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Snowfall occurred in Dhorpatan for the first time this year.

After a long spell of drought, snowfall along with rain took place here since Sunday evening. Coldness has increased in the region following the snowfall.

The farmers turned euphoric with the hope that the crops will go better after the snowfall.

Ranger at Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve Binod BK informed that Dhorpatan Valley and surrounding areas have turned whitish due to snowfall.

Though the weather was worsening since last Friday, the snow with rain occurred only on Sunday evening, BK said.

Prem Bahadur Gharti Magar, a local of Dhorpatan municipality-9, said that it has become difficult to feed horses and mules due to snowfall.

Gharti also said that the snowfall along with rain will improve the crops.

He said, "There was drought for a long time which caused plants to dry up”. 

The Nepali Army (NA) has addressed a letter sent to the United Nations by Devi Sunuwar, mother of 15-year-old Maina Sunuwar, who died from torture in army custody during Nepal’s armed conflict. Speaking at a press conference, Brigadier General Om Bahadur Bhatta of the Judge Advocate General’s Department (NA’s legal wing) stated that he did not understand why the Sunar family was still pursuing legal proceedings after a court ruling had already been made.

In a letter addressed to the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Devi urged Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-secretary general for Peacekeeping Operations, to urge the NA to demonstrate its commitment to truth, justice, and non-recurrence.

“The NA may argue that these officers already faced a court-martial on 8 Sept 2005 regarding my daughter’s killing. But let me be clear: a) under international human rights law, crimes against civilians should not be handled by a military court; and b) the court-martial only addressed improper interrogation techniques and improper body disposal,” she wrote.

“I do not understand why Sunuwar’s family is still pursuing legal action, claiming the verdict was either too lenient or too harsh,” Bhatta said. “The way the verdict has been obtained from the district court and the way pressure is being exerted at the national and international levels, it is unclear what their objective is.” At that time, under the Army Act 2016, the military court had jurisdiction over this case, and a decision had already been made, he added.

On 17 Feb 2004, a team under the command of Nepali Army Major Niranjan Basnet took 15-year-old Maina Sunuwar from her home in Katunje, then Kharelthok VDC-6, Kavre. She later died due to extreme torture by military officers. Her remains were found eight months later following pressure from national and international human rights organizations.

Brigadier General Bhatta stated in the press conference that the resolution of this case is expected to happen through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). “At present, there is the TRC, and its law has already been enacted,” he said. “If the commission is formed, maybe it will say something about this matter.” Since the case is under consideration at the Supreme Court, he refrained from providing further details, saying, “That is a matter for the TRC; the issue of jurisdiction comes under that. If tomorrow the TRC addresses it, it will be resolved from there.”

Later in 2004, the military court sentenced three army officers—Boby Khatri, Sunil Prasad Adhikari, and Amit Pun—to six months in prison and a one-year promotion ban for violating human rights and humanitarian laws in the Maina Sunar case.

However, dissatisfied with the military court’s ruling, Maina’s mother, Devi, filed a complaint against four officers at the Kavre District Police Office on 6 Dec 2005. After Nepal’s peace process began, a case was filed against four military officials on 21 Jan 2008 in Kavre District Court. On 17 April 2017, the court sentenced three army officers to life imprisonment for extrajudicial killing. It acquitted Basnet. This was the first case in which Nepali Army officials were convicted of a crime committed during the decade-long armed conflict that began in 1996.

The High Court upheld the ruling, but the NA appealed it to the Supreme Court. Khatri, Adhikari, and Pun are no longer in the army.

Devi informed the United Nations that some army officials had contacted her and proposed building a memorial in honor of her daughter. While she supports a memorial in Maina’s memory, she stated in her letter that she could not accept it unless certain conditions were met.

Major General Prem Dhoj Adhikari, head of the Department of Military Operations, clarified that no formal proposal had been made by army headquarters. “Rather, I heard discussions that if the issue could be resolved at the municipal level, a memorial could be built at an initiative of the mayor of Panchkhal in Kavre.”

Major General Adhikari also mentioned that the army does not have land for building the memorial and that the initiative was taken at the local level by the mayor. “The army does not have land for this; I think the mayor took the initiative to see if this could be resolved at the local level,” he said.

Although he acknowledged hearing about the letter sent to the United Nations, he stated that since the state has already enacted the TRC law, the issue should be resolved through it.

The local administration has imposed an indefinite prohibitory order in Phungling, Taplejung after the group opposing the cable car project in Pathibhara further escalated the protest.

An emergency meeting of the District Security Committee held on Saturday night decided to issue a prohibitory order in Phungling bazaar area and Balludanda area, Kaflepati from 5 am today until further notice.

According to Netra Prasad Sharma, Chief District Officer of Taplejung, the prohibitory order was issued in view of possible clashes and to prevent further deterioration of the peace and security situation.

The administration has banned gatherings of more than five people, rallies and demonstrations.

Earlier on Saturday, a clash had erupted between police and protestors who took out a torch rally at Birendra Chowk, Phungling.

CDO Sharma said that six police personnel and some protestors were injured in the clash.

Security personnel and protesters clashed on Thursday also over the Pathibhara cable car project.

The situation turned violent on Saturday after the protestors threw fire into the houses.  

CDO Sharma said that police have arrested some persons involved in the throwing the fire.

After Syange, the terrain transformed into a rugged beauty, with challenging climbs and narrow roads adorned with rocks and gravel—tricky to navigate. Raju took it in stride, but I had to dismount frequently and push my bike. The elevation gain had begun, and we felt a slight chill in the fresh morning air, a reminder of the breathtaking beauty surrounding us. 

We stopped at Jagat (1,300 meters) to regain our breath and rest briefly. Like other towns, we left behind a row of back-to-back tea shops and lodges flanking the road with tilting, colorful roofs, primarily two-story. We had a cup of tea, some biscuits, and a brief chat with Ghale Gurung, the owner.  

Upon my casual questioning about his business, he shook his head. “Not as it used to be after the road opened. Trekkers prefer traveling by jeep to Chame, the district headquarters of Manang. The teahouses have lost their business by as high as 60 percent, if not more; many have quit,” he said, his frustration echoing the plight of many local businesses affected by modernization. 

A little further, we ran into a group of American hikers taking a break by the roadside. They were hiking back from Manang. One of the guys looked my age, but when I casually asked, I found he was only 65. He looked surprised when I told him my age and that we were doing the Annapurna Circuit on our bicycles.

For the next two hours, we slugged it out on grueling uphills, an isolated gravelly road across forested hills with sheer escarpments that dropped way down to Marshyangdi. But if anything, we were still pedaling across Lamjung, the Manang border a long way away. We were already late for lunch but mighty relieved to see a town in the distance, Chamje 1,430m). 

Well, well, well, what do you know—another colossal waterfall! Fascinated, we gorged on our dal-bhat, peering out the tea-house window, the waterfall across the Marshyangdi, cannoning down a steep hill that looked like 100 meters to me. It was called the Boong Jharna (waterfall). 

Chamje, as the teahouse owner told us, was also a popular haunt for water canyoning adventure sports. As we left, my eyes fell on hedges of flaming crimson poinsettia in full bloom around the small settlement. To add to the appeal, clumps of yellow marigolds appeared scattered around the locale, a vibrant display of the local flora that adds to the village’s charm. 

It took us barely 20 minutes to arrive at the main town of Chamje, a tight cluster of teahouses and hotels on a sharp incline fringing both sides of the road.

Hardly had we left behind the town, an excited Raju hollered out: “Another waterfall!” A small crowd, primarily motorbikers, was gathered at a teahouse next to the waterfall to watch the arresting sight. 

It was called the Octopus waterfall and cascaded down to the roadside in a dramatic multi-pronged configuration that evoked the flailing tentacles of an octopus, thereby dubbed with that name, we figured. This unique natural formation, with its striking resemblance to an octopus, is a testament to the diverse and awe-inspiring landscapes of the Annapurna Circuit. 

Although we ran out of time, we couldn’t resist and hung around for quite some time. “Wow! Lamjung seems brimming with incredible waterfalls,” said Raju, sounding euphoric. Suddenly, it struck us that we did not have all the time in the world, and we hastened to spin; it was already past 3 pm. 

The sun lurked on our shoulders as we left, warning us with each spin that it would get dark soon. The road got rockier and narrower as we huffed it up steep ascents, Tal still dim and distant as far as we could stretch our eyes.

When we sighted Tal (1,700 meters) from a bluff, way up, outstretched along the banks of Marsyangdi, it was a sight for sore eyes. However, the dirt roadway to Manang did not lead through the imposing city across the Marshyangdi. 

Darkness soon crept in after Tal, and the road turned into a mess. Navigating the slush, the road spattered with rocks and debris from the aftermath of the post-monsoon flooding and landslips, over the narrow beam of our bicycle light was anything but tricky, nay dangerous. The road conditions were treacherous, with the constant threat of slipping or hitting a rock, making our progress slow and cautious. 

Then we froze in our tracks. It looked like we had hit an impasse as a frightening water chute fell with a rumble at a curb, surging over the road, inundating it, and crashing down a ravine to our right. 

“Ke garne (what to do)? It looks like we are stuck,” I said, mighty alarmed, and looked at Raju. The pool appeared deep, but we could not figure it out. We could not walk our bikes across either, as the entire road was waterlogged, and it was not wise to wet our only pair of shoes. 

“Uncle, I’ll attempt first to pedal across,” Raju said. I genuinely admired his grit and gumption at such tight corners; he always held on to a forerunner. Over the din of the crashing water, Raju, without a second thought, tore across; I watched with bated breath. Thank heavens, he made it! 

It was my turn, now. It was a moment of truth for me; with my heart in my mouth, I shot at the pool. And I did it, too! Phew! Granted, we had overcome the hurdle but landed with dripping shoes soaked to the socks as the water level almost reached the bike’s mid-tire.

I was past hope about making it to our day's layover at Dharapani but dragged along the pitted and muddy road, which seemed to play tricks on my eyes in the narrow flare of my light. After about 7:30 pm, we finally arrived at Dharapani (1,860 meters), an elevation gain of almost 800 meters that day, and it felt pretty cold. 

What on earth! To our misery, no lodges had a vacancy. However, one staff member from the hotel we had dropped by volunteered to scout around and eventually managed a crummy room for us. Near desperation, the thought that we might have to bunk under an open sky made me shiver involuntarily. 

Cold, exhausted, and wet, we hit the bunk early after a hasty supper, with a comforting and lasting feeling that we had, after all, a roof over our heads—and thankful to the guy for doing us a good turn. The relief and gratitude we felt at that moment were palpable.

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