RAJAN POKHREL

“More than 700 permanent residents of 125 households from the picturesque valley of Rasuwa have been reduced to 492 persons taking shelter in less than 50 cramped, makeshift tents inside the compound of a Kathmandu monastery.”

This is what Jangbu Tamang, one of the survivors of twin disasters — earthquake and avalanche — that devastated Langtang village beyond recognition on April 25, told this daily while fixing new tents on the premises of Yellow Gompa monastery near Namgyal Chowk in Swoyambhu this afternoon. “We were more than 700 there a month ago but now we are only 492,” the owner of Lovely Guest House in popular hiking trail said.

Everyone here lost one or more relatives in the April disasters, Tamang, who lost five of his family members, added. “There is a long list: Subba Tamang lost 10 members, five-year old daughter of Bhamu Tamang was blown away by fast-moving avalanche, Lakpa lost his only son and two nurses – Sonam Tamang and Chandrika Budha – at Langtang health clinic were also killed.”

According to police, at least 175 local residents, as well as 120 tourists and their porters, were killed in the Langtang valley.

Though most of the log cutters, yak herders and operators of local tea-houses and hotels were killed in the incident, the survivors said they wanted to rebuild their village at the earliest. “But when and how?” asked Tshering Pemba Tamang, operator of Yak Hotel near Kyanjin Gompa. According to him, earthquake-triggered avalanche has rendered the Langtang valley inaccessible, as all suspension bridges in the valley, including the one over Langtang river, have collapsed.

“Today we cancelled our plan to send 48-member team to the valley by Wednesday, as geologists claim that the highly unstable landscape of the valley won’t be a safe place for them to return anytime soon,” he said.

Most of the elderly and underage children have taken ill due to lack of proper care, German national Olja Becker, who helped the survivors to set up a kitchen on the monastery compound, told THT. Foreign tourists, travel and trekking companies and Buddhist charities have been providing immediate relief to the displaced villagers. “We want this situation to end at the earliest,” Pema Tamang, another survivor, said, asking the government to implement a recovery plan to rebuild his tourist village.

“The government must invest to bring the glory back to Langtang, as it has already collected millions of rupees as revenue from tourists,” he said.

According to the Department of Tourism, Langtang attracted over 15,000 foreign tourists annually, resulting in revenue worth 20 to 50 million rupees each year from the national park.

Published on: 26 May 2015 | The Himalayan Times