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Vehicular movement along a section of the Kanti Highway has been obstructed following a landslide near Bagmati bridge at Bhattedanda of Lalitpur this morning. The site is some two kilometers away from the bordering area of Lalitpur and Makawanpur districts. Police Inspector of District Police Office, Makawanpur Ram Chandra Ghimire said that the landslide could be cleared after improvement in the weather. Likewise, police have asked the drivers en route to Kathmandu from Hetauda to stop at the Thingan area. Similarly, all the vehicles to Chitwan from Kathmandu have been diverted to Tribhuvan Highway after a landslide along the Muglin-Narayanghat road section, Police Inspector Ghimire said.  

All five local levels in Kalikot district have recorded Kala-azar patients this year. Black fever, commonly known as Kala-azar, is seen mostly in the tropical region of the country but has now spread in the hilly districts as well. Public Health Officer of District Health Office, Kalikot Katak Bahadur Mahat said that the patients of Visceral Leishmaniasis are found in Pachal Jharana, Palata, Sanni Triveni and Naraharinath rural municipalities. He said that 20 patients of black fever were found this year. In the fiscal year 2020/21, Kala-azar was seen in 43 people and 28 in fiscal year 2021/22, Mahat shared. Chief of District Hospital Dr Sanket Bishwakarma said that impacts of climate change are to be blamed for the outbreak of the black fever in the hilly districts. "This disease is seen with the increase of mosquitoes followed by the rise in temperature in recent years," Dr Sanket said.

As the monsoon remains active nationwide, there is a possibility of rainfall across the country this afternoon due to the impacts of the monsoon winds. According to the Weather Forecast Division of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, most parts of Koshi, Madhesh, Bagmati, Gandaki and Lumbini Provinces and some parts of the remaining provinces are expected to receive light to moderate rain today. Likewise, there is the possibility of heavy rain along with thunderstorms in some parts of Koshi, Madhes, Bagmati, Gandaki and Lumbini Provinces. Light to moderate rain with thunder and lightning is likely at some places of Koshi, Madhes, Bagmati, Gandaki and Lumbini Provinces and few places of remaining provinces tonight, according to the Department. The Department has also cautioned one and all to apply precautions from the losses that could happen from the occurrence of heavy rain, lightning, storms, landslides and soil erosion.

The 20th National Paddy Day is being marked today across the country. The government in 2061 BS had decided to mark Ashad 15 of the Nepali calendar every year as National Paddy Day and Paddy Cultivation Festival. Rice plantation, eating delicacies like curd and beaten rice and participating in the traditional cultural programs like singing, throwing mud at each other and merriment are the major attractions of the day. Paddy is the major crop not only in Nepal but in entire South Asia. The government aims to attain self-sufficiency in rice production by conserving the land for paddy cultivation, promoting clean and healthy seeds, expanding irrigation facilities, and developing hybrid and disease-resistant varieties. Paddy is cultivated on 47 per cent of the total cultivable land in Nepal. Likewise, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has extended best wishes to all on this day stating that the government has been implementing different programs including expansion of irrigation supply, grants on chemical fertilizer and seeds, expansion of modern technology, research and development, among others to increase the production of paddy. The PM has also cautioned that the target of paddy production could be affected due to impacts of climate change--drought, heavy rain, scanty rain, natural disasters and spread of diseases--and pose challenges to our food security. Against this backdrop, the PM has underscored the need for development of climate-resilient species of paddy and development of new technology for the increment of paddy production to substitute import of rice and paddy in the country and remain self-reliant.