Preventable deaths

Four hundred forty people dying in a decade from falling off cliffs in Karnali is way too much.

According to a recent report published in this daily, at least 440 people have died by falling off cliffs in 10 districts of Karnali Province in the past 11 years. Salyan district topped the list with 117 deaths. Police said six people died in similar incidents in Karnali in the first two months of the current fiscal year 2024-25. A large number of other people were badly injured. Many of them lost their lives or limbs when they fell from cliffs and trees in the course of foraging for grass and firewood. People in this province, which is mostly covered in hills and mountains, often die while traversing risky roads and even while walking along treacherous paths carved into dizzying cliffs. It is a matter of shame for Nepal that a large number of its people are dying in the course of just going about their daily lives.