Gaighat, May 24:

Sunny days bring happiness to residents of Khotang district’s Bijaykhark, Buipa, Rajapani and Khalle VDCs, for they can hope to talk to relatives living across the country and abroad. They hastily pack their food and head to a telephone booth in Bijaykhark VDC. The telephone operates on Satellite Telecom Management (STM) technology, meaning it works only on sunny days.

The locals have to queue up for hours to call their relatives.

“As we have to wait till 5 pm at times, we bring our food,” says Ishwor Adhikari, of Khalle VDC, who came to contact his relatives in Biratnagar.

“Each person gets five minutes to use the phone,” telephone operator Govinda Pokharel said, adding, “His turn ends after five minutes, no matter whether he is able to make contact or not”.