South Asian ministers will gather in Nepal next week for talks on the threat that climate change poses to the Himalayas and to the 1.3 billion people dependent on water flowing from the mountains.

Poor crop yields, water shortages and more extreme temperatures are pushing rural villagers in Nepal closer to the brink as a result of climate change, a new report launched Oxfam, an international aid agency, aid, describing the situation "deeply worrying".

BARABANKI: The turbulent Ghaghra is finally flowing below the danger mark after causing havoc in villages on its bank. About a hundred villages falling under Fatehpur, Ramnagar and Sirauli Gauspur tehsil of the district were badly affected by recent floods caused by discharge of water from Kali and other rivers from Nepal.

SHIRISH B. PRADHAN
With an environmental calamity looming large because of Himalayan glaciers melting at a alarming rate, ministers of South Asian countries will meet here next week to explore the ways to check the phenomenon.

Lalitpur sub-metropolis has allocated five million rupees this year for the conservation of water sources in the area to minimise the shortage of drinking water.

Due to excessive use of underground water in Lalitpur, most of the stone taps, ponds and other sources of water have dried up. The office has plans to harvest rainwater underground in its bid to conserve water sources.

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Thursday called for formulation of long-term flood prevention and irrigation schemes along the 550-km Indo-Nepal border in the State, emphasising that quick exchange of information about rainfall in the catchment areas of rivers originating in Nepal was imperative.

At a time when the water level of Ranipokhari is decreasing due to increasing settlements in the area and the fish in it have started dying because of insufficient water, the Youth Red-Cross Circle (YRC) at Tri-Chandra College on Wednesday installed two more rainwater harvesting systems.

The system was installed with support from World Wildlife Fund and with technical support from NGO Forum for

About 82 families in Bajura district have become homeless due to floods and subsequent landslide.

In Kuldevmandau VDC, 6o families have been displaced and other 22 in Kailashmandau-6 VDC.

The VDC office informed that some seven families of Bane village have been taking shelter in a local school while other 27 families of Kavra village have been taking refuge in a nearby forest.