Mustang folks urge PM Dahal to minimize damage caused by climate change

KASKI: The local residents of Mustang district have demanded with Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal to put in place a new programme to reduce the adverse effects of climate change.

At an interaction organized by the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) in Jomsom, the district headquarters of Mustang, today, they requested PM Dahal for the same in view of the damages on human and goods incurred by the climate change.

Chandra Bahadur Thakali, one of the local residents, shared that they drew the attention of the PM towards climate action. “Our district is the hardest hit when it comes to climate change. The temperature is increasing here. The glaciers are melting alarmingly due to which people in Upper Mustang are displaced.”

Thakali further bemoaned that the problems of pest and insects were increasing in the crops due to climate change. He explained, “The snowfall that ought to occur during January or February occurs in March and April which is detrimental for crops such as apple farming.”

According to him, the number of domestic animals has been decreasing in Mustang lately.

Similarly, Baragung Muktichhetra Rural Municipality Chairperson Rinjing Jamgel Gurung said that the unseasonable snowfall and rainfall had caused damages in the rural municipality. “It rained continuously for a week last year during Dashain festival which hugely damaged crops.”

He also said that the flood in Kagakhola this monsoon caused a great loss of properties in the Kagbeni area. The federal government should pay due attention for minimizing the damages caused by climate change, he viewed.

Likewise, Province Assembly member Bikal Sherchan called for environmental developmental endeavors. He emphasized collaboration among the three-tier government for climate action such as reduction of fuel consumption, conservation of biodiversity and minimizing greenhouse gas emission among others so as to reduce the risk of climate change-induced disasters.