Holiday and heat increase drowning cases

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, June 12: Due to sharp rise in temperature, many schools across the country, even in the Hilly and Himalayan regions, have been closed. According to the local levels and district offices that have directed the schools to close, the holiday is provided to prevent students from falling ill due to the scorching heat.

While students are requested to stay indoors during the heat, many reach a nearby water source, either river, pond, canal or stream, for swimming. As the number of children visiting a water source for swimming has increased with the holidays, so has the number of drowning cases. In the last week, from June 4 to 10, at least a dozen cases of children being drowned were reported from across the country.

According to the Nepal Police Headquarters daily bulletins published during the period, two children drowned in a fish pond at Naduwa, an area in Ward No. 10 of Ramgram Municipality in Nawalparasi West, on June 5. 

The two children have been identified as 11-year-old Yunisha Khatri and seven-year-old Muna Khatri. They were the daughters of Lekhraj Khatri of Khotang. 

The duo was rescued from the pond and rushed to a nearby health centre. While Yunisha died during treatment at the district hospital, Muna, who survived, was referred to Bhairahawa for further treatment.

Kalpana Bhar, a 12-year-old daughter of Devdas, a resident of Buddhabhumi Municipality in Kapilvastu district, also drowned on June 5.

Kalpana, who had reached the local Gudrung River to swim, was rescued from the river and rushed to the district hospital; however, she died during treatment.

Similarly, on June 8, two children drowned in the Khoche River at Batulle in Ward No. 1 of Basgadhi Municipality in Bardiya district. 

Police informed that eight-year-old Pushpa Pariyar and nine-year-old Asha BK drowned while swimming and washing clothes in t he river. Likewise, four children drowned in different water bodies on Friday, June 9.

Sandip Basnet, 10, and Pramod Basnet, 10, drowned in a local pond constructed in Ward No. 13 of Bheri Municipality in Jajarkot district. The duo was rescued, but Sandip died during treatment at the Chaurjahari Hospital in Rukum West and Pramod breathed his last at the Jajarkot District Hospital.

In Gorkha district, Manish Gurung, 8, of Gorkha Municipality, was also severely injured after being drowned  in a pond. Injured Gurung died during treatment at the Gorkha District Hospital.

Rahul Chaudhary, 13, also drowned in the Rapti River in Ward No. 4 of Lamahi Municipality in Dang district on the same day. 

Meanwhile, three more children drowned on Saturday. 

The daily bulletin of Nepal Police published on Sunday stated that three incidents of drowning were reported from Dailekh, Surkeht and Kavre districts.

In Dailekh, Ganesh Bahadur Khadka, a nine-year-old son of Bal Bahadur of Dungeshwor Rural Municipality, drowned in the Lohore River while swimming.

Also, Kabi Budha Magar, a 14-year-old son of Thal Bahadur, drowned in the Dharapani Raha Pond at the bank of the Bheri River in Gurbhakot of Surkhet.

Nevertheless, 11-year-old Simple Lama, daughter of Surta Lama, drowned in the Cha River nearby her house in Bhumlu, Kavre. Lama was severely injured when rescued. Police informed that Simple died during treatment at the Dhulikhel Hospital. Authorities have requested the parents and locals to keep an eye on the water bodies and prevent children from swimming in risky places. 

The World Health Organisation (WHO) states that lack of physical barriers between people and water, particularly close to home, inadequate supervision of young children, and lack of water safety awareness and risky behaviour around water, such as swimming alone, are said to be some major risk factors behind the worrying scenario of drowning.

Similarly, security personnel urged the need of making children aware of the dangers of swimming when alone, unable to swim and unknown of the depth of a water body. The WHO also suggests that a country should prioritise teaching swimming to children if drowning cases were on the rise.