Uncertain monsoon

The country is witnessing an unusually long dry weather together with the increasing rise in temperature. The capital city has received less than normal precipitation this year, and the mercury level seems to be reaching records of sorts for this time of the year. However, the most prone areas to the dry and hot spell is the Terai region. Weather conditions are so adverse there that in the mid and western Terai schools have shut down and the hospitals are seeing record numbers of patients. Some of the schools have announced summer holidays while others have been compelled to take recesses since it is not possible to conduct classes under these conditions for it could ruin the health of students. Schools send the children home after they fainted during morning assembly periods. This is the appropriate step to take considering that children, together with women and the elderly, are most vulnerable to diseases that thrive under these conditions. The hospitals and health centres in the area report most of the patients coming as suffering from diarrhoea, typhoid, asthma and pneumonia. There are also cases of many suffering from high fever and many water borne diseases these days. Because of the increasing number of patients the hospitals are hard put to treat the large number of sick and admit patients requiring admission because of overcrowding.

This has happened all of a sudden with a sudden rise in the number of sick people attributed to the high temperature. Not only have the schools been closed and the hospitals packed beyond capacity but normal life has been hampered with businesses closing down, and the streets seeing little traffic with very few venturing out. Therefore, it is evident that many forms of economic activities have come to a grinding halt, thereby, affecting mostly those working on daily wages basis like labourers and rickshaw pullers, because it is virtually impossible to work in such scorching heat with the temperature recorded as reaching as high as 42.5 degrees Celsius in places like Kohalpur. This hot spell is sending alarm signals all around for there is very little one can do against the elements.

However, much of the blame for this hot weather lies with global warming. According to experts, this has delayed the onset of the monsoon in the country by a couple of weeks. Because of the heat and dry conditions there is scarcity of drinking water in most urban and rural areas. Traditional sources of water have dried up as there has been very little rain as a result of which the water level has gone down. The glaciers are melting as never before, thereby, threatening the fragile Himalayan ecology. It is reported that in some places water had to be diverted from dams set up to generate electricity from rivers to the fields for irrigation purposes as much of the country’s agriculture is dependent on rain water. Therefore, it is high time awareness was raised amongst all about the ill-effects of global warming and what individuals could do to arrest this trend. It is through joint efforts that global warming could be reduced which is responsible for the hot weather we are now experiencing. Unless this is done, then in all likelihood, the weather conditions will continue to deteriorate in the foreseeable future.

Slow, but steady

It seems that something is better than nothing. Maybe that applies to the progress in getting the full cabinet in place. The third expansion has come about to enliven the spirit of the ever-watchful people. The vacuum is slowly being filled with the all-too large objective of getting the peace process to the right destination and completion of statute writing work. The working force of the cabinet still requires participants to catch full steam. A few more days and hopefully we will have the full force in action.

The delay of over a month in realizing a full cabinet—of course, the number may vary—has not been sweet on the people who are battling one problem after another. The portfolio greed is what the political parties are renowned for since long. It seems the same even in times when people’s service ought to have superseded the lip service camouflage. When the options go missing, the best thing to do is to take things for granted and hope for the best. The only bright lining this time around is that the government will be represented by the maximum number of political parties. Maybe, more inclusive tint!