Drought dries crop RUKUM: Wheat, cultivated in a majority of the Village Development Committees (VDCs) in Rukum district, has dried up due to drought conditions. Wheat grown in western and northern VDCs of the district has wilted due to lack of rain. The crop which otherwise used to ripen by April-end in previous years has already ripened by March-end this year. Not only wheat, lentils and pea have also wilted. The wheat ears do not have grains due to the drought. Farmers in the district have been facing food shortage every year due to decrease in the yield because of lack of adequate rainfall and irrigation facilities. Fish perish BARA: Fish worth Rs 2.8 million have perished in Bodhban, a village known for fish production in Bara district. The fish perished after water brought from the local Tiyarkhola River was released in fish ponds at Prasauna Bodhban. It is suspected that someone may have mixed poison in Tiyarkhola River and the same poisoned water caused the death of fish in the fishponds in Bodhban. The farmers have been hit hard by the death of fish. Meanwhile, fish worth Rs 250,000 were washed away after the dyke of a fishpond caved in and water gushed out.