March 19: Snowfall has been reported for the first time in Dhorpatan of Baglung this year. After a long period of drought, snowfall occurred here since Saturday night along with rain. The chilling cold has increased due to the snowfall. Shyamalal Ghimire, a local hotelier, said that Dhorpatan valley has been covered in a white blanket of snow.

It has been reported that the snowfall has made life difficult for the locals. Ghilmire said that the mobile network did not work on Saturday night due to the snow and it started working after the sun rose on Sunday morning. According to Ghimire, locals and tourists coming down from Dhorpatan to Burtibang were stranded at Dhorpatan after the road was blocked by snow.

"Yesterday, a bus full of tourists came from Butwal but they could not travel ahead of Faleghar due to snow, later they were brought by a pick-up", said Ghimire, "Now the sun is shining, the snow is slowly melting, all the roads will be opened soon."

Another local Kul Bahadur BK said that it was difficult to feed the horses and livestock due to the snowfall. Last year it snowed four to five times in January and February, but this year it snowed for the first time in Dhorpatan valley, said BK. -- RSS