Locals of Lapchi village, which borders the neighboring Tibet, have started shifting toward warmer places, including Lumnang, and the capital city Kathmandu."We used to seek warmer places only after December. This time, however, we started migrating two months early," said Karma Sherpa, a local of Lapchi. "We will again move to our homeland once snowfall stops and the days get warmer again," he added. Lapchi is one day's walk from Lumnang.
Apart from those who rear yaks, most of the locals are headed toward warmer destinations to avoid the biting cold, according to Karma. "The days are colder this time than last year. An elderly of our village passed away last week due to extreme cold," added Karma.
Likewise, other Himalayan villages of the district like Na, Beding, Aalampu among others are also badly affected by the cold. Nyima Tenzin Sherpa, a local of Na in Gauri Sankar VDC, said they have been shifting places due to fear of earthquake and avalanches as well.
"The quake destroyed all the houses in our village. We have been living in makeshift tents and we are living in a very pathetic condition. We do not even have proper access to drinking water as our water sources remain frozen most of the time," added Nyima. Local leader Praveen Khadka said that children and elderly people have been affected the most.
Although everyone in the village has received Rs 15,000 allocated by the government for quake victims, they are yet to receive Rs 10,000 to buy warm clothes.
"The condition of road is very bad at the moment and it is not possible reach there by walking to distribute the relief money. It'll take three to four days to reach there on foot," said the VDC secretary Bharat Poudel. "The only possible way is if the government manages helicopter to travel there. We are preparing to request the District Disaster Relief Committee (DDRC) to manage helicopter," he added.
Meanwhile, Local Development Officer Sita Pariyar said money to buy winter clothes have already been sent to all the northern VDCs. "We have handed over money to buy warm clothes to each VDC secretaries of the northern VDCs. But we have not received any requests from secretaries of any village for helicopter," she added.
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