Parmeshwar Devkota

With unrivaled topographical diversity, the western part of Nepal stretches over 250 kilometres from the north to the south. This region is very rich in vegetation. Long and tangled perennial rivers like the Bheri, Karnali, Mahakali and countless rivulets as Ramaroshan add beauty to this region. Looking at it from the point of view of human settlements, this is regarded as the first urbanised area of the country.
The Sinja River Valley of Jumla is the place from where the Nepali language originated. Bajhang and Dullu of Dailekh, too, are equally important from the historical perspective. So, from cultural point of view, this area inherits precious cultural tradition. If we look at it from scenic and historical points of view, this region is home to numerous prominent touristic sites and picturesque places like Panchpuri and Madanpuri.
But, the terrain of this region is very difficult. High mountains and their pointed tips are standing as if they were a canopy of trees. Even the local people find many parts of this region to be quite inaccessible. You can see scores of hamlets from a mountain top. But having an all-weather road to each of those hamlets is just like a dream.
Due to difficulties for day-to-day life, the people of this region do not seem happy. The uneven terrain makes their life troublesome. With a rough and rugged land, a majority of the locals are poor who largely depend on India for bare survival. In winter, most of the local youths along with other members of their family go to different parts of India to find casual work. Because of their compulsion, they become the first-hand victim of various types of diseases spreading among the vast population of India. These migrant workers had suffered from HIV/AIDS and different kinds of influenza in the past. Now, they are suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The second wave of COVID-19 has now turned out to be quite devastating, killing a large number of people daily in cities as well as far-flung areas of the country. So far, the contagion has taken lives of more than 4,000 in the country. At present, the number of active COVID-19 cases stands at around 110,000. Thousands of infected people have been undergoing treatment in hospitals and the remaining ones have been staying in home isolations across the country.
It is saddening to note here that coronavirus patients have been dying due to an acute shortage of oxygen. Most of the hospitals are reported to have been overburdened with patients. The deadly virus damages lung and other vital organs. Even the most prominent hospitals in Kathmandu have been reeling from the shortage of oxygen. Some of the hospitals with better health facilities are in a perilous situation and publishing notices that they cannot cure the any more patients now onwards.
In such a chaotic situation, it has become difficult to supply oxygen cylinders to the far-flung areas like Ramaroshan in Achham and Chilkhakya in Kalikot. But, supplying common medicines like paracetamol to the COVID-19 patient there is not a big deal.