LAMJUNG, July 10 -- Last year, Ram Bahadur Gurung moved out of his ancestral village of Chipla, in Marsyangdi, to Ghermu Phant. A massive landslide that had occurred in Chipla some 30 years ago had been slowly expanding, putting Gurung's house at direct risk. In these three decades, no efforts have been made by the government to lessen the risk, Gurung said. "No measures were adopted to control the landslide, which kept growing bigger every year, or to transpose the peoples to safer spaces," he said.

Gurung eventually constructed a house for his family in the plains of Ghermu Phant with his own money. Others like him, Manjeet Gurung and Bel Bahadur Gurung, have also migrated out of the village to safer spaces in Kramuche and Proju Danda....