Bone-chilling cold is taking a toll on Raute children of Raniban-3 in Achham.

Most of them have been suffering from common cold, fever and pneumonia.

Raute leaders have requested members of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) to send doctors and medicines to treat their children.

A CWC team from Surkhet has reached the area to distribute relief materials.

“Rautes usually do not go to the hospitals. That’s why we request you all to send doctors to our settlement,” a local journalist Bhakta Bahadur Shahi quoted a Raute mukhiya (chieftain) as saying.

Rautes recently shifted to Raniban-3 of Achham from Singaudi of Dailekh to avoid cold. Rautes are a nomadic community of Nepal and survive on tuber, fruits and greens and are known for hunting macaque and langur.

There are around 156 Raute people in Raniban-3. They have also been demanding that the government provide allowance for the upcoming “Maghe Sakranti” festival.

Raute Chieftain Dil Bahadur Shahi said they are in need of warm clothes, tents and rice. To avoid cold, they are making bonfires. Eighteen-year-old Kapil Shahi sustained burn injuries while sleeping in front of a bonfire.