Surkhet, October 29
Food shortages are emerging in three settlements in Limi Valley, a trans-Himalayan region in Namkha Rural Municipality-6 of Humla district, after snowfall blocked the mountain pass connecting the area to the rest of the district.
Residents of Til, Halji and Jang villages have been facing shortages after subsidised food supplied by the Food Management and Trading Company Limited under its transportation subsidy programme failed to reach the area for a year.
Although a food distribution centre operates in Halji village, it has yet to receive supplies, preventing residents from purchasing government-subsidised food.
Paljor Tamang, ward chairperson of Namkha Rural Municipality-6, said efforts to transport the allocated food supplies to Limi in August had failed. The food allocated for the area has reached Yalwang, the rural municipality’s administrative centre, but transportation has been halted since snowfall on October 10 and 11 covered the road across Nyalu Pass.
According to the company’s Humla branch, the snowfall disrupted plans to deliver food to Limi. Residents last received 300 quintals of subsidised food in October last year.
Daily life disrupted
Snow up to three and a half feet deep has blocked roads, disrupted travel and restricted access to essential services. Residents are also facing shortages of firewood and drinking water as water in taps has frozen. Patients needing treatment outside the area may have to charter helicopters, Tamang said.
The snowfall also damaged ripe crops, including barley, buckwheat, peas and radishes, according to resident Nakyap Lama of Halji. He said crops buried under snow for three weeks had rotted and become unusable.
With local production damaged and supplies from Taklakot in China also unavailable, food insecurity has worsened.
The three settlements comprise 111 households: 18 in Til, 90 in Halji and three in Jang.
Keshav Raj Budha, chief of the Food Management and Trading Company Limited’s provincial office in Surkhet, said he would provide information after looking into the matter.
