E-Kantipur

KATHMANDU, JAN 03 - Winter rain coupled with snowfall continued to lash various places of the country on Monday as well.

It has been snowing in Mustang, Baglung, Rasuwa, Okhaldhunga, Terhathum, Sankhuwasabha, Dhankuta, Ilam and Taplejung, among other districts, affecting normal life. Public movement, especially in the upper region, has been largely limited due to the snow and chill. Many schools in snow-affected regions remained closed.

A cold wave is sweeping across the country resulting from the rain and snowfall that started on Saturday. The Metrological Forecasting Division reported the highest rainfall of 18.4 millimetres in Dang and Simara within the past 24 hours. It forecast partly cloudy weather condition in the hilly region with chances of brief rainfall in some places in the western high mountain region on Tuesday. The maximum and minimum temperatures of Kathmandu were recorded 14.9 degree Celsius and 7 degree Celsius on Monday while the minimum temperature of Jumla was 2.4 degree Celsius below zero.

In Mustang, snowing was unabated as of Monday evening, throwing life out of gear. The land surface is buried under up to six feet of snow in the higher parts of the district. Assistant Chief District Officer Om Prasad Pandey said all schools have been closed due to the biting cold in the district.

All flights to Jomsom Airport were cancelled while hotels wore a deserted look owing to the snowfall. A shepherd, Mukti Prasad Magar, has been missing from Kobang area since Sunday. Police say the victim might have been trapped in snow.

The unrelenting snowfall in various parts of upper Terhathum, Sankhuwasabha, Dhankuta, Ilam and Taplejung has paralysed normal life. People have been confined to their homes in about a dozen VDCs including Kimathanka, Hatiya and Makalu in Sankhuwasabha district as the land surface has been covered by a four-foot layer of snow.

Our correspondent from Terhathum said tourists who on their way to Taplejung from Basantapur have been stranded in Panchpokhari, Chauki and Gupha. There is a blanket of about four-foot snow in the Tinjure and Milke area. Suresh Pathak of Chauki said some cattle herders are out of contact due to sustained snowfall at the higher altitude.

Meanwhile, the bone-chilling cold following a period of rain and snowfall affected life in various districts in the Mid-western and Far-western regions.

(With inputs from district correspondents)

Woman dies of cold

 A 56-year-old woman died of cold at Bhodaha VDC-9 in Bara district on Sunday night. According to the villagers, the woman of an impoverished Dalit family died of severe cold due to the lack of warm clothes. Earlier this year, the chilly weather claimed three people in the district.

Posted on: 2012-01-03 01:00

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