Chitwan, Jan. 2 -- As the Bagmati provincial government moves to develop an integrated model settlement for the Chepang community, a group of engineering students from Tribhuvan University's Pulchowk Campus has taken up the task. They have been working to design the settlement ensuring that the houses are not just shelters but spaces where people can live with dignity, maintain their culture, and sustain their livelihoods.

The initiative focuses on a settlement near the Parui stream in ward 8 of Madi Municipality. There are 57 households and 50 of them from the Chepang community. Surrounded by flood-prone terrain and wildlife threats (the area abuts the Chitwan National Park), the families have long struggled with insecurity, poverty and...