By Tara Chapagain
Pokhara, Sep 1:  Laxmi Nepali, who had been earning the livelihood of her family by sailing boats in Phewa Lake, has been unable to operate her boat for the last six months due to the lockdown enforced to control the spread of COVID-19. In lack of income, she is now facing problem even to pay her house rent.
“It has been a long time since I paid the house rent; the lockdown is likely to prolong and the landlord has been asking me for rent,” Nepali said, adding that she had no money to pay the rent as she had not been able to generate income for a long time. The house owner has given one week’s deadline to pay the rent, she said.
“Every day, I visit the bank of the lake to see my boat and return empty handed. I had also been involved in construction work as a labourer for a short period of time during lockdown but it is no more available,” she said.
Bimal Tamang from Sindhuli is another person who can be found around his boat on the bank of the lake waiting for the day he will be allowed to sail his boat.
“I spend most of the time on the bank of the lake waiting for the days to sail my boat in the lake and earn money for living. I am facing problem in managing food to sustain life in lack of work during this lockdown,” Tamang said.
“I did not return to my home in Sindhuli during the lockdown expecting that the lockdown would end within a few weeks, but the hunger is likely to take the life here rather than pandemic while going without work for a long time,” he said.
Nepali and Tamang are only examples, most of the boat operators in the Phewa Lake are facing same types of problem for their livelihood because of the pandemic. There are around 500 boat operators in Phewa Lake, out of which 40 are women.
Due to the lockdown, all types of businesses in Lake Side have been completely halted. The lake which used to be full of boats boarded by domestic and international tourists in the past now wears a deserted look. The administration has also obstructed sailing boats taking it as a means of entertainment.
Buddhi Bahadur Nepali, president of Phewa Boat Operators' Association, said that the effect of lockdown on the boat operators had been severe with its extension.
The association had given some relief package to the needy boat operators in the initial days, but no solution has been found after the continuation of the lockdown, he said.
“We also met the Chief District Office of Kaski requesting him to allow operating the boats, but no progress has been achieved as the boating business is not found among the list of essential services of the administration,” he said.