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Korala entry point at Nepal-China border will be opened from November 13.

With this, Korala border point, which has been closed for four years, will be opened from next Monday.

During his visit to China, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal had urged the Chinese government to open the closed border points.

Following his request, preparations are being made to officially open the Nepal-China border on the northern side.

The Chinese side has invited local traders and the general public of Lomanthang and Loghekar Damodarkunda for the same, Loghekar Damodarkunda Rural Municipality Chairman Lopsang Chomphel Bista said.

He said that the people have been notified to bring citizenship certificates along with the border pass to enter China for the first time.

“The Chinese side has urged the people entering the border to bring citizenship certificates along with border passes to collect detailed information,” Bista said.

With the decision of the Chinese side to open the Korala border point, preparations are also being made for the inauguration program, Lomanthang Rural Municipality Chairman Tashi Nurbu Gurung said.

He said that high-ranking officials from the Chinese side will attend the inauguration program.

The Mustang administration had distributed border passes to 980 people in the first phase.

The border point had remained closed since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Nepal ranks among the top countries prone to natural disasters. As it sits right above the tectonic plates, occurrence of frequent earthquakes is not unusual. In times of disasters, the main priority is to conduct search and rescue operations to save lives and to provide relief. Those who reach the scenes to rescue people and provide first aid are the first responders. Who should they be? Security forces, community people, humanitarian organizations, volunteers?

There is always a debate about whether or not to reduce the size of the Nepal Army, who usually are amongst the first responders. While some argue that Nepal does not face active war so the size could be reduced for economic reasons, others say they are needed so that they can be deployed in times of emergencies. Friday night's earthquake sent a fresh alert that Nepal has reasons to strengthen its disaster risk reduction efforts.

Humanitarian organizations, most commonly known as I/NGOs, are often seen as dollar-making agencies but in times of crises, they are among the first ones to provide temporary shelter arrangements, items required to manage daily life and food items. They are able to do so as they keep stock of these items to be used in times of disaster. Yet, the perception of them is limited to the understanding of organizations that provide 'software' programs such as awareness on hand-washing, which in itself is a huge need nevertheless, and some people realized the importance during Covid-19.

When the 2015 earthquake hit Nepal, people finally realized that certain organizations that had been raising awareness on what to do in an event of earthquake were not irrelevant and that they were crucial in times of disasters. In one of my field trips to Tatopani of Sindhupalchowk, which was among the worst affected districts by the mega earthquake, I met an elderly single woman whose house was on a steep hill top, far from other houses. She told me that she received relief first distributed by humanitarian organizations. It was a hard-to-reach hill and the woman's house was the sole house on the top. For me, it was an actual example of a catch line used by development organizations—leaving no one behind!

I also recall the safe bathing spaces built specially for women to avoid being harassed or shamed. There were special packages for women too, called the dignity kits consisting of pads and other items required for menstruating women. One can imagine an aftermath of the disaster where people are living in a temporary shelter having such items can provide relief. I also saw how inflatable water storages provided easy access to water in hilly areas.

However, these organizations are expected by the government to mostly provide hardware support such as building  roads and other structures. Raising awareness, sensitizing people, or empowering people do not seem to be convincing to them. People who lose family members and houses might as well lose means of income. Those people need support to help them reach their pre-disaster economic levels. Thus knowledge on financial literacy, challenging gender norms and stereotypes, raising voice for oneself, diversification of livelihoods are vital.

I firmly believe that in a country like Nepal that still faces multiple challenges and vulnerabilities related to natural disasters, climate change, poverty, gender-based violence, superstitions, and inequalities, the presence of humanitarian and development agencies should be appreciated. Additionally, these organizations provide jobs to Nepali and pay tax to the government and contribute to the economy. 

The partial impact of westerly wind will cause brief rainfall and snowfall in some areas of high hills and mountains for three days.

The weather forecast bulletin has stated that some places in the hilly region in the country are predicted to have brief rainfall along with thunder and lightning, while snowfall in upper hilly and mountainous areas.

However, the other places will have clear weather.

Two persons died in a taxi accident at Malkatibang in Dhorpatan-2 of Baglung.

The deceased have been identified as Hom Bahadur Pun (28) of Pakhute, Dhorpatan-2, and Ashwin Pariyar (32) of Chhisphant of Badigad-6 in the district.

The tragedy occurred when the taxi (Dha 1 Ja 994) heading towards Dhorpatan from Badigad fell some 100 meters down the road.

Both of them died on the spot, according to Deputy Superintendent of Police, Madan KC.