SUNSARI, April 1 -- People who were displaced by the Koshi floods around four decades ago are still living on the banks of the river in Railway, Jabdi, Bichpani, Mahendra Nagar, Bange, Bharaul, Madhuban, Rajbas, Prakashpur and Aaradi, among other areas, in Sunsari district. Today, more than 25,000 people live as squatters in these areas.

The displaced families no longer have their lands and properties; all their homes were swept away by the flood and their lands remain inundated for the past four decades. Yet they continue to pay land revenue tax in the hopes of receiving compensation from the government someday.

They have also been transferring the ownership of their inundated lands to their family members.

"Fifty-eight years ago, we ...