Bini Dahal

It is painful to see that natural disasters like abnormal rains and uncontrolled floods and landslides have become a common occurrence in most parts of Nepal. Such disasters cause huge damage to physical infrastructure and other properties annually. Mostly, the people living in the areas that are vulnerable to the rain-induced calamities are in a difficult position.
Our country’s rich natural resources are always much-talked about. Every argument begins with how Nepal ‘could have’ attained a great height of achievements if these resources are utilised to the fullest. These lines might build great articles and essays. But the problems the country and the people face are indescribable. What bigger irony can it be when an agro-based nation imports every single agricultural produce from a far never-heard nation?

Responsibilities are growing and piling up on the country and the government. And the same natural resources which we have been unable to mobilise are getting destroyed on a greater scale. The unseasonal rainfall in the country has caused floods, landslides and inundations. The fresh storm along with the heavy rains has taken a heavy toll on the agriculture sector.
Vital standing crops like paddy have been ruined in many Terai districts of the country. Till this article was written, as many as 87 people were killed and more than 30 went missing. A long-term impact this flood and landslide has posed is the lack of food security. Bad weather and continuous rains have submerged or washed away the toil of the farmers who put on growing a variety of crops.

Farmers are forced to think about their problems on their own. They are found to be mostly clueless and unaware of the untimely rainfall. And the government's support has always been limited to providing subsidies. But a meagre amount of subsidy does not give a permanent solution to the problem the farmers are facing right now.
Though agricultural experts have always called for introducing agriculture mechanisation, there is no such system to begin with. Still a majority of farmers follow a traditional approach in agriculture. And those who do follow modern techniques have also been unsuccessful in attaining a sustainable result. This really stresses the need to bring together both traditional and modern approaches in the agriculture sector, for better climate resiliency.

We already are in a pretty helpless state. The monsoon plight was not a new story for us. But what is new, disturbing and very frequent is that climate change is slowly and steadily creating problems for us. If this continues, the whole concept of sustainability and sustainable development will just be a time and cost intensive hoax with no preferred outcomes whatsoever. The survival of the present generation itself will lie in a problematic position.

The government should consider developing a robust system that can regulate every aspect of climate change, natural disasters and vulnerabilities, while placing people at the centre. The entanglement of the poor people’s lives in this vicious cycle needs to be put to an end.
Hopefully, every nation and local, national and international organisations will take immediate actions to combat any further implications of climate change. Mighty words of concern cannot help. We need to carry the courage to perform some mighty actions as well.