Kathmandu, May 11 -- Nearly two decades after the peace accord formally ended a protracted Maoist insurgency (1996-2006), explosives planted during the conflict are still being discovered in settlements, school compounds and farmlands across the country.

For survivors like Bhagwati Gautam of Rukum, the fear has never truly faded.

On March 7, 2002, Gautam was travelling from Rukumkot to Musikot, then the district headquarters, for work when a powerful explosion tore through the path at Sankh. She lost consciousness instantly.

"When I woke up, I was lying on a bed at the TU Teaching Hospital in Maharajgunj," Gautam recalled. "The bomb had blown off one of my legs, and shrapnel pierced my body."

Security personnel had medevaced her to Ka...