With temperatures soaring above 36 degree Celsius and no sign of rain, farmers in Lhamoizingkha are worried that the heat is damaging their paddy plants.

Farmers say it had not rained for a week. The highest temperature recorded in the locality was yesterday where it reached 39 degree Celsius.

At Kuendrelthang (Majhigaon), the paddy fields have dried up and the soil hardened.

The irrigation canal was damaged and villagers said they assumed rainwater would be enough for the fields. Since it stopped raining for the last few days, farmers are now looking for solutions.

A farmer, Phurba Gyeltshen, said this is the time when paddy needed water the most for better growth. “Our fields are dry.”

The village, however, was provided with irrigation water by 2pm yesterday.

The village tshogpa, Barun Majhi, said the water source had to be maintained with the help of excavator as it was not doable manually.

“We finally succeeded,” he said. “Fields had dried up and people were worried.”

Another Kuendrelthang resident who cultivates paddy, Dawa Sherpa, said paddy cultivation is solely dependent on water.

“Our paddy would have been damaged if there was no water supply for next few days,” he said, adding that farmers were lucky as they were provided with water.

In Farmgaon village, the irrigation canal had some problem near the water source.

A farmer, Nima Sangay Sherpa, said there is no water in the fields and there is no irrigation water too.  

He said that the irrigation canal is being maintained.

Lhamoizingkha gup, Surja Bahadur Limboo, said the gewog is doing everything to restore the supply. “Maintenance works of the canal has already begun.”

Meanwhile, the soaring temperatures have forced many residents to remain indoors.

A shopkeeper said that temperature had never soared like yesterday. “We are experiencing this for the first time.”

The deputy chief of weather and climate service division, Tayba Buddha Tamang, said extreme condition and drought is not expected.

“It is still raining in other places,” he said.

Tayba Buddha Tamang said yesterday the forecast showed it would rain by evening.

Rajesh Rai | Lhamoizingkha