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Memories of Dust
By
Pinaki Nath
Project statement
Walking along the banks of Nallu Khola, I met Kharka Bahadur, a 76-year-old man. He was just leaving a small wine shop, having finished his eighth glass of Chang. With a slight sway, he gestured for me to come closer. That simple motion was more than just an invitation—it was a gateway into Tika Bairab, where hills have been chopped for the past thirty-five years to feed the relentless hunger of local crusher industries. But more than that, it was an entry into the lives of those who remained, bound to the dust and stones of the mining trade.
The stone-crushing industry was initiated by a handful of influential locals, men who eventually moved on, leaving behind a landscape scattered by their ambitions. Those who stayed had little choice but to connect their lives to the mines, just as Kharka Bahadur had. At the age of seventy-six, he works at the crusher plant, a place just steps away from his home. With each stone extracted, the hills thinned, and the land lost its memory of green. The dense forests of Lali Gurash that once embraced the banks of Nallu Khola have been reduced to a barren wasteland of rock and dust. As the trees fell, so did the balance of nature.
In September 2024, a flash flood tore through Tika Bairab, swallowing homes, roads, and the last remaining patches of agricultural land. The locals say the flood was no accident—it was the inevitable result of years of unchecked mining in the upper hills.
What was once a land of life and sustenance now lies in ruin.
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