Kathmandu, July 6 -- Two weeks ago, a landslide triggered by heavy rain swept away four vehicles at Sammobari along the Tansen-Ridi road section in Palpa. At least three people died in the disaster. On Thursday night, another landslide killed at least two people in Gulmi district. On Saturday, yet another landslide in Bajhang claimed at least seven lives.

These landslides and fatalities come in the early weeks of the monsoon season.

In the first 23 days of the monsoon onset in the country, 35 people have already lost their lives due to landslide incidents, indicating a deadly rainy season for the country already hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. To make matters worse, the country is also in the middle of a crop-damaging locusts assault...