Kavre, May 11 -- Until a few weeks ago, Dalli BK spent her days cleaning homes, offices and organisations across Kathmandu. Mornings and evenings were filled with work both outside and inside her small hut in the Manohara squatter settlement, where she lived with her two sons.

Now, 38-year-old Dalli spends most of her time inside a temporary shelter at Nepal Red Cross Society training centre in Budol in ward 6 of Banepa Municipality. Since being displaced from Kathmandu, she has lost not only her home but also her livelihood.

On April 25, bulldozers demolished the settlement where Dalli had lived for years. She says the demolition shattered the fragile stability she had built after moving to Kathmandu from Humla around 15 years ago with...