Nepal

Kathmandu, June 16

With its high temperature and humidity serving as a fertile ground for mosquitoes, health practitioners have warned that Kathmandu is highly prone to dengue fever.

Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital today discharged a dengue patient and the doctors fear a dengue outbreak in the capital city as it is a transit point of migration.

A resident of Pokhara who had recently traveled to Dharan had undergone treatment for dengue at STIDH and was discharged today.

&Kathmandu is at risk because people from dengue affected areas can come to the capital by air or bus in, a short period,& said Uttam Raj Pyakurel, vector control inspector, at Epidemiology and Disease Control Division.

According to data provided by EDCD, as of July 16, a total of 576 cases of dengue have been reported from Dharan, Sunsari, Morang and Itahari, out of which 504 cases were verified in BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences.

Most of the dengue affected people are from Ward-8 and 15, of Dharan Sub-metropolitan City. Last year eight cases of dengue were reported in Dharan. Dengue there was first reported in May 13.

According to World Health Organisation, Aedes aegypti mosquito lives in urban habitats and breeds mostly in man-made containers.

Dengue causing mosquitoes are also found in Kathmandu. The number usually goes high during Dashain as many people migrate from one place to another. The migration can be both internal and international.

&There is no dengue outbreak in Kathmandu till now. But we need to take precautions as monsoon is approaching and temperature is rising.

Migration is a cause for dengue, said Anup Bastola, consultant tropical medicine physician at STIDH, Teku.

According to EDCD, 16 dengue cases were reported from Thulobharyang, Kathmandu in 2018. This disease was seen in only one patient in the city in 2017. The number of patients suffering from dengue in the capital were five in 2016.

Aedes aegypti mosquito is the primary vector of dengue. The virus is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected female mosquitoes. Its peak biting periods are early in the morning and in the evening, before dusk.

People suffering from dengue have symptoms like high fever, severe headache, pain behind the eyes, pain in muscles, bone pain, rashes and back pain.

Severe dengue is potentially a deadly complication due to plasma leaking, fluid accumulation, and respiratory distress. There are chances of mortality if there is co-infection of other bacteria in dengue patients, said Bastola. The local government should immediately work in decreasing density of mosquito and come up with preventive measures, said Bastola.

Prevention tips

• Search and destroy mosquitoes and their breeding areas
• Keep environment clean
• Use nets and apply mosquito repellents
• Wear long sleeves and pants to cover arms and legs
• Remove water from flower/plant pots and plates
• Change water in vases/bowls
• Remove water from tyres
• Take medicines only on doctoradvice

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SSB of India making public Nepali national held with a huge cache of illegal drugs, in Bairganiya POlice Post, India, on Sunday, June 16, 2019. Photo: Prabhat Kumar Jha/THT

RAUTAHAT: A Nepali national has been arrested in possession of a huge cache of controlled pharmaceutical drugs from Bairganiya in the Bihar State of India on Saturday, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) said.

The alleged drug pedlar 60-year-old Hem Prasad Dahal of Katunje in Bhaktapur was apprehended during a routine security check by the SSB force in the border area yesterday evening.

A team recovered a huge cache of illegal drugs and NRs 2,35,783 from Dahalpossession. Subsequently, SSB handed over Dahal to Bairgania thana for further investigation, Commander Shree Kumar said.

Bairgania thana in-charge and sub-inspector Gairishankar Baitha informed Dahal has been transferred to Dumara jail in Sitamadi for further investigation and action.

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Kathmandu, June 16

Buckling under pressure on the controversial Guthi Bill, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli today said the government would revise it if there were any shortcomings in the bill. Oli made the statement at Tribhuvan International Airport upon arrival from his nine-day visit to European countries.

However, the agitating locals and guthi operators are not convinced by the PMassurance and have decided to launch fiercer protests to force the government to withdraw the bill from the Parliament.

Stakeholders have been protesting against the provisions of the bill ever since the government registered the controversial bill in the upper house of the Parliament. Protesters say the bill is an attack on peopleculture and tradition and is aimed at serving the interests of land mafia.

&If any flawed provisions were incorporated in the Guthi Bill knowingly or unknowingly and if that can adversely impact our culture, heritage, festivals, tradition and religion, then the government will revise the bill to drop those provisions,& the PM said.

The PM, however, said there was exploitation in the name of guthis in some parts of the country.

Oli tried to assuage the fear of the locals but took a potshot at opposition parties supporting the protests. &The government wants to make people happy. The government does not want to antagonise people,& he said and added that if anybody wanted to cash in on the peoplesentiment, then they would not get any chance to do that.

Despite the PMstatement today, Newars of Kathmandu valley and adjoining settlements continued their protests. Basantapur locals continued their protest by playing traditional musical instruments during their march. Hundreds of people in Panauti and Dhulikhel of Kavre also took to the streets. Locals of Thimi and Bhaktapur held torch rallies this evening calling for the withdrawal of the Guthi Bill.

Meanwhile, a lawmaker of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP), Yogesh Bhattarai, urged the PM to hold the bill. Bhattarai tweeted, &…It is better to hold the bill and start a fresh debate on the issue.&

The main opposition Nepal Congress also organised a protest rally in the capital.

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The alleged pickpockets being made public in Kathmandu, on Sunday, June 16, 2019. Courtesy: Nepal Police/Facebook

KATHMANDU: As many as 82 pickpockets were arrested from various locations of the Kathmandu valley in the past month, Metropolitan Police Kathmandu said.

The alleged pickpockets were made public on Sunday, according to police.

As part of Kathmandu Metropolitan Police Rangespecial campaign, police officials, in the past month, arrested the pickpockets from public transports in the valley.

DSP Hobindra Bogati said that police had to take this step because of regular complaints from transport companies and passengers.

Meanwhile, police have filed burglary cases against the alleged pickpockets.

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