Mist and mud in Nagarkot’s empty monsoon

Nagarkot, the favourite selfie-station for the residents of congested Kathmandu in pre-pandemic times, is deserted and shrouded in monsoon mist with locals all busy on the paddy terraces.

The monsoon arrived on time in Kathmandu Valley, and has been vigorous. Although the farmers are happy, those who depended on Nagarkot’s numerous hotels for jobs and sale of produce are going through a second year without any income.

This time of year, Nagarkot’s hotels would have been full of guests. Even though the mountains play hide-and-seek in the clouds, the ridge-top town at 2,300m elevation has its own charm during the three monsoon months.

There have been no foreign tourists to see the sun rise from behind Mt Everest for more than a year now, and although some people from Kathmandu did venture out between the first and second phases of the pandemic, even that traffic dried up with the lockdown since 29 April.

With no prospect of tourism picking up even after the lockdown is lifted, most hotels in this hill-station are padlocked or keeping a skeletal staff for upkeep and maintenance as the resort town is enveloped in fog and rain. There is no one to take pictures of the wondrous rice terraces mirroring the clouds and sky.

Meanwhile, the locals of Nagarkot sit it out at home during the lockdown, watching the moist and warm up-valley wind bring up the wet mist. Some graze their goats in fallow fields bought up by tourism developers, others are knee-deep in mud, planting rice on flooded terraces.

Although the rate of new infections appears to be receding, Kathmandu Valley is still registering about 1,000 new confirmed cases every day. The positivity rate has gone down below 19% for the first time in a month, with about 3,000 of 15,000 tested on Monday showing infections.

The death rate has also gone down from 200 daily fatalities to 53 on Tuesday. And although the number of active cases has come down by half, it still totals 65,000 all over the country. Most of them are in home isolation, although there are nearly 1,000 in ICU and 320 on ventilator support.

Health experts have warned against lifting the lockdown till the population is vaccinated, but Nepal is still waiting for second dose vaccines for 1.4 million people, and there are no signs of new vaccines arriving for the rest of the unvaccinated population.

Kathmandu Valley’s lockdown, which expired on Monday, has been extended till at least 21 June by the three district administrations of Kathmandu Valley, although they have eased restrictions somewhat.

Unessential travel is still banned, and police are still detaining vehicles flouting the restrictions at checkpoints. However, neighbourhood grocery stores and bookshops are now allowed to be open till 11am. Online delivery and takeaways are open from Tuesday, and people will be allowed to be on the roads for visa applications.

Read also: Nepal braces for monsoon-pandemic double hit, Sonia Awale