“Before, it used to be around 40 cases a day, but after the protests, it went over 100 — mostly people who had inhaled tear gas and thick smoke from burning buildings [and] seeking emergency care for respiratory complications,” says Dr. Niraj Bam, associate professor and head,  Department of Pulmonology and Critical Care Medicine, TUTH.

As people migrate to urban areas in search of a better lifestyle, cattle-rearing, prevalent in rural Nepal, is declining. As a result, three decades in, biogas’s impact on the country remains up in the air.

पर्यटन र क्षेत्रीय प्रदूषणले खुम्बु उपत्यकालाई दूषित बनाउदै गर्दा, अनुसन्धानकर्ताहरू भने जमिनमुनी पिउने पानीको स्रोतहरू खोज्नमा तल्लिन छन्।

“We used to have 20 oxen and two cows, but these days we have a single cow as we have no time to look after it.”

अफसोस, सन् २०१५ देखि पिरामिड बन्द छ ।

Alas, the Pyramid has been closed since 2015. Bista is the last man standing.

As I struggled to find words, Magar was gone — for he was more worried about his bread than my climate change lecture.

“अध्ययनको यो पाटो, मेरो लागि गर या मर बराबर थियो,” उनी भन्छन्, “अनुसन्धानाको अस्तित्व नै यी नमुना सङ्कलनमा भर पर्थ्यो ।”

“It was literally a do or die situation for me,” he said. “Either collect samples or your research is for nothing!”

“ओहो ! गल्ति पो गरियो कि ? आखिर किन मैले कलेजको आन्तरिक परिक्षा छोडे? के मध्ये नेपालको सुदुर भिराला पहाडका जङ्गलहरुसँग पैठेँजोरी खेल्न?”