The temple at a dizzying altitude of 3,794 meters receives almost all of the precipitation in the form of snow and is snow-clad for the major part of the year. "I had never seen mosquitoes during my 15-year stint at this temple. It has been a novel experience for me," the priest at the temple, Dilli Ram Acharya, said. [break]
Acharya said white and grey moths have also appeared in the hilltop where ice has heated for consumption as water. The mosquitoes and moths have made life miserable for people living in the Upper Phedi just 430 meters downhill from the temple.
"I wonder whether it´s due to the Kaliyuga we have hitherto unseen mosquitoes here," Indra Narayan Bhattarai, a local hotelier, said. "We cannot sleep without mosquito nets and the humming makes it hard to sleep even with the nets," he added.
Bhattarai revealed all lodges and hotels in the area have started using nets this year. "I had not seen moths and mosquitoes in this area in my seven-year stay here," he claimed.
Locals claimed that mosquitoes and moths were not seen even in Bhalugaude area, a couple of hundred meters further downhill, previously. "We didn´t realize they were mosquitoes at first. We had to start using nets after mosquito bites started becoming unbearable," Prem Kumar Rai of Bhalugaude revealed.
Local researchers attributed the prevalence of moths and mosquitoes to climate change just like the change in time of flowering of rhododendron was linked to the global phenomenon. "It may also be due to the waste materials but the main reason is climate change," concurred chief of the District Public Health Office Bishnu Rath Giri.
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