Taplejung, April 22:

Unable to enter Tibet for past few months, villagers in the northern part of Taplejung are

facing food crisis.

Initially, the border was sealed citing snowfall, but after the followers of the Dalai Lama began protesting against the Chinese crackdown in Lhasa, Nepalis were again prohibited to enter Tibet.

As cultivation of crop is not possible in the area, villagers largely depend on Tibetan market for food because purchasing food from Tibet is more convenient than from the district headquarters, Phidim. Villagers bring food grains from Tibet on yaks.

Nima Sherpa, who walked for four days to come to Phidim from Olangchungola to buy food, said the stock of food grains he had piled six months ago had finished. “The Tibet unrest began soon after the stock of food grains ceased. Since then we have been prohibited to enter Tibet,” he said.

Starvation is looming large after food grains stock finished in the village, said Tashi Sherpa of Papung. People in the village are in a dire straits, he added.

Villagers’ bid to transport food grains with the help of yaks has been unsuccessful as yaks cannot walk in plains, where temperature is higher.

It takes a week if villagers try to carry food from Phidim on their own, Dandu Sherpa of Ghunsa said, adding that the food crisis has hit Olangchungola, Ghunsa, Fale, Gyajla, Papung and Tokpegola.

Taplejung Chief District Officer Fanindra Mani Pokhrel said cultivation of food was not possible in Himali region and the food crisis had escalated after the locals there could not go to Tibet.