Respite from heat likely from coming Monday

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, June 9: People across the country still have to wait a few more days to cool off as there is no chance of rainfall until  coming Monday. The Meteorological Forecasting Division, under the Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM), has forecast no rainfall until next week. 

According to Barun Poudel, a senior meteorologist at the Meteorological Forecasting Division, light rainfall is expected in the eastern and central regions from Sunday. However, people in the western and Terai regions will have to wait a few more days to find relief from the increasing temperature. 

“Currently, we are witnessing local and western disturbances, and the easterly winds (from the Bay of Bengal) have not yet entered the country,” Poudel said. The monsoon has arrived in Kerala so far and will enter Nepal within a few days, around the usual time of June 13, he informed. 

Meanwhile, our Sarlahi correspondent reported that life has become difficult due to the extreme heat waves in the Terai district. People are unable to leave their houses as the scorching heat makes them uncomfortable. Since Monday, the heat has become unbearably high in the Terai districts. 

The most affected are laborers and farmers. Laxman Chaudhary, who carries electric items in a pushcart from a hardware store in Lalbandi Bazar, complained that he cannot pull the cart due to the hot sun and wind. “Even though the heat is extreme and hard to bear during the daytime, I am still working to feed my family as I am the only breadwinner. My body becomes extremely tired, and I suffer from headaches at night after pushing the cart all day under the scorching sun,” Chaudhary said. 

Parobati Majhi (Musahar) of Chandranagar Rural Municipality-6, Kamad, said they could not sleep the whole night due to the heat inside their house. Farmers have complained that corn and paddy plants have started drying up due to high temperatures and lack of rainfall. 

Due to increasing drought, there is also a shortage of drinking water in the Chure area settlement. Devi Bahadur Khatri, Ward Chairman of Ishwarpur Municipality-12, Kalinjore, said that there is an extreme shortage of water for drinking, cleaning, and feeding livestock in the area. 

“Since the streams and wells have all dried up, the locals are facing difficulties in obtaining even a single gallon of water,” Khatri said. With temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius, people are falling ill due to the extreme heat. 

Dr. Guneshwar Jha, a resident of Malangwa, the district headquarters, has advised people to drink plenty of water and stay indoors when the sun is shining and the wind is blowing, as the number of patients suffering from heat-related infections such as fainting, shivering, headache, fever, typhoid, and fever is increasing.

On Thursday, Nepalgunj recorded the temperature of 41.8 degrees Celsius, Bhairawa 42.4 degrees Celsius, Simara 42.6 degrees Celsius, Biratnagar 41.5 degrees Celsius and Janakpur 42.4 degrees Celsius.