark testament to this marginalization. Census data reveals it is the least literate ward in the municipality, boasting the highest concentration of fragile mud and bamboo homes, the lowest toilet coverage, and the deepest poverty rates. Furthermore, because these residents lack formal land ownership documents, they are legally barred from receiving state relief or compensation when wildlife destroys their crops or floods sweep away their livelihoods.
Climate experts warn that the situation is poised to deteriorate further. Meteorological studies indicate rising temperatures and increasingly erratic rainfall across Chitwan, heightening the risk of catastrophic flash floods driven by Madi's unique topography. Without proactive zoning, early warning systems, and robust economic upliftment programs, marginalized communities will continue to bear the heaviest brunt of environmental collapse.
Breaking the Vicious Cycle
Addressing the crisis in Madi requires moving far beyond temporary emergency rescues. Disaster management and climate experts emphasize that true rehabilitation must focus on economic resilience and structural reform. Providing displaced families with safe, habitable land, formal legal titles, and sustainable livelihood opportunities is non-negotiable if these communities are to escape the shadow of exploitation.
As local leaders and municipal officials grapple with limited resources, calls are growing louder for the central government to intervene with specialized national projects, targeted climate adaptation funds, and enhanced social protection frameworks.
Until structural apathy is replaced by decisive state action, families along the rivers of Madi will continue to sleep with one eye open—waiting for the next monsoon, praying for their children's safety, and fighting simply to exist.
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
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