Due to the cold, schools in Khajura and Nepalgunj were closed for three days

Because of the intense cold, community and private schools in Banke district’s Nepalgunj and Khajura have been shuttered for three days.

When students started getting sick from the intense cold, the decision was made to close the schools. Schools in Khajura Rural Municipality and Nepalgunj Sub-Metropolitan City will be closed Wednesday through Friday. According to the two local levels, lessons will start up again on Sunday.

“The severe cold and unfavorable weather conditions have disrupted students’ learning activities, so we are granting a three-day winter break for schools,” stated Nepalgunj Sub-Metropolitan City Mayor Prashant Bista. He further stated that the required winter breaks must be observed by all schools under the control of the Sub-Metropolitan City.

In a similar vein, Khajura Rural Municipality Chairperson Dambar BK said that schools in the rural municipality had been closed for three days beginning Wednesday due to the excessive cold. According to him, they decided to grant a three-day holiday since pupils were becoming sick from the growing cold and those who had to travel far to get to school were having more difficulties.

Temperatures have dropped significantly during the past week due to the cold wave that has affected Banke and other districts in the Tarai area of western Nepal. Parents have complained that the heavy fog and mist that accompanied the cold wave made it difficult for their kids to get to and stay at school.

The last three days have also seen a disruption in air travel due to the unfavorable weather. The Nepalgunj Civil Aviation Office reports that limited visibility has forced the grounding of flights to Kathmandu and other high regions.

In Nepalgunj, hospitals have seen an increase in patients with cold-related ailments.

In the meanwhile, the district’s municipal governments have begun giving out warm clothing to senior folks.

Baijanath Rural Municipality provided 700 senior residents ages 69 and older with warm clothing and fiber quilts in recognition of their susceptibility to severe cold.

In order to guarantee that no elderly person suffers from the cold, the distribution was directed at the poor and the vulnerable, according to Chairperson Prakash Bahadur Shahi.

Chisapani (Ward No. 1), Dighiya (Ward 2), Bairahawa (Ward 3), Baniyabhar (Ward 4), Bankatuwa (Ward 5), Pedari (Ward 7), and Ward No. 8 were among the locations where the municipality organized the distribution programs.

Participating in the distribution were important figures such as Chairperson Shahi, Vice-Chairperson Nirmala Rokaya, Coordinator of the Social Development Committee Bhumisara Rana, and Chief of the Women, Children, and Senior Citizens Branch, Laxmi Gyawali Dhakal.

To keep residents warm in the past, the municipality also set up free firewood distribution in different locations. According to Vice-Chairperson Rokaya, the Baijanath Rural Municipality has been offering senior citizens free health insurance and ambulance services.