November 15: A massive avalanche which occurred at Tukuche Peak of Thasang Rural Municipality-2 in Mustang district on Sunday morning left 11 people injured. Most of them were students and teachers injured in stampede.    

The catastrophe, if it was not staved off by a gorge lying in between the peak and human settlement, would have killed many people of around 100 households, said ward chair of Thasang Rural Municipality-2 Nar Prasad Hirachan, who is also an eyewitness to the incident.    
Hirachan told the state-owned national news agency RSS that the avalanche occurred at around 11:40 am. Also known as Manapathi Mountain by the locals, Tukuche Peak continued to see avalanche till evening worrying the locals.   

Photo Courtesy: Sabin Thakuri

Crops in the field, cattle's shed and crops kept for drying in open spaces were damaged by the avalanche. Yaks were also killed in the avalanche. Some locals shielded themselves in huge rock while some others saved themselves from the disaster hiding in corners, said Lal Bahadur Gurung, a local.    
Over 160 students, teachers and staffers of the Jana Adarsha Amar Singh Secondary School in the lower part of the human settlement were protected themselves by hiding inside the school, said school principal Khem Gurung.    
According to Gurung, among the injured, some were school teachers and students. Five of them were critically injured while two were referred for further treatment.    

There are two rivers in the gorge-Bokshi and Lancue. The snow fallen during the avalanche fell into the two rivers, thereby reducing the scale of damage in the human settlement.    
Ward chair Hirachan added, "If the avalanche had fallen into only one out of two rivers, it would have spelled disaster to the human settlement. Both the rivers have murky water flowing since the avalanche."    
Human settlements of Naurikot, Lajing, Gobang and Bokshikhola would have been hit hard had there been no gorge, said Hirachan.    
Climate change expert Dr Ngamindra Dahal said the incident is one of the series of unexpected climate event in Nepal.

"Currently, it is generally the time when snow gets frozen, so such avalanche at present is the direct impact of climate change," he argued. He urged all to be aware of such erratic events. -- RSS