The temperature in Madhesh and Western Tarai has been rising suddenly for a week. The movement of the general public has become sparse as the hot wind has started blowing. As the sun starts to shine after 10 am, markets and rural areas have become deserted. The sudden increase in heat since Tuesday has affected normal life from Rajbiraj and Birgunj in Madhesh to the west and from Bhairahawa to Nepalgunj and Dhangadhi in the Far Western Tarai.

According to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, the temperature in Rajbiraj in Saptari reached 36.1 degrees Celsius on Wednesday. The maximum temperature here on Tuesday was 38.2 degrees Celsius. According to the measurements of the Agricultural Equipment Research Center in Birgunj-Ranighat, the minimum temperature on Tuesday was 27 and the maximum was 39.9 degrees Celsius. Although the minimum temperature on Wednesday was 22.5, the maximum temperature has reached 41 degrees Celsius.

The hot wind blowing along with the high temperature has also affected the life of the people of West Nawalparasi. Rajendra Chaudhary of Ramgram said that he has been suffering from the heat of the sun and the heat of the ground for the past few days. He said, ‘Until a few days ago, we could do outdoor work. Now, it seems like the sun is burning. We have been doing outdoor work in the morning and evening.’ The temperature was measured at 37 degrees Celsius in the district headquarters, Parasi, at 1 pm on Wednesday. The poor family who earn their living by doing daily labor has found it difficult to work due to the hot wind.

Sant Malaha, who drives an auto rickshaw in the border Bhairahawa Bazaar of Rupandehi, is suffering from the heat. He does not even have the energy to take the rickshaw out on the road because of the heat. Even if he does, he cannot shout and call passengers like usual as his body is weak due to the heat. Moreover, there are no passengers. Even the auto rickshaws that used to crowd the market squares at other times have thinned out. Not only private but also public vehicles have started plying less. ‘People have stopped coming out of their homes due to the heat,’ said Malaha, ‘What can be done even if there are no customers by taking out rickshaws on the road?’

According to Gautam Buddha International Airport Information Officer Binod Singh Rawat, the maximum temperature on Wednesday afternoon was more than 40 degrees Celsius. Hot winds have been blowing in Bhairahawa and surrounding areas since Monday after noon.

There were few people moving around in the border area of ​​Bhairahawa on Wednesday. Auto rickshaws and motorcycles were plying sporadically. Some local gamchas were traveling on bicycles with their heads and faces covered. Most of the common people were sitting under the shade of trees on the roads and around their houses. The market was deserted. There was no one to graze livestock in the barren fields of Marchwari and Kothimai in Rupandehi. Bachchan Yadav of Kothimai said that due to the heat, he used to take livestock to the fields only in the morning and evening. ‘Not only people, but also livestock feel the heat,’ he said, ‘I have tied them up under the shade of a tree.’

Bhim Bhandari, a teacher at Bhairahawa Multiple Campus, said that the body becomes dry and thirsty due to the hot wind. ‘It is impossible to travel during the day,’ he said, ‘The heat makes one lazy, one dries out one’s lips and one only wants to sleep.’ According to him, the sudden increase in heat in Bhairahawa, Tilottama, Lumbini, Rohini and other areas of Rupandehi has made life difficult due to the hot wind.

Most municipalities in Rupandehi are starting the academic session from 10th Baisakh. Parents seem worried as schools will be opened in the summer. ‘The heat starts in the morning,’ said Jayakesh Harijan of Siddharthanagar-12, ‘It is difficult to go out of the house and work in the afternoon. How can students study in such heat?’

The heat has also affected life in Nepalgunj, Banke. According to the Meteorological Forecasting Division under the department on Wednesday, daily wage earners, rickshaw drivers and women businessmen have faced problems after the maximum temperature here reached above 39.2 degrees Celsius. Due to the scorching sun, there has been less traffic on the roads in the afternoon. The general public has been forced to stay indoors. This has also reduced the number of people in the market and vehicles. According to rickshaw drivers, their income has decreased due to the lack of passengers. ‘People do not come out of their homes during the summer, so even if they drive a rickshaw all day, they do not earn any income,’ said Ram Vilas Kumal of Nepalgunj, ‘Even in Baishakh, it is as hot as in Jestha-Asar.’

Daily wage earners are also facing problems due to lack of work. The decrease in the presence of people in the market area has affected their employment. Kranti Burma, who runs a clothing shop in Gharbari Tole, Nepalgunj-2, said that business has decreased due to the summer heat. ‘Even though the shop is open all day, customers do not come,’ she said, ‘Business is not like before, the market area is deserted as the summer heat increases.’ She said that customers are seen in the market only after 6 pm.

Similarly, the summer heat has also increased rapidly in Dhangadhi in the Far West. According to the data released by the Meteorological Forecasting Division on Wednesday morning, the temperature in Dhangadhi was between 38 and 40 degrees Celsius. The department has stated that the temperature in Dhangadhi reached above 38 degrees Celsius between 12 noon and 2 pm. The biggest hit of the heat is daily wage laborers and farmers. Sohan Chaudhary, who works at LN Chowk in Dhangadhi, said that the working hours have been changed due to the heat. He used to work from 7 am to 5 pm, but now he is forced to take a 2-hour break in the afternoon. Sohan says that work is being delayed. He said that working in the open in the hot air is very painful. The heat has affected not only the laborers but also the students equally. Chetna Kunwar, a student of class 11 in Trinagar, Dhangadhi, was seen going to school under an umbrella in the scorching sun at 2 pm. She said that even though she did not feel like going to school due to the heat, she was forced to go to school to repeat the course as the exams were approaching. She said that studying was very difficult due to the pressure of students in the classroom and the heat.

Business has also been directly affected. Kalpana Ode, who is roasting corn with a three-year-old child in her arms at LN Chowk, said that business has decreased in the past few days. Before the heat, she used to do business of up to Rs 1,000 per day, but now she says that she earns only Rs 3-400. ‘They do not like to eat hot corn in the summer. They eat it only sporadically in the evening,’ she said.

For Sameer Khan, who sells sugarcane juice at LN Chowk in Dhangadhi, business has also increased with the increase in the summer. For the past week, he has been selling more than 100 glasses of juice a day. He said that he has started earning more than Rs 3,000 per glass of juice at Rs 40. ‘Until a week ago, there was not much business. We have been earning well for the past 3-4 days,’ said Sameer. Not only in the market, the presence of service recipients in government offices in Dhangadhi has started decreasing during the day. They do not go out to the market except for essential work.