Birendranagar, July 23 -- The residents of Tilgaun, a remote village in ward 6 of Namkha Rural Municipality of Humla district, are preparing to permanently abandon their ancestral land following the devastating flash flood and dry landslides apparently triggered by a rare 'thermokarst' on May 15.

The villagers, traumatised by recurring natural disasters and deprived of basic services, have decided to migrate en masse to Kathmandu and other places by the end of this year. According to Chhiring Chhimel Tamang, a local resident of Tilgaun, the villagers held a meeting recently and unanimously agreed to leave the village by mid-December.

Out of 40 households, only 23 families remain in Tilgaun now. They have been languishing in makeshift te...