'Monastery village' Helambu turning into ghost settlement
Helambu
(Sindhupalchowk), May 21, Helambu village, a typical settlement of the Hyolmo
ethnic minority people in the district, has turned into a near ghost town as
people of the village were displaced after the devastating earthquake that hit
the country on April 25 and several aftershocks.
The disaster
forced the people of Baruwa, Sermathan and Bhotang to shift to safer places.
These villages have developed several crevasses after the earthquake.
Massive
landslides triggered by the quake have stopped the visit of the foreign and
domestic tourists as a large number of tourists used to visit the places for
the cultural study of the ethnic Hyolmo society. The village, villag has now
turned into a ghost village as nobody lives there.
There is no
situation to stay in the village as most of the villagers have shifted to
relatives' houses in different places after the quake.
Several
landslides from above and below the village have increased the risk of further
collapse and development of cracks.
The District
Disaster Rescue Committee has suggested the government to shift the several
settlements of Tatopani, Listi, Phulpingkatti, Gati, Maneshwara, Ghumpthang,
Gumba, Golche, Pangtang, Bhotang, Gunsa and Baruwa.
As many as 25
people were killed and the same number of the people injured and most of the
government offices were also collapsed in the quake. Locals have
complained that the government has posted only two police constables in the
area so far.
However, the
chief at the Melamchi Police beat Chandra Bahadur Thapa informed that they have
reached the reliefs to the affected people despite several obstacles.
He further added
that most of the locals have shifted to safer zones and it would be more risky
to go to the place in rainy seasons.
The settlement
lies some 28 kilometres west from the district headquarters Chautara and that
used to be seen as Meme and Ibi (grandfather and grandmother in the Sherpa
language) has lost its original forms and enchantment.
Once in the past,
Helambu was popular for apple production but that identity was lost for past
15/17 years. But these days it has developed a new identity as the village of
monasteries where 30 monasteries were spreading the message of peace,
fraternity and humanity but now they are found demolished.
The traditional
mud-and-stone houses of the villages are also found collapsed and all that is
left of this settlement is wreckage.
Helambu, which is
29 kilometres from Kathmandu, was developing into a homestay tourism
destination recently. Its temperate climate, natural beauty, its vantage point
to view the Himalayan range and its location on the way to the Gosiankunda are
its unique features. But now the trekking route also has closed for the time
being due to the devastating earthquake.