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The landless people of Bardiya have announced a phase-wise agitation against the federal government, alleging it of delaying the formation of a district-level commission to solve their land-related problems. A federal commission was formed for the same purpose under the chairmanship of NCP leader Devi Gyawali in March 2020.

Agitators have accused the federal government of needlessly postponing the district commission’s formation under the pretext of the covid pandemic.

Kesh Bahadur BK, chairman of the Land Rights Forum Bardiya, rues lack of initiative to solve the problems of the district’s landless people.

BK cites the rivalry among NCP cadres to join the proposed district commission as the main reason for the delay in its formation.

Chairman BK also argues that a district level commission should be formed by identifying people who think more in favor of the landless than in favor of the land mafia. Reminding that the problems of the landless have remained intact even after the formation of many land commissions, BK says, “A new local-level commission should be immediately formed to solve our problems.”

“In the first phase, we will undertake a peaceful protest with our four-point demand,” BK adds. He warns that if their demands are still ignored, the agitation would intensify even amid the pandemic.

The main demand is formation of a district level commission to resolve land disputes in the area. Other demands include providing ownership certificates of the lands currently occupied by the landless and adhering to government’s ‘Land Use Policy 2076’ by making local levels more active in making and executing plans. They have also asked for an end to the excesses being committed on the landless people living near the forests, reservations and buffer zones. 

A press conference and a meeting of municipality level leaders and cadres have already been held in the phase-wise agitation. If the Nov 20 deadline for commission’s formation is not met, a delegation of the agitators will visit the Kathmandu office of the ruling NCP. And if the demands are still not heeded, the agitators will take out processions and do sit-ins at district headquarters Gulariya, informs Homendra Thapa, coordinator of Bardiya Land Rights Forum.

A small, old house submerged by monsoon floods. The sackcloth covering the structure wearing out. The roof, leaking. Chiltu Rishidev of Biratnagar Metropolitan City-16 sits quietly in front of his dilapidated house. You can make out lines of worry on his face even from a distance.

The daily-wage earner, who is also his family’s sole bread-winner, has been unable to work properly in the past eight months because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Now he has reached a stage where he cannot provide anything for his family. “The pandemic has destroyed our livelihood,” he says. “It’s been a long time since people like us who survive on daily wages have had a proper meal.” He laments he can’t even properly feed his children when they cry of hunger.

Chiltu sees Dashain more as a source of financial burden than a time of merriment. “Instead of merriment, our Dashain this year will be spent in hunger,” he says.

Similar is the story of Bhuvan Rishidev of Biratnagar-16. Bhuvan, who had been feeding a family of seven from his daily wage, has lost his livelihood as well. “Whatever little we had saved has been spent on food,” Bhuvan says. “Now as Dashain enters the country’s affluent houses, all that we can welcome in our house are hunger and grief.”

Bhuvan’s house, built on public land, was also submerged by monsoon floods. Along with the house, the floods also damaged what little food they had in store, as well as their clothes and property. The family is trying to repair the damaged house, to make it livable, even as they have now been reduced to begging for survival. “It is heart-wrenching to see my children cry out of hunger. But there is no one to help us. The local political leaders, they are adept at using poor people like us as their vote banks. Seldom do they help us in any meaningful way.”

Poonam Rishidev of Biratnagar-19 squatter settlement also lost her livelihood due to the pandemic. She too lives in a small hut on public land. Poonam used to work as domestic help in various places, which helped her feed her family. “No one calls me to work anymore,” she says. “Everyone wants to eat good food and wear new clothes in Dashain, but my family is on the verge of starvation.”

Poonam’s children have been asking for new clothes this Dashain, she says, but she cannot afford any. Her first priority is making sure they get food. “I wish I could feed them properly every day. Clothes, we’ll manage with the old rags we have,” she says, recalling the past when she earned more, not less, during Dashain. Poonam has been taking out loans to arrange daily meals for her family. But now, even the lenders baulk at giving her anything, she says. “I kept my children happy by doing pots and pans in other people’s houses. But doesn’t the local ward office offer any help? “When we go there, we get abuses not help”.  

Railway service in Nepal started in 1927, with the first train under the Nepal Government Railway (NGR) running on a 762 mm narrow gauge. The British Indian government had built a 39 km railway line from Raxaul in India to Amalekhgunj; the 28-km Jayanagar-Janakpur railway was built in the second phase.

In 1937, the British Indian government started the operation of a train from Jayanagar in India to Vijalpura in Mahottari to transport back herbs, timber, and minerals from Nepal. The train was also narrow gauge. The locomotive of the same coal train is rusting away.

The federal government brought two sets of trains to Janakpur from India on September 20, and their arrival was widely hailed. But the coal engines of the old narrow-gauge trains, which have a long history of operation in Nepal, are turning into scarp.

The locomotives named Brahma, Vishnu, Ram Sita, Gorakhnath, Pashupatinath, Mahavir and Sita are rusting away at the open station of Janakpurdham-Jayanagar railway track section of Janakandani rural municipality, Khajuri. After the Janakpur-Jayanagar railway service was shut seven years ago, its employees were deployed to protect railway property.

But according to Dhanik Lal Das, a local, the 16 former employees, instead of looking after the old railways, have been stealthily selling their spare parts.

Old locomotives, bogies and other equipment have been getting worse for wear. Some parts of the narrow gauge trains, considered rare in the world, have been stolen. Janakandani village chairman Abdul Warikh Sheikh says that the old narrow-gauge engines should be housed in a cultural museum.

“We have written to the federal government requesting the building of a museum,” Sheikh says. “We are yet to get a reply. As we are not allowed to interfere with the federal government's physical infrastructure without permission, we have been unable to build a museum and preserve antique engines on our own.”

“The government of Nepal has brought new trains, which is a welcome move,” says cultural expert Ravrosh Kapadi 'Bhamrar'. “But devaluation of old valuables is an attack on our culture.” We are fascinated with innovations abroad but unable to look after our own antiques, Kapadi adds, “which could otherwise be a great attraction for tourists from around the world.”

Guru Bhattarai, general manager of Nepal Railway Company, recently informed on his Facebook page that budget had already been allocated to build and preserve narrow-gauge railway museum.

As the global Covid-19 pandemic closes in on its anniversary, with over 38 million already infected and a million dead, directly or indirectly, no one has been untouched by the scourge. But some communities are more vulnerable to its effects, like those suffering from drug addiction and those on the path of recovery from it.

Global news agencies report that the pandemic has hit the people struggling with substance abuse hard, as interventions get more difficult and the general sense of despair prevails. BBC had reported under the headline “Coronavirus: Lockdown leaves addicts ‘close to relapse’” in May this year, citing problems like social-distancing restrictions that have made it difficult for many counseling services to operate.

With infections continuing to rise and social distancing measures still in place in most countries, the worst fears are coming true. Data from the Washington, D.C. based Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program (ODMAP) shows a significant spike in the number of fatal overdoses during the pandemic. According to its data, drug overdoses are rising by roughly 18 percent year-on-year in the US alone. The report also states that over 60 percent counties participating in the information-gathering project reported increases in drug overdoses.

Globally, dependency on drugs and even alcohol is also increasing as per various media reports, even though there are no concrete research data. According to the American Medical Association, over 40 states in the US have reported increases in opioid-related deaths during the pandemic, even as the US experienced a record 71,000 such deaths in 2019.

Another research report titled “Covid-19 and addiction” published in the science and health resource Elsevier by Indian medical researchers concludes that, “Covid-19 and addiction are the two pandemics which are on the verge of collision causing major public health threat… the resumption of de-addiction services and easier accessibility of prescription drugs are needs of the hour.”

In Nepal, good data on those with Substance Abuse Disorders (SUDs) and recovering addicts is hard to come by as well. But most of APEX’s contacts working in drug rehabilitation say relapse cases have been increasing during the pandemic. It does not help that Dashain, traditionally the time of the year that sees biggest growth in drug use and relapse, is at hand.

“We generally identify three conditions a recovering drug user might relapse,” explains Basanta Kunwar, former Senior Superintendent of Police and currently the director of Narconon Nepal Rehab Facility. According to Kunwar, relapses are usually caused by chemical craving (craving for addictive substances), environmental craving (craving to recreate the environment drugs are taken), and absence of life objectives. One or more of these problems make a recovering addict go back into drug-abuse.

“The Covid-19 pandemic is singularly unsuited for recovering drug users,” Kunwar says. “We have been unable to host live counseling sessions. Nor do those recovering from abuse have much to keep themselves busy with. There is fear and frustration everywhere.”

Drug rehabilitation is a lengthy process. But rehabilitation approaches comprise of carefully sequenced plans. The pandemic makes it tough to follow this sequence. The crucial social support programs and therapy treatments are on hold because of physical distancing norms. Also, families of recovering addicts are struggling to maintain a structured environment needed for them to remain sober.

“Only 15 percent of those undergoing Narconon’s rigorous programs relapse,” Kunwar says. “But we expect the percentage to increase this year.”

Bishal Tamrakar, 27, who first successfully undertook a drug recovery program when he was 17, accepts that the present time is dangerous for recovering addicts. “I just came to know that two of my friends have already relapsed during the pandemic,” says Tamrakar who has been clean for four years since his last seven-month intervention program at a local rehabilitation center.

“In these depressing and boring times, recovering drug users might easily resort to smoking marijuana or drinking alcohol,” Tamrakar says. “What you must keep in mind is that they usually consume these substances in huge amounts, and when they stop working, they resort to stronger drugs.” Tamrakar says the festive season has always been risky for recovering addicts as they start using ‘light substances’ for merriment without realizing that they could relapse into addiction.

Riddhi Rana, director of Maya Nepal drug/alcohol treatment and rehabilitation center, also anticipates “an explosion” in relapses during the pandemic-time festivities.

Suyash Rajbhandari, director of the narcotics anonymous (NA) based The Recovering Group, worried too. “We call this the high season for drug users and this year, the number of relapses are sure to go up,” says Rajbhandari. “There’s been 60 percent relapse rate among those associated with us.”

The proverb—an idle mind is the devil's workshop—is especially true in the case of drug users, Rajbhandari says. “For us, loneliness is bad company and the current situation has left most of us utterly alone,” he adds.

Most modules in the 12-step intervention program used by The Recovering Group are not being executed. The group requires recovering addicts to do regular follow-ups and attend NA meetings even after they leave the center. It also used to run a day-care center where recovering addicts could keep themselves occupied during the intervention.

The meetings have shifted online due to social distancing protocols and lockdowns, and many program participants fail to attend the virtual meets. Most recovering drug users were unable to rejoin regular meeting and counseling sessions even after the end of the lockdowns; they are not allowed to use motorbikes for up to a year after they leave the center, and public transport stresses them out.

The pandemic has rendered many recovering addicts and their families helpless. The environment now has more triggers and stressors that push them towards drugs. Loneliness, unemployment, uncertainty, too much time to dwell on the past—they really are up against it.

“It is not their fault,” Rajbhandari says. “The recovering drug users are susceptible to even small triggers or stressors while they are on the long and difficult road to recovery. Right now, there are just too many triggers around. At this time, we need to be even more understanding and accommodating of those struggling to put their addiction behind.”