A travel note on nature: Climate Change

 A funny planned trip for refresh to Baglung not remained within the frame but gave a learn to know the impact of climate change on the rural people of Himalaya foothill in Nepal. 

An old man was sitting with his companions, beneath a tree in a midsummer day of 2018 in Baglung Bazar, a rural-based town and a district headquarter of Baglung of Nepal. He was not a shopkeeper or business but a middle-classed farmer and a retired civil servant of district administrative office. He was saying with upset loading mood that his generation will not be able to handover the quiet beauty of nature to the coming generation. His indication was toward a gloomy future. His colleagues were not serious to him because they did not understand the seriousness of the subject. Perhaps he was comparing the climate between of now and then.

 It was too late to planting paddy in fields due to the shortage of water. Irrigation Canals were empty of water. Streams were not plenty of water for paddy plantation. The root of this problem was that the monsoon was not coming timely and the rain was not falling.

We had seen fertile arable fields were remaining uncultivated when traveling to Baglung by bus. Some white clouds were seen on the northern horizon of the town. The Dhulagiri peak was uncovered of snow.

  It was mid-day the sun was shining in the sky. The old man wipes the sweat off his face with the left hand and told in thin and quavering sound, “twelve suns are shinning in the sky.” He indicated the hotness of the day. He remember Indra, the deity of water cited in Hindu mythology, for rain.  

The weather was not following average scheduled as season year by year. Consequently, the system of agriculture is continuously affected. July is the right time for paddy plantation in Nepal. More than 50% of arable paddy fields depend on the monsoon rain. People’s dependency on agriculture is decreasing year by year, due to weather change. The man told, if they plant now, it is also not sure paddy harvesting would not hamper of unwanted rain.

Nepal is one of the most affected countries of climate change in the world. Agriculture friendly climate continuously losing its routine since the last few decades, here. Nepal was not only self-dependent in grains but was exporting till four decades ago. The situation is completely changed negatively. Despite this, sever clod, drought and heavy rainfall also bringing additional problems.

The changing of climate is also changing the lifestyle of people who traditionally depend on agriculture because of the decreasing in production. Economically self-depended rural economics system is destroying. Youths are leaving their villages for hard jobs in Gulf countries, Korea and Malaysia. Villages are not only affected by climate change but labor crises also.

Nepal has changed one and more political systems and practicing  federal republic system now but the lifestyle of rural people is not moving toward the right way. They are still chanting prays in the name of God for such type natural calamities. 

                       

About 800 million people of lower land of Himalayan rang have been depending for irrigation, hydro-power and drinking water as a natural chain of inter dependency. But the long-lasted system is in risk due to global warming that bringing climate change.

We felt the pain of lower economic rural farmers affected by the climate change  in the region in Baglung. There were some serious questions but the solution was unanswered.