{"id":33024,"date":"2022-06-26T16:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-26T10:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nepallivetoday.com\/?p=33024"},"modified":"2022-06-26T16:32:46","modified_gmt":"2022-06-26T10:47:46","slug":"costs-of-climate-change-on-womens-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nepallivetoday.com\/2022\/06\/26\/costs-of-climate-change-on-womens-lives\/","title":{"rendered":"Costs of climate change on women\u2019s lives"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cI carry more water than I actually can. It\u2019s more important to fetch water than to listen to my body,\u201d Kamala Devi Pathak of Salyantar (Dhading) shares her hardships in the documentary film, \u201cThe Weight of Water: The Human Cost of Climate Change\u201d<\/a> screened at the World Climate Summit 2021, and then in Nepal in March of 2022. She suffers from uterine prolapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her story is one of four in the film which talks about the impacts of climate change on human lives. Currently being premiered in London, the film is available on YouTube for public access. This article refers to Kamala\u2019s story, not to discuss the evident burden of water on her life, but to shed light on the intersection of gender norms, climate change, and her poor health condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nearest and only source of water, the natural spring is about two hours down from where Kamala lives. The tap water available in the localities are just about enough for washing and cleaning purposes. The Nepali government, since 1975, has been trying to supply drinking water there. The film explains, \u201cthere are unresolved problems\u201d. One of the factors entailing \u201cunresolved\u201d is the failed priority-setting by the government in terms of infrastructural development in difficult terrain. Most important, global warming has caused the drying up of the springs in Salyantar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate change combined with unfair gender norms shape poor health conditions for women. The impacts are going to exacerbate in the days to come.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A senior climate change specialist of ICIMOD explains the noticeable changes in precipitation and rainfall patterns in Nepal. \u201cThe onset of the monsoon is changing, and so is the precipitation level. The warming is 0.6 degrees per year, which is quite intensive by global standards,\u201d he says in the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mental turmoil and physical pain caused by her disease are vivid in Kamala\u2019s facial expressions, as she walks past the visually captivating landscape of Salyantar with her heavily-loaded gaagri<\/em>. It takes her painful three hours to reach home, after fetching water. The more water she can fetch at a thread, the more chances of long-lasting water storage at home to consume for a longer period of time. She instantly engages in cooking for her family after fetching water. There is no time and opportunity for rest. She sighs, \u201cThere are men in the house but they never help. There are no other women, that leave me for all the housework.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A study conducted in Melamchi in 2019 revealed (sampled) women worked for eighteen hours a day and got to rest for six hours while their male counterparts worked for sixteen hours and rested for nine hours. The same study revealed that the women spent four hours a day fetching water apart from other household work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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