ENCROACHMENT IN BROAD DAYLIGHT : Constructions going on for a concrete building next to the 2,300 years-old stupa, believed to be built by the third century Indian  King Ashoka's daughter at Pulchowk,Lalitpur. Four similar stupas mark the boundary of the ancient city of Lalitpur.

NOC to adopt dual pricing system in LPG

By Prem Khanal

KATHMANDU, Dec 21 - Confronted with the mounting shortage of   Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) propelled by increasing consumption by the gas-run vehicles and industries, Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), the state-monopoly responsible for the import of cooking gas has decided to introduce dual pricing system for LPG within a month.

Under the dual pricing, commercially-run vehicles and industries will have to pay higher prices, while the households would continue to get this daily necessity item at the subsidised price. Currently NOC subsidises Rs 100 per cylinder.

NOC’s decision is prompted by increasing demand for LPG from the gas-run vehicles and rapid switch-over by industries to using cooking gas following the cent percent hike in the prices of kerosene last September. Industries were earlier using the heavily-subsidised kerosene as industrial fuel but shifted to cooking gas recently as the prices became comparable to that of cooking gas. NOC currently practices dual pricing in kerosene.

To check the misuse under the dual pricing, NOC is planning to introduce separate types of gas cylinders for households and industrial plus transportation use. The new types of cylinders will also have modifications in the valve so that the ones sold for household purpose cannot be used by industries and vehicles. "These changes in themselves will not be enough to check the misuse, therefore it will be accompanied by strong monitoring mechanisms," said Madan Raj Sharma, Executive Director of NOC.

Sharma said the ongoing massive use of subsided cooking gas for transportation and industrial purpose is totally unfair. "Since we have to bear a net loss of Rs 100 per cylinder while selling at the current price, the cumulative loss caused only by gas operated vehicles and industries would run into millions of rupees every year," he said.

"We want some profit margins on the cooking gas that goes for commercial use," Sharma said.

Commenting on the continued shortage of gas, he said that Barauni Gas Refining Centre has broken-down due to some technical problems causing interruptions in the regular supply to Nepal since last few weeks. Barauni gas station owned by the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) in the Indian State of Bihar, is the only place from where Nepal purchases LPG paying convertible currency.

The Gas station is expected to sort out the problems within two or three days and regular supplies will resume from coming week, Sharma informed.

Experts argue that as long as NOC doesn’t build its own gas storage facilities, such kinds of shortage is likely to pinch Nepal frequently. Sharma also admitted the fact and said, "the existing storage capacity of 800 tons, which is barely enough to meet demand for seven days must be increased to at least 3000 tons to ensure regular supply, even if supplies from Barauni is interrupted for two or three weeks".

However, the limited refining capacity of Barauni LPG filling station is also main challenge to cope up with the escalating domestic demand for cooking gas.

Presently, the Barauni station has the optimum capacity of handling 5,000 tons of LPG per month while Nepal alone imports around 3,200 tons of LPG from the station. "Since the station also has to supply to other bordering cities in India, the station has already informed that it will be able supply only up to 3,500 tons per month at the maximum."

NOC is also negotiating with IOC to use Assam Gas Station and Mathura Gas Station apart from Barauni Station to supply gas to eastern and western parts of the kingdom. " IOC has asked us to submit demand forecast for next five years after which we will reach a decision," said Sharma.

However, some consumer activists interpret the current shortage as totally artificial, stemming out of weak monitoring mechanism of the government. "Consumers still can get as much quantity as they need if they pay Rs 750 - 800 per cylinder and some of the gas dealers are hoarding large quantity of cooking gas," says Harandra Bahadur Shrestha, President of Nepal Consumer’s Forum.

PM pledges action against defaulters in Lauda Air deal

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Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala (2nd L) making his case at the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting at the Committee's office in Singha Durbar, Kathmandu on Thursday. The Prime Minister was called by the PAC to explain about the controversial Lauda Air aircraft lease deal recently concluded by the national flag-carrier RNAC.

KATHMANDU, Dec 21 - Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on Thursday pledged that those found guilty of irregularities in the RNAC-Lauda Air jet lease deal would be punished.

PM Koirala made this pledge to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) which had summoned the Prime Minister to clarify his government’s stand on the violation of the parliamentary committee’s directives and also on the irregularities in the deal.

The PAC had twice directed the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (RNAC) to freeze the deal till its further orders. However, creating history of sorts, RNAC management brought the widebody B-767 jet on December 1 as per the agreement. The Ministry has been accused by the PAC of tacitly giving the go-ahead to the lease deal.

"The government would institute an inquiry at an appropriate level and punish all those found to be involved in the irregularities in the deal," said the Prime Minister. He asked the members to have patience, when Birodh Khatiwada asked him to give a deadline for the government’s action.

Many of the lawmakers in the parliamentary committee are interpreting the PM’s statement as an indirect admission of irregularities in the deal. It is also being read as an indictment of the Civil Aviation Minister Tarinee Datt Chataut, the ministry and the RNAC officials.

Although the Prime Minister pledged to take action against the guilty, he avoided clarifying the Cabinet decision to allow the foreign exchange for the bank guarantee worth 1,005,000 USD and an advance of one month’s rent of equal amount necessary for the deal. Also, it is still not clear, as Chairman Subhash Nemwang pointed out today, whether or not the government has approved the deal.

Clause 3.5 of the agreement has the provision of cancelling or delaying the operation of any flight(s), due to "restrictive act of government" and "any other event beyond the reasonable control of either party", among other reasons. On December 7, when Minister Chataut was asked this and other questions, he had said that RNAC went ahead with the deal under compelling circumstances, despite the PAC’s restrictions "which had come too late".

Today, all those members who spoke asked the PM to answer at least these questions: Whether or not he considered that the PAC directives were violated? Could irregularities be ignored in the name of compulsive circumstances? Chairman Nemwang had added one more - Was it (the violation) a one-time exception?

During his reply, Koirala said everyone needed to come together in order to prevent such episodes from taking place in future.

Significantly, Koirala declined to comment on the relationship between the executive and the legislative arms of the government and more importantly whether the violation of the PAC directives constituted a violation of the Parliament.

However, the PM tried to continue the debate on the crucial question of the division of power between the executive and the legislature in the light of contradictory rulings of the two parliamentary committees - PAC and Finance Committee - on the purchase of ATR plane. He pointed out that all concerned, including the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Chairman of the National Assembly, needed to discuss the role of each of the wings of the government.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court today passed an order that an ‘interim order’ stopping any further proceeding in the lease deal was not required as the plane had already landed at the Kathmandu airport. Last month, a writ was filed with the apex court seeking the interim order.

Biratnagar still tense, 8 more injured

By Bikas Thapa and Binod Bhandari

BIRATNAGAR, Dec 21 - Life came to a standstill and this border sub-metropolis remained tense here for the second day today after the students and riot police clashed with each other again.

At least, eight students were injured in today’s clash with the riot-police called from neighbouring districts, Secretary of Students’ Union of local Mahendra Morang Adarsha Multiple Campus Baburam Koirala told The Kathmandu Post.

Today’s incident was the outcome of yesterday’s clash between the police and the students, in which 69 students of the Campus were injured after police fired tear gas shells and bullets at the agitating students who torched 11 passenger buses.

Yesterday’s clashes erupted, after the transport employees manhandled a student in an argument over bus fare. Later, the students had attacked the police accusing them of lathicharging the students in a one-sided manner

In today’s incident, the riot-police fired 14 rounds of bullets into the air and countless tear gas shells to disperse over 500 agitating students who gathered on the Campus premises.

Campus Chief, Dr Upendra Koirala said that the agitating students were also equipped with iron rods during the whole day’s clashes with the riot-police. The capus chief also said that the injured students were afraid of even going to hospital for treatment.

The students also torched a motorbike that was arriving from Jogbani, the Indian border town after the police assaulted a student, Raj Kumar Karki, who was going to the Campus on a rickshaw.

Secretary of the students union Koirala said that the students are going to stop their agitation as the Chief District Officer (CDO) Binod Gyawali agreed to meet most of their demands. "After the CDO promised to meet our demands we have withdrawn our agitation," Baburam said. The transporters, however refused to take part in the all party meeting called by the CDO.

However, the transport entrepreneurs are in no mood to compromise. They have submitted a memorandum to the CDO stating that they would launch fresh agitation unless their demands are met. The transport workers are demanding a compensation of Rs 1.2 million and security for their staff.

Police have arrested a number of students but declined to give the numbers. Some of the arrested students were reportedly tortured. Even after the withdrawal of the agitation, riot-police continued its patrol around the city.

Taking advantage of the movement led by Nepal Students Union, student wing of Nepali Congress, Maoist supporter students chanted anti-establishment slogans and took the institution for an hour under their control. Police said that suspected Maoists also vandalised a hotel in the city.

ADB board endorses Melamchi loan

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KATHMANDU, Dec 21 - Board of Directors of Asian Development Bank, Asia’s premier multilateral lending institution, today approved US$ 120 million loan to Nepal for the multi-billion-rupees Melamchi Water Supply Project (MWSP) that aims to supply water to chronically water-starved Kathmandu valley.

A senior official at the ADB Kathmandu Resident Mission confirmed the endorsement that took place at ADB headquarters in Manila, Philippines.

Today’s endorsement by ADB, the lead agency in MWSP, is only a formality from the highest authority of the Bank since the loan was agreed in principle between the negotiating team from Nepal and the Bank on November 18.

The repayment period for the soft loan will be 32 years, including an initial grace period of 8 years, during which Nepal can withhold payment of the loan. During the grace period, interest will be charged at the rate of 1 per cent and 1.5 per cent thereafter.

The approved loan will be used mainly in the construction of 28-kilometers long tunnel that will bring in water from Melamchi River in Sindhupalchowk, some forty kilometers northeast of Kathmandu. Apart from that the money will be used in managing bulk distribution of water, waste water management and social uplift program around the Melamchi region.

The approval is a major breakthrough for Nepal since at least five other lending agencies are awaiting green signal from the lead agency before they formally announce their component of financial assistance to the project.

Japanese Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC), Norwegian Aid Agency (NORAD), Nordic Development Fund (NDF), OPEC Fund and Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) have already committed to jointly fund the project along with the ADB.

The civil construction work for the US$ 436 million (Rs 33.18 billion) project is expected to begin by the end of 2001 and will take about six years to complete. After the completion, MWSP will supply 170 million litres of water every day to the tenaciously water-short Kathmandu valley. The project will be able to meet the water requirement of the valley population till 2013. And, after the completion of the second and third phase of Melamchi, which will add Yangri and Larki rivers into the project, it will be able to meet the demand for next 25-30 years.

Govt contemplates moving army in Maoist-hit villages

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KATHMANDU, Dec 21 - The government has begun to solicit suggestions on mobilizing the Royal Nepal Army in villages at the Maoist insurgency-hit districts, a senior government minister hinted today.

Defence Minister Mahesh Acharya today asked the parliamentary State Affairs Committee (SAC) for suggestions on the idea of moving the army into the villages in these districts.

The government recently decided to mobilize the army into district headquarters of these insurgency-hit districts after the rebels intensified their attacks and attacked Dunai, the headquarters of Dolpa District.

"The present arrangement leaves the police in charge of the security in the villages while the army is in control of district headquarters of these Maoist-affected districts," said SAC Chairman Homnath Dahal. "Now the government is seeking our suggestions on spreading the activities of the army into the villages."

The government is proposing the idea of using the army to disperse gatherings and meetings called by the Maoists in the villages, which would be the first of the steps on using the army in full force to quell the insurgency.

The government decision to use the army in the district headqaurters followed the Maoist raid in Dunai where 14 policemen were killed and 11 abducted by the rebels in that attack.

Even though there was an army barracks across the river, they had failed to respond which according to the locals and officials could have prevented the massive loss of lives and property.

The then Home Minister Govinda Raj Joshi had resigned accusing the army of indifference and that it had failed to provide modern weapons to the police even after taking millions of rupees from the state coffer.

Two days after the Dunai raid, rebels also attacked a police post in Bhorletar, Lamjung, killing eight policemen.

Since the Maoist rebels began their violent campaign from the remote hills of central and midwest parts of the country, nearly 1500 people have been killed, according to government figures.

SAC which met today for the first time after the Dasain holiday break, has asked Deputy Prime Minister Ram Chandra Poudel, who is also the home minister, to be present next week and brief the committee about the government’s stand and progress on dealing with the Maoist problem.

Besides Poudel, the Home Secretary, the Inspector General of Police and the chief of the National Investigation Department have also been asked to be present at Tuesday’s meeting.

"We will be seriously taking up the issue so that we can come up with detail concrete suggestions for the government to deal with the situation," Dahal said.

SAC has already asked for a copy of the report prepared by the high level committee headed by Former Prime Minster Sher Bahadur Deuba and plans are underway to review the suggestions and findings of the report.

"The report had been prepared after months of research and there should be many useful suggestions and findings in the report," Dahal said.

Will historic Sundhara spout ever regain its lost glory?

By Perina Pathak

The historic Sundhara water spout at the heart of the capital.

KATHMANDU, Dec 21 - Rehabilitation work to restore Sundhara (golden spout), which remains dry since last nine years, has begun but the question whether the dhunghedhara (spout) will be back to its glory with perennial water flow still hinges on.

At present, there is only a thin jet of water coming out of this traditional spout, last renovated around 1828-29 A.D. If the rehabilitation work progresses as planned, it might return to its former glory.

In 1991, Sundhara lost its water source when the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), housed in a building nearby at the time, carried out construction work for its new building. The impact of the pillar construction with sheet pile diverted the source and it was subsequently lost. Then the local people’s protest had successfully stopped the construction work with the help of Sundhara Maintenance Committee (formed at that time), Kathmandu Metropolitan City(KMC) and Ward office, Tebahal. It was this protest that compelled EPF to grant Rs 1.6 million for the rehabilitation works.

Shreeram Shekhar Adhikari, Chief Section Officer at EPF, however, argues it is not only the protest of the local people that forced EPF to share the rehabilitation cost, "since it is our ancient movement, we felt that we should help in the rehabilitation work," he said.

Acknowledging Sundhara’s historical importance, EPF is also installing perforated pipes beneath its land, which collects underground water and supplies to Sundhara, says Rajesh Manandhar, an engineer involved in the rehabilitation work. But very few are of the hope that this technique will work. Hari Krishna Dangol, Ward 22 chairman says he is not sure that water will begin to flow within 12 months.

The rehabilitation work is also looking into the possibility of identifying new source.

The problem with Sundhara is that the water comes only during the rainy seasons. Therefore, the main challenge is to find a water source with perennial supply", says Manandhar.

The research work carried out to locate such a reliable source recently discovered one source, which unfortunately had dried long back. But, it has indicated that there are other sources in the vicinity, says Ward Chairman Hari Krishna Dangol.

The chance is that due to the maximum use of underground water, water table could have decreased to the extent that it would be very hard to find water source, says Dangol.

Stone Spout (Dhungedhara) researcher and expert Prayag Lal Joshi, who is also the technical advisor to the rehabilitation work, says if the source is not identified then the one found during the construction work of sub-way at Ratnapark should be used. However, there is a big question whether it would be economically viable to use that source to bring in water into Sundhara.

The source of the spout under sub-way is also not clear as it is covered in mud therefore if this option also does not work then we will have to pump underground water, says Manandhar. However, Joshi is totally against the idea the bore hole. "Such practice may work in the short run but it could be damaging in the long run," Joshi says.

Besides bringing in water supply, Sundhara also needs some renovation works. The construction and modification of drainage are pending which have to be completed only after the resumption of the water flow.

Since the depth of Sundhara is around 17-20 feet, the construction work of drainage requires huge investment, which is beyond the reach of the Ward office, which currently oversees the rehabilitation work, Dangol said.

Sankata Boys Sports Club, Sundhara Maintenance Committee, Anfo Convenient and Public Health Organisation (Water quality research as well technical support), and Willing Consultant are the other organisations that have joined hands with the Ward office but none of them can fund the expensive construction of the drainage.

‘EC sidelined by electoral reform bodies’

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DHULIKHEL, Dec 21 - Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Bishnu Pratap Shah today said that the Election Commission (EC) has not received any reports prepared by various committees formed to look into electoral reforms and that the EC was never consulted while preparing the reports.

At the inaugural session of a week-long workshop on Electoral System and Research Methodology organised by Nepal Centre for Contemporary Studies (NCCS), Shah said the committees should give due weight to the EC before finalisation of the reports.

"The High Level Electoral Reforms Committee headed by the Prime Minister with both the Speaker and Chairman of the National Assembly, leader of the opposition and chiefs of political parties as its members, instead of focusing on managerial aspects of election which should be left to the EC to decide, should deal on major legislative, conceptual and policy issues raised by the commission," said Shah.

His comments come at a time when a debate on amendment to the Constitution in order to reform the electoral system is making rounds.

Shah said that the implementation of election code of conduct in the last general election has considerably reduced the misuse of official resources and media and formal campaign expenditure of the candidates. However, he added, "system of using unseen expenditure within the gambit of law is still a big challenge."

He pointed out that a lot of the cost goes into "buying some people who have a pocket of voters and spending on the campaigners, which, of course is a thing that the EC cannot possibly do anything."

"For this only the parties can help by selecting the right candidate," said Shah.

Former Speaker Daman Nath Dhungana said that democracy in Nepal is becoming "elitist" and there should be radical ethical and legal changes in the election system, political parties, institutional development of the parliament and nominations to the constitutional bodies.

Total 15 participants are taking part in the workshop, which will concentrate on political development in Nepal, administration of elections, political parties and election in Nepal and South Asia and research methodology.

Civil society for SAARC summit

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KATHMANDU, Dec 21- Representatives of voluntary organizations and grassroots workers from different SAARC countries today urged the governments of the member nations to hold the tenth SAARC summit as soon as possible.

This call was made at a press conference organized by The SAARC Peoples’ Forum (SPF) after its second meeting for deliberations on the theme ‘Security of Livelihood, Security of Movement’ concluded.

Zia Ahmed Awan, advocate and a Human Rights activist from Pakistan said that the meeting had, among other things, passed a declaration criticizing a bill proposed by the US government to put sanctions on the countries with a record of human trafficking.

Activists protested that the US bill would unfairly restrict the movement of peoples in the name of controlling human trafficking.

"United States, by doing this, is trying to stop South Asian people’s movement. This is a racist policy that the US is trying to adopt. We don’t want the US government to be the police of the world," said Farida Akhtar, an activist from Bangladesh.

According to the press release issued, at the end of the four-day conference the SPF adopted the "Mukti Paani Declaration" in which it expressed commitment to defend three fundamental rights: The Right to Livelihood; the Right to Movement and Personal Security; and the Right to Self-determination."

Serious concern was voiced at the way in which globalization has led to an increase in violence, exploitation, militarization and consolidation of power exercised by multi-national corporations through Bretton Woods institutions like the WTO, World Bank and IMF."

It was also informed that SAARC convention on women trafficking is to be signed next month.

Activists from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka attended the SPF meeting. The other two SAARC nations Bhutan and Maldives were not represented.

Rights activists stress judicial transparency

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KATHMANDU, Dec 21 - Experts today stressed that the human rights activists should evaluate how the national judiciary has been complying with the international treaties and agreements.

Speaking at a programme on "The Role of the Judiciary to Protect Human Rights" organised by the Young Lawyers for Human Rights (YLHR), the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) member Sushil Pyakurel said, "There should be transparency during the process of appointment of judges".

It has been five months since the NHRC presented the draft of its regulations to the government, however, until now the government has not approved it,? said Pyakurel.

Prominent Human Rights activist Padma Ratna Tuladhar said that the NHRC was established as the executive, legislative and the judicial wings of the state could not protect the rights of the people. "If these organs had been efficient, then there was no need for the establishment of the commission," said Tuladhar. "Let’s now hope that NHRC will be able to deliver where the judiciary has failed," he added.

Advocate Hari Phuyal said, "Human Rights activists should involve more in evaluating the functioning of the judiciary rather than merely doing a lot of advocacy".

Bhogendra Sharma of CVICT, an NGO, said that the situation in the country is such that the authorities and people inflicting torture are encouraged, as there is no provision for claiming compensations.

"May be, Judges should be provided with orientation about the international treaties and agreements," said Sharma.