Two people drowned in Karnali river

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KALIKOT, March 17 - Two people from the Badalkot VDC drowned in the snow-fed Karnali river at separate places on Friday noon, a report here said.

According to VDC Chairman, Mukti Prasad Neupane, Parabjit Rokaya, 24, from ward No-2 of the VDC drowned at Kot and another student at class five, Raje Khadka drowned at Matadi of the same river.

Chairman Neupane said that Rokaya drowned into the river while crossing the river with the help of a rope and Khadka drowned while fishing there.

People from this VDC and other areas have been facing hardships after Maoists dismantled the Regelighat-based suspension bridge while raiding the Kotbada-based police station on December 29, 2000.

Water project in state of neglect

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TULSIPUR, Dang, March 17 - A drinking water project, assisted by the Ex-Indian Army Servicemen Welfare Fund under the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, targeted for the ex-Indian army servicemen at Badara of Tribhuvan Municipality-9, has remained marooned over the last three years.

The Rs 800,000 project has remained incomplete following the misuse of construction materials provided by the embassy. The embassy had provided the construction materials with a view to preventing irregularities in the project construction phase.

The drinking water project came under crisis after the chairman of the drinking water user committee, Bom Bahadur Basnet, resigned from his post citing personal reason.

Bhim Bahadur Pun, former chairman of the user committee, however, said that the project could not begin due to the dispute over the resources of water to be brought to the area through a pipeline.

Pun also claimed that cement provided by the embassy was lent to locals not to let it go waste. He said a water tank was under construction at the site of resource of the drinking water that face dispute. But pipelines are yet to be laid down.

The embassy has also not monitored the progress of the project regularly. Locals said the pipes donated by the embassy were unfit for the project.

Equal rights on languages stressed

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KATHMANDU, March 17- Chairman of National Assembly, Dr Mohammed Mohsin called for the revision of the concept of present democracy and nationalism for equal rights on languages.

"Democracy implies equal rights to all, but in Nepal, the case is quite different, people are deprived of many rights. Therefore it is imperative to revise the present meaning of democracy and nationalism," Dr. Mohsin observed in the programme organized by the Nepal Bhasa Shangharsha Samiti on the topic ‘Question on Equal Rights on Languages and Constitution Amendment’.

"There is no difference between Rana or Pachayat and the present period if the government forcefully suppresses the freedom of expression," Mohsin added.

Likewise, central committee member , Narhari Acharya said that the decision related to language made by the Supreme Court shoud be re-evaluated. "Nepali society is looking for equality, the court should re-evaluate the decision made by the Supreme Court," Acharya said.

Leader and standing committee member of main opposition party (UML), Jhalanath Khanal highlighting some points from the concept paper ,that was presented in the programme, raised the issues of kinds of rights that is to be given to the nationalities. " There should be discussion regarding freedom, language and equality. Those issues should be included while amending the constitution," said Khanal.

According to the concept paper, there are 125 dialects in Nepal. But there are only 52 dialects that are spoken. According to Dr. Harka Gurung there are 36 languages used in Tibeto- Burman family, 14 are spoken by Indo-European family and 2 of the dialects are used by the Dravidian family. But the report of National Language Policy Recommendation Commision-2050 shows entirely different picture, which says only there are only 39 dialects that are used in Nepal.

Likewise, concept paper also says, even though Nepal is considered as a multi-lingual country, Clause 6 (1) and Clause 6 (2) of the Constitution clearly shows Nepali as an official language and other dialects have been entirely discriminated..

‘No alternative to democracy’

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HETAUDA, March 17 - Former Speaker in the House of Representatives, Daman Nath Dhungana, said here today that an unpopular government which cannot win over the people’s heart wants to govern people by forming an armed force.

Speaking at a function organised by "Let’s Protect the Democracy Movement Kathmandu", Dhungana remarked that the democratic system is not faulty in itself but the people in power are incompetent. Dhungana, also a senior lawyer said there is no alternative to the democracy.

Commenting on the Maoist movement, he opined that not all the issues raised by them were irrelevant except for their arms struggle.

Editor of Mulyankan monthly magazine, Shyam Shrestha observed that if the provisions attached to the ordinance of the Armed Police Force (APF) are implemented, the country will be further pushed towards a civil war. He said that the citizens would not be secure from the APF.

Other speakers such as chairman of the Nepal National Teachers Organisation, Shusil Chandra Amatya, progressive writer Shyam Prasad Sharma, Ganga Kasaju and Kausal Pandey also addressed the function, chaired by Makawanpur District’s Vice-Chairman of the Forum for Human Rights Protection, Ram Narayan Bidari.

Anti-encephalitis campaign in Terai kicks off

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MAHENDRANAGAR, March 17 - The government authorities have now started inoculating vaccines to all pigs in 20 Terai districts as preventive measures against the possible outbreak of Japanese encephalitis that usually appears during the rainy season. It is the pig that carries mosquito-borne virus before it is transmitted to human beings.

The concerned government agencies, Nepal Veterenery Association and Nepal Para-Veterenery and Livestock Association reached recently an agreement to operate the anti-encephalitis campaign in the districts.

According to the press release issued by the associations here on Friday, anti-encephalitis vaccine programme had already started in Kanchanpur district last week. The associations said that a total of 1,500 pigs had been vaccinated in some VDCs so far.

Estimated 11,000 pigs in all 19 VDCs and one municiality of the district will have been inoculated by the end of March 23, Nepal Veterenery and Nepal Para-Veterenery and Livestock Association aid.

Eight separate paramedics and veterenery teams have been dispatched to various VDCs for the campaign in cooperation with the government agencies.

Statistics say that more than 50,000 people are killed by encephalitis all over the world each year. A total of 170 people were killed in Nepal last year. In Kanchanpur alone, nine out of the total 136 infected people succumbed to Japanese encephalitis last year’s monsoon.

Darjeeling: now and then

By Utpal Raj Misra

"The people in local administration out heres only give hard time to the people. Such stupid idiots!" The taxi driver grumbled all the way from the Chandragadi Airport (Bhadrapur) to Darjeeling.

I thought he must have very serious reasons to hate the administration so much. When I heard his reason for all the grumbling was that he had not been able to eat meat for quite some time as the local administration had banned all the meat and fish products entering the country from the eastern border.

A fine up to Rs 15, 000 for anyone caught slaughtering animal or poultry had also been announced. It was clear that the local administration did not want the mysterious disease that had killed more than three dozen people in the neighbouring Siliguri filter into the country. "Now that they have found out that the disease was due to a corpse in one of the Nursing Home in Siliguri… the ban in Darjeeling has been lifted, but out here these stupid people seem to be sleeping...." he went on.

Once a friend of mine who belonged to the plains had commented that we (the people from hills) were voracious meat eaters. And now listening to the driver I was reminded of that statement of my friend and felt that his grumbling might be an outcome of the "voracious appetite for meat."

After sometime I made an effort not to pay attention or even hear his grumbles and complaints. I had been to Darjeeling for the first time some six years back. I remember vividly how it was then, and here now I was busy comparing the place with how it has turned during all these years.

Then, the road up to Pashupatinagar, which now is in excellent condition, was being constructed and it had taken some courage for me to look out of the window of the rattling old bus (the only one that plied on that route) down the steep cliff.

Roads have certainly been a synonym for development there. The little villages that consisted of just a few huts turned into little towns with small markets with the arrival of the road. The houses looked better and people were dressed well and making an attempt to attract the passsengers to their hotels, restaurants etc. People enjoyed all the basic amenities, they had suddely grown accustomed and were making the most of the situation which was not available just a few years back.

Going across the border it seemed that everything remained just the same. Not much had changed apart from the fact that the road leading to Darjeeling needed repairs. Six years ago the same road had seemed very comfortable and smooth compared to the road on this side of the border and now it was just the opposite.

At the "Queen of the Hills" I was a bit apprehensive that the situation might be tensed because of the recent attack on Subash Ghising, but nothing seemed so alarming from outside. It took me sometimes to realise that the situation was not that calm. The people were alarmed. "Don’t stay out for long, please return by 8 pm. Things are not so safe now," the man at the hotel reception warned me.

It seemed like the fear was just reminiscent of the more than decade old nasty Gorkha Land activities more than the recent shooting incident.

Strolling around the little town I was refreshing my memories and comparing the present with the past. Nothing much had changed apart from the number of houses and vehicles. The town was pleasant as ever.

The thing that struck my mind was the language. Although most of the people there spoke Nepali I had found much difference, during my previous visits, in their pronunciations and lingo from the Nepali we spoke in Nepal. Now it seemed the difference had narrowed. Had they learnt our way of talking? Or Had I become the more familiar with their tongue? The latter seemed more obvious, as through the years the number of people from that part has been ever increasing in Kathmandu.

And it was a pleasant surprise to see Kantipur lined up among the Indian papers at the local paper stall in the morning. "The papers reach here only a day later. If this Nepali paper arrives here fresh in the morning then it will sell like hotcake," said the paperwala with a smile.

He had a simple explanation for that. "People out here are more interested in Nepal than in India," he explained the reason. Since the English readership is a lot higher in Darjeeling than Nepali, the hill station looks to be a potential market for The Kathmandu Post as well, provided that it reaches the place earlier than the Indian papers.

People hit by monopoly of taxis

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BASANTPUR, March 17 - The unusual timing of private taxis that operate between Basantapur and Myanglung, the district headquarters of Terhathum as public transport has caused a lot of problem to the locals in this district.

The taxis have a huge time gap, which has adversely affected thousands of passengers that use the route.

Other big problem that has hit the passengers is that the taxis charge enormous amount of money and the charge also is not monitored by any organisation. Rather the taxi operators have a monopoly when it comes to charging the fares.

The taxis operating in this route charge Rs 150 per passenger for 26 kilometre distance from Basantpur Bazaar to Myanglung, district headquarters of Tehrathum and Rs 80 per passenger for a distance of 13 kilometres up to Mudheshanischare. Taxi drivers wait for the taxis to be cramped with as many as 12 passengers.

At times they even keep the passengers waiting in the taxi all day long compelling passengers to stay in Basantpur itself for night.

The passengers, most of whom cannot bear or pay the exorbitant charge, end up walking all the way. The bus fare from Basantpur Bazaar to Myanglung is Rs 80 per passenger.

Acting VDC chairman designated

MORANG, March 17 (PR) - Buddhanagar VDC of this district has got a new chairman, directed by the Ministry of Local Development.

Morang DDC has designated chairman of ward No 1, Parmeswor Das Tatna as the acting Chairman of Buddhanagar VDC as directed by the Ministry of Local Development after the VDC was without chairman and vice-chairman over the last five months.

All the activities of the VDC had come to a halt in the absence of chairman and vice-chairman.

All the normal activities related with the VDC office, including construction lying incomplete, resumed after the acting chairman took over his duties, according to VDC secretary Netra Prasad Koirala.

The elected chairman of the VDC, Abodh Narayan Mandal, is in Morang jail on the charge of murder over the last two years while the vice-chairman, Kali Prasad Bishunkhe, was murdered by some unidentified people in his own house about five months ago.