HELLO NEPAL

The Himalayan Times 30 October 2015 Huge relief for Nepal It was exciting to read the news report “ Nepal , China seal deal for import of fuel” (THT, 29 Oct. Page 1) considering the difficult life faced by the general people for the last almost two months caused by Madhes based fringe parties’ protests on Nepal India borders. More than 40 people including security personnel have already lost their lives during the agitation. In this backdrop, India imposed an undeclared blocked by telling the big three political parties to address the grievances of Madhesis. It has been almost two months since then the government has been trying to settle the problem without any fruitful results. Now, the new government led by K.P.Oli is at the helm. He had assured the general people at the onset of his premiership that the existing fuel crisis would be immediately solved. No major changes have been noticed so far to ease the existing fuel crisis. However, the effort to import

The Kathmandu Post 30 October 2015 STATE OF CRISIS The promulgation of the new constitution has resulted hardship faced by the people since the last two months due to the Tarai unrest (“Mr. Oli’s winter challenge” Nepal and India , 28 Oct, Page 07). The leaders of the big three political parties saw the devastating earthquake as an opportunity to draft and promulgate the constitution undermining the voices of disgruntled groups. As a result, the country is facing an acute fuel crisis along with the shortage of essential goods that have been blocked from entering Nepal by the Madhesi protesting close to various entry points.   Also, India is equally to be blamed for imposing an undeclared trade embargo on Nepal to exert pressure on the government of its smaller neighbour to address grievances of Madhes based political parties. Before promulgating the new constitution, around 40 people had already lost their lives in confrontation with the security forces. Howe

Fulfill promise It was really amazing to know that the new Prime Minister K.P.Oli’s has promised to replace all the 350 wire bridges (tuins), those are in use all over the country, with suspension bridges within two years. However, the local people have expressed their concerns whether his promise may also end up with the same fate as that of Baburam led government’s decision “ Dhading locals sceptical about tuin removal” (THT, 14 Oct. Page 3). Many local people have lost their lives while crossing the rivers using tuins. None of the previous governments seemed serious to replace these dreadful tuins with suspension bridges. There does not seem for these local people any other alternative besides using these tuins, some are even in a bad shape, to cross the rivers. Students are forced to use tuins to go to their schools that are located on the other side of their villages. In Dhading, District Development Committee (DDC) had even set aside budget of Rs, 12 million for the

The Kathmandu Post 16 October 2015 NO MORE DELAY It has been almost six months since the devastating earthquake that shook the nation killing more than 9000 and displacing many thousand people. More than 14000 people were injured. Several government and private properties were damaged and or destroyed. The Koirala led government was badly criticized for its inability to provide relief materials and other humanitarian support effectively on time. Instead, it, with the collaboration of other major political parties, took this opportunity for drafting the new constitution leaving aside the plight of the quake affected people for relief materials and rehabilitation. Now, a new government led by K.P.Oli is in place with smany challenges ahead on hand. Among them, rehabilitation of affected people and reconstruction of damaged infrastructures are on the priority lists. Many donor organizations who had generously announced their willingness to support the Nepal governme