In some places, mobile schools are being run, in others, winter vacations have been granted, and nine police units have been relocated to the district headquarters.
What you should know
Nearly half a foot of snowfall occurred in Limi, Namkha Rural Municipality-6, Humla in the second week of Kartik. At that time, most of the locals were preparing to leave the village. ‘This time, we stayed in the village for 1/2 days because it snowed early, and we went down after the snow melted,’ said Rangdol Tamang of Jangaun, Limi, who left the village and reached the district headquarters, Simkot, ‘Now we will have to stay for at least 5 months in Nepalgunj and Surkhet.’ According to him, there are only a few houses in the village now.
Limi has villages named Jang, Halji and Til. The residents of all three villages leave the villages every year before the snowfall. Tamang said that only those who cannot walk, the disabled and the housewives remain in the village during the winter. According to him, those who leave the village live in places such as the district headquarters Simkot, Nepalgunj, Surkhet, Kathmandu and other places during the 5 months of winter. He informed that some youths travel to different places to trade herbs and local products.
Due to heavy snowfall in Limi, the production of food crops is low. Tamang said that most families come out to survive the winter by providing food for the villagers. According to him, communication and other relations are severed after snowfall in the village. ‘Since life becomes difficult after snowfall, we are forced to leave the village before snowfall,’ he said, ‘Since the children have also come with us, the schools have also taken winter vacations, and the village health post and police post have also been shifted to the district headquarters.’
Humla Chief District Officer Tek Kumar Regmi said that most of the settlements in Namkha Rural Municipality have become almost deserted. According to him, about 3 dozen hotels in Hilsa on the Nepal-China border have been closed due to the cold, while transport services from Simkot to Hilsa have been suspended due to thick snow in Nara Lake. ‘Winter vacations have been given to schools,’ he said, ‘Currently, the border checkpoint at Hilsa is only dependent on the security personnel of the Armed Police Force BOP and police post.’
Mugu, Chitai, Dolfu, Karti, Kimri and other settlements in Mugumkarmarong Rural Municipality of Mugu are also deserted. As the streams in the village have started freezing due to the cold, locals have started flocking to the district headquarters, Gamgadhi, Siranichaur, Chitai Kuna, Gamgadhi and other places. According to Gurutasi Tamang, a teacher at Chitai Basic School, mobile schools are being run as the settlements are empty due to the cold. ‘When the children come with their parents, we teachers also come to warmer places,’ he said, ‘We run mobile schools wherever there are students.’ According to him, the Himalayan settlements have started looking white after the rivers around the village have frozen.
The border police post in Mugu has also been shifted to the district headquarters due to the extreme cold. Nine police offices across Karnali have been shifted to the district headquarters due to the cold. Provincial Police Chief DIG Madhav Shrestha said that seven police posts in Dolpa, one in Humla and one in Mugu have been shifted to the district headquarters.
Every year, locals who leave their villages in Kartik return to the village only in Falgun after the onset of summer. Mugamkarmarong Rural Municipality Chairman Tshiringkapne Lama said that only housewives and those who cannot walk stay in the village for about 4 months. According to him, locals have come down to the village with their cattle, horses and donkeys. According to him, development and construction work is affected until the locals return to the village. ‘Due to heavy snowfall and extreme cold, no one can live in the village. Since there is no one in the village, the service flow of ward offices also comes to a standstill,’ he said. ‘Only one crop, yam, grows in the village every year. The locals have not been able to leave the village only because there are herbs.’ According to him, the development of the entire municipality is supported only by the construction work carried out from Falgun to Asar.
