Displaced Residents Suffer as Belongings Soak in the Rain, Unable to Change Clothes or Take Medicine

The government has demolished informal settlements in Kathmandu and relocated 219 families to the holding center at Dashrath Rangashala. Health workers have reported that many residents have missed their medication, lacked food, and experienced health issues as a result of the demolition. Medical examinations revealed 47 individuals with weakness and blood pressure problems, and an elderly kidney patient has been referred to Bir Hospital. April 26, Kathmandu.

Sixty-year-old Samjhana Rai is trembling inside the holding center at Dashrath Rangashala in Tripureshwor. Sitting quietly on the floor amid the crowd, her face appears pale and her eyes watery. She is a long-time hypertensive patient who requires regular medication. “My body is shaking. I haven’t been able to take my medicine. I am hungry. I couldn’t sleep all night,” she told a health worker while wiping tears.

Her voice is soft and she tires after speaking for a few moments. “There is nothing left now,” she said tearfully. She had been living in a shack near Manohara River for the past 14 years. On Sunday morning, the government deployed a bulldozer and demolished the shack in an instant. “They didn’t even give us time to move our belongings,” she explained. In the rush to evacuate, many of her possessions were lost. “I don’t know where my medication is. I don’t even have clothes to change,” she said emotionally.

Gopal Sunar, 46, whose face shows signs of worry and exhaustion, had his blood pressure measured by health workers, which registered 160/100 on the machine. “His blood pressure is very high,” said health worker Indira Pokharel. Gopal shared, “I am a patient who does not take medicine regularly. The large stress might have caused this rise.” He said that after the government dismantled a small shack made of herbal plants, he experienced significant stress. “Now, the future of my children looks bleak,” Gopal said, expressing his despair.