Bey struggles to get back on its feet

Bey villagers rummage through the debris in hopes of salvaging something. A cluster of five houses lie buried under this rubble. Bey has been emptied and its residents camped at a relief camp or with relatives. The villagers have decided to relocate the village to safer location and men at the relief camp brave active slides to visit their homes every couple of days. The survivors are safe and provided for at present, but are yet to get over the trauma of the 18 September Earthquake which claimed seven lives in their village.

WANGCHUK BHUTIAMANGAN, 20 Oct: Bey, falling under Sakyong-Pentong GPU in Upper Dzongu, is one of the worst affected villages of the 18 September Earthquake. The tremors threw down a massive landslide into the village on that Sunday evening, burying a cluster of five houses and killing seven people.
The village remains cut-off, but its surviving residents have been evacuated. Although safe now, yet, more than a month since the earthquake, the people here are yet to recover from the trauma even as the village tries to make a fresh beginning. Bey is the last village on the way to Tholung Gumpa and there is habitation beyond this village until the monastery.
This village had a cluster of 18 houses, divided into two by the Tholung Chu running through it. One part of the village consisting of five houses was swept away by the 18 September slide. The rest of the village has been evacuated and around 120 people, comprising of senior citizens, women and children, have been shifted to a relief camp set up at the Ward panchayat, Nima Lepcha’s house at 4th Mile Mantam.
When they were first evacuated, the journey to the relief camp at Mantam took them two days due to destruction along the road. Since then, some of the families have moved out, taking shelter with their relatives at Passingdang, Lingzya and other villages in Dzongu.
Out of the 13 houses which survived the killer landslide, two houses still collapsed to the earthquake and three more houses are in danger of coming apart while several other houses took in multiple damages and are in the sweep of an active landslide right above.
The seven people who have lost their lives are: Dukmith Lepcha w/o Tshering Lepcha, Nekith Lepcha w/o Sangcho Lepcha, Gonlan Lepcha s/o Sangcho Lelpcha, Topzang Lepcha s/o Late Sonam Lepcha, Lhakit Lepcha d/o Late Tashi Lepcha, Sonam Lepcha s/o Late Tashi Lepcha and Bhumi Raj Rai who was employed as a labourer at one of the farms.
The villagers also lost standing crops of millet, paddy, cardamom etc. which were nearing harvest at the time. Also in the list of damages are 5 Trout fish ponds and 2 grass carp fish ponds and several vermin-compost structures. On 19 and 20 September, following the quake, all the villagers set their cattle and other livestock free since they did not have enough fodder or feed for them.
At present, some male members have begun making quick visits to their abandoned homes. They do so at least once every couple of days.
A meeting was held among the villagers and their Ward Panchayat to discuss the rehabilitation and resettlement of the village. The villagers and the Panchayats have decided to shift the village to a safer location nearby but are yet to select the area. It is not going to be an easy task. Apart from the logistics involved, there will be the memories of having lived in the present location for generations which the villagers will have to confront.
While speaking to NOW!, the Ward Panchayat, Nima Lepcha, informed that although the new location has not been decided, what is clear is that all the villagers are unanimous on the decision to relocate the village and ensuring that everyone continued to live as neighbours.
He also assured that essential commodities have been provided by the government and different NGOs as per the requirements and there is no shortage.
Meanwhile, the road link from Lingzya to Bey, which is a four-kilometre stretch, has been hit by several major slides and could take many more months for the state PWD to restore. The urgency of the restoration apart, this is not an easy or safe task. Two labourers of the PWD have already been injured while engaged in restoration works on this stretch.
Similarly, the villages of Sakyong and Pentong have also suffered major damages.
The area MLA, Power Minister Sonam Gyatso Lepcha has already announced the construction of a one-storeyed house by the government for everyone who has lost a house to the earthquake.
The Ward Panchayat, on behalf of the villagers, has appealed and requested the government that since restoration was already underway, the Lingzya-Bey road, which was kutcha and narrow, be upgraded with new cutting and widening.
Unless and until the road is restored, no further settlement can be undertaken, because even a hike across this alignment is fraught with too many risks, he pointed out.
He further informed that they have not demanded for anything but we are convinced that the government will continue to do the needful.