By Chandra Pandak
Taplejung, Oct. 31: With the dip in mercury, the locals of Tokpegola, the upper belt of Taplejung have migrated to the lower elevation to avoid cold.
People of Tokpegola, Papung of Mikwakhola Rural Municipality-5 have started descending to low altitude areas with their herd of sheep and Himalayan goats and cows. The village wore a deserted look.
Following the onset of winter, the nearby hills of Tokpegola have already witnessed snowfall.
Locals said from the first week of November, the village itself would see snowfall and it could not live in the village after snowfall.
Tokpegola, is located at the altitude of about 3,300 metres. Just like previous years, this year too, the locals of Tokpegola have left the village for warm location to avoid chill.
Dandu Lama, ward chairman of Mikwakhola Rural Municipality-5, said the residents of Tokpegola had already migrated to the low altitude of Papung because the winter arrives quite earlier compared to previous years.
According to Lama, there are a total of 13 families living in Tokpegola and all of them have moved to Aul by Friday.
Migrating to lower elevations helps them avert extreme cold, he added.
Those who moved to the lower elevation would return to Tokpegola after about six months.
Pasang Sherpa, a local who is also a ward member, said the villagers would return only after the end of winter in early May.
Those who were involved in animal husbandry had moved to the lower belt along with the herds of their livestock, Sherpa added.
Tokpegola is only inhabited by the Sherpa community. The local residents have shifted to the lower altitude by locking their houses, where they live in the temporary sheds.
It is informed that the majority of the villagers own lands in the lower belt of Papung.