KATHMANDU, Oct 12 : Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and President Ram Chandra Paudel greeted citizens on Saturday on the occasion of Vijaya Dashami and urged them to help the people affected due to recent disasters to return to normalcy.
President Paudel wished peace, prosperity and happiness to all Nepalis on the tenth day of Nepal’s largest Hindu festival Dashain while Prime Minister Oli called for cooperation and harmony among all citizens.
Urging all Nepalis to extend help at individual levels too to the disaster hit people to return to normalcy, Oli, in a statement, assured the disaster survivors of necessary assistance on the part of the government.
Nepal was recently hit by floods and landslides in different parts of the country due to incessant rain that saw as many 240 deaths and thousands other displaced.
The almost two-weeks long major Hindu festival of Vijaya Dashami, or Dashain as it is popularly known here, began on October 3, by sowing of barley seeds called Jamara in a mud vessel on the first day with the installation of water vessel known as Kalash, known as Ghatasthapana.
The festival extends till Kojagrat Purnima or the full Moon day, which falls on October 17 this year.
During the occasion, people receive tika, vermilion powder mixed with curd and rice, along with Jamara or barley leaves from their elder members of the family as blessings.
Meanwhile, every year, scores of people working in the Kathmandu Valley return to their remote homes across the Himalayan nation for Dashain. The Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs (FNNTE) had initially estimated approximately 1.8 million passengers would leave the Valley via road transport.
The Kathmandu Post quoted FNNTE president Bijaya Swar as saying that only 1.3 million have travelled to their native places since day one of the festival and said, “The lower figure is due to road disruptions caused by floods and landslides following heavy rains on September 27 and 28.”
“The roads are in poor condition, making travel difficult. Despite this, 1.3 million people have left to celebrate Dashain with their families,” Swar said. (PTI)
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