JOMSOM: The Yarsagumba hunt, one of the biggest events for most of the people in the district beyond Himalayas for collecting valuable herbal medicine, has been banned this season by the District Disaster Mangement Committee of Mustang citing the COVID-19 threats the gatherings of the people could invite.
The meeting of District Disaster Management Committee chaired by Chief District Officer Bed Prakash Aryal decided to ban the collection of Yarsagumba.
“Hundreds of people gathered for Yarsagumba hunt could be exposed to COVID-19 threats if the event is not banned,” Bed Prakash Aryal, the Mustang CDO said explaining the cause for the ban, “none knows who the carrier of coronavirus is in such situations.”
Barhagaun Muktikshetra, Thasang and Gharpajhong rural municipalities open the high hills for Yarsagumba search from Mid May to Mid July.
According to CDO Aryal, people from neighboring districts and sometimes outsiders also join the hunt which this time can be very risky from health security perspective.
Yarsagumba, which is found in the Himalayan hills, is a unique caterpillar-fungus fusion that occurs when parasitic mushroom spores (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) infect and mummify a ghost moth larva living in the soil.
This rare Himalayan product is used for impotence, backache and to increase blood production. It is said to be of highly beneficial for the people with respiratory problems.
Every year people from Rolpa, Rukum, Gorkha, Dhading, Baglung and Myagdi flood to high hills of Mustang to search Yarsagumba.
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