Kathmandu, December 9

The Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development has issued a circular to 22 district development committees in the Tarai and inner Tarai to take measures to prevent the loss of lives due to cold waves.

A cold wave is a weather phenomenon that is distinguished by noticeable cooling of the air, or the invasion of (very) cold air, over a large area.

It can also be a prolonged period of excessively cold weather, which may be accompanied by high winds that cause excessive wind chills, leading to weather that seems even colder than it is.

In winter, Nepal faces cold waves which cause death and injury to livestock and wildlife, and people, mainly the elderly and children.

With mercury plummeting below 2 degree Celsius, cold spell affects daily lives in various parts of the Tarai. People, particularly the poor, who cannot afford warm clothes to keep them warm, are more vulnerable.

At least 26 people died after cold wave swept across the Tarai last winter.

Many parts of the Tarai remain covered in a thick blanket of fog blocking sunlight for days during the peak of the winter.

The MoFALD wrote to the local bodies to do needful to protect the people from the adverse effect of cold.

The MoFALD has directed the local bodies to raise awareness about the risk of hypothermia and the ways to protect oneself from cold, distribute warm blankets to needy people, arrange bonfires, coordinate with district disaster relief committees and local disaster relief committees and work in tandem with district public health offices and hospitals to save lives.