The construction work has now reached its final stage with only a kilometre of the track to be opened.

Poor road conditions have made it difficult to transport daily essentials from Gamgadhi, the district headquarters, to remote areas of Chhayanath Rara Municipality.

The residents of Mugumkarmarong Rural Municipality end up spending more money on the travel, food and lodging expenses for the journey than on salt, they say.

People say contractors don’t transport rice in time and when they do, the grains are of inferior quality.

Poverty, food shortage and lack of awareness behind existing malnutrition crisis, say experts.

The villagers say they are happy with the availability of computer courses in community schools at an affordable price.

All seven local units in Humla district have witnessed snowfall this winter.

Everyday life in the districts has been hugely affected due to severe cold triggered by the snowfall.

Last year, the District Food Management Committee in Dolpa had allocated 3,000 quintals of foodgrains to upper Dolpa but the grains have yet to be supplied to the region.

There is a campaign underway to replace the thatched roofs with galvanised zinc sheets but with lack of sufficient budget the effort is moving at a snail’s pace, local representatives say.

The jeep on its way to Hepka Khola from Simkot fell off the road near Dadafyan in Simkot Rural Municipality on Friday night.

The surrounding hills and meadows of Rara, Murma, Talcha, Bam, Dolfu, Chhayanath among others are blanketed with snow.

While villages in Karnali face shortage of food grains, subsidised rice meant for the region are being sold elsewhere.

The Food Management and Trading Company Limited could not transport food to Mugu due to lockdown and disruption of Namga-Gamgadhi road by floods and landslides.

The provincial government had allocated Rs 30 million for the 14-km track.