Lack of snow, rainfall drying up Darchula rivers

By Lokendra Joshi,Darchula, march,1: Darchula district is a home to a number of perennial rivers that never dried up even during the winter. But this year has been different: lack of snow and rainfall has started drying up the rivers.   

Shambhuraj Joshi, a resident of Lekam Rural Municipality-5, in the district, said that the rivers flowing year-round in various places have dried up due to a lack of rainfall in the winter season this year. 

Most of the rivers have dried up, the drought has had a great impact on the river system, he said.

Due to the dry spell, the area has been reeling under acute shortage of water. 

The implications will be devastating for people’s lives, said Dilendra Prasad Bhatta, another resident of Lekam-5, 

He said that water has dried up in various perennial rivers – including Khark Khola, Soudegad Khola and Trishuli Khola – in Maikholi. 

The shortage of water is also impacting wild animals, with the number of wild animals coming to the village for water shooting up in recent years, locals said.

Not only the river channels but also the water in big rivers is decreasing due to drought. 

Due to the lack of rain and snow this year, the amount of water in the rivers has started to decrease. 

Indrasingh Bista, a resident of Marma, informed that the water in the district’s two big rivers –Mahakali and Chaulani in – has markedly decreased compared to the past.

The streams and mountain snow feed these rivers. But the lack of rainfall and snow for a long time has thinned mountain snow and dried up water sources.  

Locals are worried that there will be a shortage of drinking water in the coming months as the water in the spring is drying up.

Climate change is one known culprit. The Laliguras, which used to bloom in April, has already bloomed in February, summer is increasing in intensity and time every year, and water sources are receding. 

Various effects and changes are appearing in the environment, according to experts.

Parvati Rokaya, a resident of Api Mountain area, said that the weather this year is very different from the years before. 

There used to be a lot of snowfall in the previous years, but this year no snow has been seen in the village. This year, apart from the usual rain and snow in Api Mountain and Byas, there has been no snowfall even until mid-February.

Residents of Himalayan settlements, who have lived in freezing temperatures during the winter, have said that it is not as cold this year as it used to be. 

“When there was snowfall, sometimes we had to stay inside the house for a few days because of the bitter cold, but the cold was not felt much this year,” Rokaya said.

As drought has wilted crops in the fields, locals fear they will starve.