Weather forecasts are accurate in Nepal these days, and heeding them while planning a trip is advisable
It's that time of the year when the monsoon rains have receded, and balmy weather takes over for the great Dashain festival of the Nepalis. However, three days of unusual incessant rains last week marred the traditional Dashain festivity, making it a muddy festival for all. And it's not only the Nepalis who have been inconvenienced by the freaky weather. It has put the lives of hundreds of foreigners who are on expeditions, while thousands others have been stranded at different places of the country after flights had to be cancelled due to the sudden change in the weather. According to the tourism entrepreneurs, around 2,000 tourists are stranded in Manthali in Ramechhap and around 1,500 in Lukla, the gateway to the Everest region. Unlike the Everest region, Ramechhap's hospitality infrastructure is in its infancy and is incapable of accommodating large numbers of visitors. As such, the tourists have been forced to stay in tents as the area cannot cater to more than 50 of them. The weather is expected to improve from Tuesday, but it will be quite a task trying to move so many stranded people to their respective destinations quickly and without much hassle over the days.
The autumn season is the busiest time in Nepal, when a large number of tourists, mostly from the Western world, visit the country to go trekking. Everest, the world's tallest peak, is a favourite destination, and trekkers in the thousands fly to Lukla on their way to base camp. Some 20-30 STOL aircraft land at the airport every day ferrying tourists from Kathmandu. However, to avoid the air congestion at the Tribhuvan International Airport, regular flights to Lukla from Kathmandu have been shifted to nearby Manthali from October 1. The decision, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), the regulatory body of Nepal's civil aviation, was taken in consultation with the private sector. However, with the bad weather vexing everyone, some entrepreneurs seem to think building a small airport at Kavre, next to Kathmandu, might have been wiser.
Persistent bad weather this autumn season has been particularly harsh on mountaineers and trekkers. An avalanche that occurred just below Camp IV of Mount Manaslu on September 26 killed one person and injured four. In Upper Dolpa region, at least eight French trekkers have been out of contact since Sunday. Scores of mountaineers and trekkers are stranded in Dolpa and Manaslu after the incessant rains and snowfall damaged the trekking trails. Search for two missing Sherpas in the Dhaulagiri region has been hampered by bad weather, while a Sherpa guide who had gone missing in an avalanche at Larke Pass on Mount Manaslu has been found dead. Tourism is starting to look up in Nepal after a slump in tourist inflow due to the COVID-19 pandemic, when the country was shut down for months on end to contain the virus. And it does well to keep them happy at all times, although the weather is beyond our control. Weather predictions are very accurate in Nepal these days, and both tourism entrepreneurs and tourists would be wise to heed the periodic weather bulletins and plan accordingly so as to stay safe and not to put lives at risk.
Aviation safety
A three-member technical team of the European Union made a field visit from October 7 to 9 to carry out an audit of Nepal's aviation safety. The team is scheduled to submit its report to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) on October 28. CAAN officials are confident that the EU would remove Nepal from its air safety list since the technical team was positive towards Nepal's progress made regarding aviation safety measures. But it will take a few more months to lift Nepal from the air safety list. Nepali airlines have been barred from flying into European skies since 2013, citing poor airworthiness.
The European Union's main concerns are that Nepal has not been able to bifurcate the CAAN into two bodies: one as a regulatory body and the other as an accident investigation body. A bill to divide the CAAN into two independent entities has been tabled in the federal parliament. It could not be passed this time because of the prorogation of the parliament for the upcoming general election. The next parliament should give this bill top priority if the EU's concerns are to be addressed. Meanwhile, the International Civil Aviation Organisation's audit report has put Nepal above the global average, giving 70 per cent mark, which is two percentage points more than the global average.
A version of this article appears in the print on October 12, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
