16/01/2025
Mulkot, a small and often overlooked village in Sindhuli, feels like a place forgotten by the world. Nestled between fragile mountains and a restless river, it has become a hotspot for floods and landslides, disasters that show no mercy. Life here is a constant struggle, especially for the elderly, the poor who cannot afford to leave, and communities pushed to the margins, denied resources and opportunities to grow. These are the people left behind to face nature’s fury.
The recent flood in Ashoj brought devastation that words struggle to capture. Homes are buried in sand, their walls barely holding on. Fields that were days away from harvest now lie empty, their crops washed away like they never existed. Landslides have swallowed up half of the land in front of homes, leaving the remaining structures cracked and fragile, in desperate need of repairs that no one can afford.
But the worst blow came when the village’s main water source, their beloved kulo, was destroyed by the landslide. Now, they have no choice but to buy water every day, stretching their already meager resources to the breaking point. As one villager put it, "Even a single rupee can mean so much for us, but now we have to spend it just to survive. The cost of water has become the cost of our pain.”
Despite the despair, the people of Mulkot hold on. They cling to their land, their homes, their memories—everything they have left. Their resilience is remarkable, but it’s also a cry for help, a plea not to be forgotten again. In every cracked wall, in every empty field, in every weary face, Mulkot tells a story of endurance that deserves to be heard.
