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Tilicho Lake that lies at an altitude of 4919 meters in Manang district has now access to internet connectivity.

The newly launched service is for the convenience of tourists visiting the lake in the mountainous district Manang, it has been said. It is expected to be highly effective for communications in case of altitude sickness and other emergencies, said Cholpa Gurung, Ward Chair of Manang Dinsang Rural Municipality-9.

 "The availability of the facility is expected to reduce incidents of visiting people going missing or falling ill. Visiting people can have contact with their families and relatives," he said.

The service has come into operation to facilitate visiting tourists in coordination with tourism and hotel entrepreneurs, said a hotel entrepreneur Karma Dendu Gurung. "Internet connectivity has been set up to serve the needs of tourists," he said.

With the inflow of tourists during the tourist season, the service has been a boon for them, said tourism entrepreneurs.  Tourist arrival is increasing in Manang.

Tourists, both domestic and foreign, visit the tourist spot to view sceneries of the mountains, hill, culture and lifestyle of the local people. Mountaineers and trekkers wanting to climb mountains or trekking many routes go through the district.

Over 200 foreign tourists visit the district on a daily basis, said Bhupendra Gurung, Chief of the Tourist Check and Information Centre of the Area Office, Dharapani and the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP).

The pressure of tourists may increase during Dashain and Tihar.

The Annapurna Circuit is connected with five districts, Lamjung, Manang, Kaski, Mustang and Myagdi.

In eight months, over 14,200 tourists have trekked the route. Most of the trekkers were from Israel, France and Germany, said the center. However, according to the center, it does not have exact data of domestic tourists hiking the route.

The increasing inflow of tourists, both domestic and foreign of late, has encouraged tourism entrepreneurs.

In view of the health of visiting tourists, a temporary health post has been set up in the area in coordination with the rural municipality and the Area Office, ACAP.

The ACAP provides information to tourists visiting Tilicho Lake and Thorangla Bhanjyang about possible health hazards and risks that may take place in the course of a journey.

Five persons from Ilam, who went out of contact following flash floods and landslides, in Sikkim, India have come into contact with their families.

It has been learnt that they have recently made contact with their families by phone and social media. The families of Sen Bahadur Karki, Kumar Basnet, Naramaya Basnet, Khusi Karki and Lhakpa Lama of Ilam Municipality-9 are happy and felt a great sense of relief after they contacted home 11 days after the disaster.

Assistant Chief District Officer of Ilam Dhruba Prasad Koirala said they have been informed by the families of the five persons that they have contacted home. He said the five persons were on their way back home, according to their family sources.

Power supply to places where the Nepalis were residing and surrounding areas was cut off after the flooding. It is said that these people could not call back home as the means of communication were also dysfunctional for lack of electricity.

The five people had gone missing after the flooding in the Teesta River on October 3.

A cloud burst over Lhonak Lake in north Sikkim resulted in a flash flood in the Teesta River in Lachen Valley on 4 October.

At least 14 people died and 102 went missing. The floods in Sikkim that started around 1.30 am was made worse by the release of water from Chungthang dam. Several towns, including Dikchu, Singtam, and Rangpo located in the Teesta basin, were affected by the floods.

The biggest festival Dashain began with Ghatasthapana today by worshiping the deity Shailaputri in accordance with Vedic rituals and sowing barley seeds for jamara in a jar filled with soil and cow dung for germination.

The auspicious hour for observing Ghatasthapana is 11:29 am today, according to the Nepal Calendar Determination Committee. Deity Shailaputri is one of the nine deities worshiped in Navaratri.

Prayers are also offered to Durga Bhavani, the goddess of power today. Germination of the auspicious "Jamara" is also initiated at Hanumandhoka Dashain Ghar in accordance with Vedic rituals.

With the marking of Ghatasthapana, celebrations and worship take place in the Shaktipeeth across the country including in the Kathmandu Valley.

Likewise, there is also a tradition of sacrificing animals while initiating the germination of the "jamara".

A senior pilot was injured when a Manang Air chopper crashed as it was trying to land at Lobuche of Solukhumbu on Saturday.

The chopper with a call sign 9N-ANJ was heading towards Lobuche from Lukla to rescue foreign tourists when the incident occurred this morning, it has been learnt.

Critically injured pilot Prakash Sedhai has been airlifted to Hams Hospital of Kathmandu by the Fishtail Air chopper for treatment, Chief District Officer Basanta Bhattarai said.

Pilot Sedhai was the only person onboard the chopper.

According to an eyewitness, Mingmar Nuru Sherpa, the incident occurred at the helipad of Lobuche at around 7:30 am.

Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality-4 ward Chairman Laxman Adhikari said that the chopper may have crashed while landing at the helipad situated at an altitude of 4, 900 meters.

The chopper caught fire after the crash.