It happened 44 years ago, when Jay Ram Tharu was just four years old. He has a dim memory of clinging to his grandpa’s hand while they migrated from Bhawaniyapur to Joraiya. He understood why they migrated much later.
His grandfather had moved to Joraiya field which lay two kilometers away from Bhawaniyapur out of fear that their shelter would be swept away by the erosion of the Rapti River. However, Joraiya also turned out to be unsafe.
Jay Ram’s family had to migrate again from Joraiya, which now lies at Ward no 6 of Rapti Sonari Rural Municipality in Bake district. Like his grandfather, Jay Ram shifted some two kilometers away from Joraiya as the Rapti River started to erode their land in 2006. But, unlike their first migration when they had come to their own land, this time they settled on the edge of forest, a public land.
To save their lives and property, 90 families like Jay Ram's have been staying in makeshift huts for the last 17 years at an elevated land in Mohanpur forest area.
Despite having been compelled to live in the forest, Jay Ram’s heart lies in Joraiya. Owing to the continuous erosion of the Rapti, all his field area, including the house, has now become a sandy bank of the river. We urged Jay Ram to show us the area where his field was at Joraiya.
This story was produced with support from Internews' Earth Journalism Network. It was first published in The Rising Nepal on April 11, 2024. It has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Banner image: Erosion of the Rapti river in Nepal / Credit: The Rising Nepal.
Gopal Chandra Subedi
