A landslide triggered during excavation for the under-construction administrative building of Khandachakra Municipality has put seven nearby houses at risk in Kalikot district, leaving residents of the area living under a persistent threat. The slide occurred last August at Manma Serapata in Khandachakra Municipality-1, when soil loosened by digging for the municipal building gave way and buried part of the main road passing through Manma Bazaar. Months after the incident, the danger has not eased: construction work at the site is continuing, and the families living closest to the excavation remain exposed to the threat of further slope failure.

Excavation Work Set Off the Landslide

The landslide was triggered during excavation carried out for the administrative building that Khandachakra Municipality is constructing, according to reports published by Khabarhub and Ratopati.

The site of the slide lies at Manma Serapata, within Khandachakra Municipality-1 of Kalikot, a hill district in Nepal's Karnali Province. As digging for the building proceeded, the slope disturbed by the excavation gave way, sending debris down toward the settlement below.

The most visible consequence was the burial of part of the main road that runs through Manma Bazaar. The slide deposited earth and debris across that stretch, disrupting movement along a route that residents of the bazaar area rely on in their daily lives.

Key facts at a glance

  • Trigger: Excavation for the under-construction administrative building of Khandachakra Municipality
  • Location: Manma Serapata, Khandachakra Municipality-1, Kalikot district
  • Timing: The landslide occurred last August
  • Immediate impact: Part of the main road in Manma Bazaar was buried under debris
  • Ongoing risk: Seven houses near the site remain in danger

Seven Houses Living Under Threat

For seven households located near the construction site, the landslide turned a development project into a source of daily fear. The houses stand close enough to the slope disturbed by the excavation that the danger identified in August has continued to hang over them ever since.

Residents of the area are facing danger as the construction work continues. The families in the endangered houses have spent the months since the slide watching building activity proceed near their homes while the risk to their properties persists.

The risks they face are tied closely to the layout of the site and its surroundings:

  • The excavation lies next to the cluster of seven houses that are now considered vulnerable.
  • The main road through Manma Bazaar, part of which was buried in the slide, passes through the same populated area.
  • Any renewed movement of soil from the site would threaten both the homes and the road that local people depend on.

The incident shows how quickly construction activity on fragile hill slopes can place nearby settlements at risk. What began as excavation for a public building has, according to the reports, left private homes endangered and part of a key local road buried.

Construction Continues Despite the Danger

Despite the landslide and the risk to seven houses, work on the municipal building has not stopped. Local residents continue to face danger as construction proceeds at Manma Serapata, months after the slope first gave way.

The persistence of the danger raises pressing questions about the project and its oversight:

  • What protective or retaining measures, if any, have been put in place at the excavation site?
  • Have the seven endangered houses been assessed to determine whether they remain safe for the families living in them?
  • What steps are planned to restore the buried section of the main road through Manma Bazaar?

The available reports do not detail any remedial measures adopted at the site following the slide. What they make clear is that the situation has not returned to normal: the houses remain at risk and construction activity is ongoing, keeping residents in a state of uncertainty about when, or whether, the danger will be addressed.

A Warning from the Hills

The incident at Manma Serapata is a stark reminder of the hazards that accompany construction in Nepal's hill districts, where settlements, roads and public buildings are often built on steep and fragile slopes. August, when the landslide occurred, falls within the monsoon months, when saturated ground and slopes weakened by digging are especially prone to giving way.

In Kalikot, the consequences of the August slide remain visible around the Khandachakra Municipality building site: a slope disturbed for construction buried the main road of Manma Bazaar and put seven houses in danger. Until the threats to those homes and that road are resolved, residents of the area will continue to live with the fallout from a landslide set off by the very work meant to bring a new public building to their municipality.