On August 23, four Nepali workers died in a landslide at Phanta helipad near the Kedarnath Temple in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. The victims included three people from Madi in Chitwan district and one from Dailekh district. The bodies of the deceased from Madi were brought home for funeral rites while the Dailekh man was cremated in India by villagers and his relatives.

The men, who worked in the Kedarnath area as masons, had been staying in a shanty built on the roadside. The landslide triggered by heavy rains swept away the hut at around midnight. According to the Indian police authority in nearby Badrinath, the area where the victims were staying is prone to landslides. Roads are frequently disrupted in several places in the area due to landslides in the monsoon season.

As many as 16 Nepalis died after a landslide washed away three hotels in Gaurikund, a pilgrimage site that serves as a basecamp for a trek to Kedarnath, a revered Hindu temple, in August last year. The Indian authorities had retrieved 12 bodies but could not locate the remaining four buried under the debris.

Among the victims was Amar Bohara of Chaurgaun in ward 3 of Patarasi Rural Municipality in Jumla. He ran a hotel in a two-storey wooden house near the Mandakini river at Gaurikunda. He had been operating a hotel on the first floor of the rented house, while Nepali workers stayed upstairs. Amar and his five family members were killed in the landslide.

Badrinath, Kedarnath and Rudraprayag— revered places for Hindu pilgrims—are key labour destinations for many Nepali workers, mainly from Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces. Many unemployed Nepali youths flock to this area for seasonal employment. The workers are attracted to work in the area as they can make a good amount of money in a short time.

However, working in these landslide-prone regions comes with significant risks. “Nepali workers often disregard safety and set up huts in high-risk areas prone to landslides and floods,” said Uma Prasad Chaturvedi, a counselor at the Nepali Embassy in New Delhi. “The number of Nepali workers is increasing in the Kedarnath area lately as they can earn well. But the risks are also high,” added Chaturvedi. According to him, around 3,000 to 5,000 Nepali people have been working in Badrinath, Kedarnath and Rudraprayag areas.

Nepali workers are generally involved in transporting pilgrims and other tourists to Badrinath and Kedarnath. They carry people using palanquins, bamboo baskets or horses. Kedarnath is around 22 km uphill from Gaurikunda, and 44 km in total, making the journey demanding. Workers can earn between Rs30,000 to 40,000 for a round trip to Kedarnath.

“But some workers die on their way to Kedarnath from altitude sickness,” said Bhim Bahadur KC, a permanent resident of Salyan who has been working in Gaurikunda area over the past four years. Kedarnath temple lies at an altitude of 5,383 metres above sea level.

“In order to save money, many people erect makeshift huts on the roadside and live there. These places are at high risk of landslides during the rainy season. The land terrain is unstable, and landslides are common,” said KC. According to him, most of the roadside shanties are owned by Nepali workers. “These workers pay between Rs30,000 and 40,000 per season to the landlord for these huts,” said KC.

The Kedarnath pilgrimage season runs from April to October every year. A worker can save around Rs300,000 in a season. That’s why many Nepali workers are drawn to work despite the risks.

Unfortunately, Nepali workers who die in landslides or other accidents do not get any relief or compensation. They do not even get paid for their work. This was the case of the four workers who died on August 23. “We don't know how much wages they were paid and how much they were still owed by the contractor,” said Saraswati Parki, the niece of Tul Bahadur Pariyar of Chitwan, one of the victims.

In June, 2013 the floods and landslides caused by a cloudburst in Uttarakhand had wreaked havoc in the Kedarnath area. Many people had been killed in the disasters. It was suspected that some Nepali workers were among the victims in the 2013 disaster.

“There is a requirement for Nepali workers to register with the local administration. But we do not have actual data as the authorities don’t maintain detailed records” said Chaturvedi.

Published on: 3 September 2024 | The Kathmandu Post