Snowfall in Bajura hits life hard but brings relief to farmers

BY OUR CORRESPONDENT,Bajura, Jan. 22: Life of Bajura people has been hit hard due to snowfall since mid-January. The locals have been affected by the cold weather caused by snowfall in Swamikartik, Himali, Jagannath, Budhinanda and other high-altitude places in the north-east region.

The local residents are having problems taking their cows, bulls, sheep and goats to the forest to graze.  Bir Bahadur Rokaya, a resident of Budhinanda Municipality-9, said that the weather had changed and the high mountains in the village had become extremely cold due to snowfall.

He said usually mid-January is freezing cold every year, but this year children and senior citizens had suffered from cold, fever and asthma after snowfall on the high mountains on January 19. 

The bitter cold has also left the vehicles running on Martadi Kolti road of Badimakila Municipality stranded. Since the snow stays on the road for the whole day it has been difficult for vehicles to traverse the roads. 

Similarly, people of Porakhe Lekh has also been hit hard. However, most of the farmers are seen happy because of the snowfall in the mountainous area. The snowfall brought a big relief to the farmers cultivating wheat crop and vegetable that were about to dry up for lack of water.  Farming in most places of Bajura depends on rain water. 

Nar Bahadur Rokaya, a resident of Budhinanda Municipality-7, said that the crops cultivated in the high lands depend on both snowfall and rainfall. Therefore, if there is rain or snowfall during winter, the crops survive, else they wilt, he added. According to him, farming in the high lands during winter has always been a risk because of lack of irrigation.  

According to the senior citizens of Budhinanda, the crops get better after snowfall because the snow kills pests and insects in the crops.