The Karnali zone is an area of Nepal that takes its name from the majestic river that flows through it. Located in the northern part of Mid-Western region, is one of the most remote and hard to reach zones of the whole Country.
This area is part of the underdeveloped regions, and its road network has not undergone major changes over the years. Even if it is home of natural wonders and stunning landscapes, the dangerous narrow gravel roads dug into the hills keep it outside from the classic touristic routes. The most of the villages located on the mountainous area, are connected between them just with small steep paths, where no vehicle is able to drive. Due to this, the majority of the people who lives here have never travelled outside the region. The lack of easy connections makes the impact of globalization less invasive on these communities. The most of the inhabitants of this area are descendent from Chhettri caste.
According to Nepali society, the Chhettri are considered as the sacred thread bearers (Tagadhari) and twice born people.
The bond that these people share with the environment is very deep. In fact, although Hinduism and Buddhism are the main religions in Nepal, here many people still follows the “Masto” and ancient religion worshipping nature.
These communities live mainly by agriculture and animal breeding. They eat what they cultivate (mostly cereal, legumes and tubers depending on the season), they cook with wooden fire and they still collect the water from the rivers. All habits increasingly rare for the modern world and unluckily doomed to disappear. Even thought this area is resisting to the modernization process that is already happening in the rest of the Country, is not credible that this will last for long time. In addition climate change is having a great impact on the territory. More and more frequent floods and landslides create big inconvenience in the area and influence negatively the agricultural sector. These new difficulties will unavoidably push the inhabitants to abandon this region and buy other goods at the local markets.
Therefore the need of money will bring a major change in their life style. At the same time, the Government is investing in infrastructures and roads improvements for the realization of a new commercial route. As the time passes, all these changes will inexorably modify the Karnali region, sweeping away another piece of heaven in our world.