Ban on safa tempo demanded

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BIRGUNJ, April 30 - Proprietors of two-stroke Vikram tempos (auto-rickshaws) Sunday organised a ‘gherao’ and closed their passenger service throughout the day on Sunday demanding that ‘safa’ and gas tempos be banned in Birgunj.

About 300 Vikram tempos running in Birgunj gheraoed the Zonal Transport office and the traffic police office during the whole day and demanded that the safa and gas tempos be banned immediately in Birgunj. If their demands were not met, they would launch vigorous protest programme, they said.

Chairman of Consumers’ Forum, Parsa, Sunil Chand Varma, however, pointed out that their demand was entirely illegal. "Consumers will certainly weigh the benefit and loss of any service before they use them.

Are we to suffer from the smoke belched out of Vikram tempos or use the safa tempo which ensures pollution-free atmosphere?" he asked. He said that Vikram should not be allowed at any cost to operate its services in a thickly populated areas like Birgunj.

The government has already issued a notice asking all the two stroke tempos operating from diesel to get out of all the sub-metropolitan cities and municipalities of the country from the beginning of the coming fiscal year.

Hailstone damages crops

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LAMJUNG, April 30 - Hailstone that hit Bangre and Bhorletar VDCs located in the western belt of the district has completely destroyed maize crop grown in four wards.

Similarly, the flood water has washed away two cows and a goat in Bhorletar VDC, Bhorletar VDC officials informed on Monday.

Hailstone had lashed Bhorletar VDC continuously for four days and destroyed maize plants in Dhulpur Bazaar and Kavre village of Bhorletar VDC ward nos 8 and 9. The maize plants which were nearly 2 feet high were crushed by the hailstones and farmers fed the plants to their animals, eyewitnesses told The Kathmandu Post.

According to District Agriculture Development Office, 25 to 80 per cent of maize crop has been destroyed by the hailstone in Bhorletar VDC.

Dolpa in grip of salt crisis again

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DUNAI, Dolpa, April 30 - Once again, people of this mountainous district are facing an acute shortage of iodised salt to be supplied by the Salt Trading Corporation at a subsidised rate.

According to STC branch office in Dunai, the old stock of salt had been emptied and the contractor allowed to transport salt for this fiscal year has not supplied the most essential commodity yet in spite of the fact that it has remained one month to start monsoon.

Locals have no other option than to purchase salt at 70 to 80 rupees per kilogramme in the local markets.

Chandra Kanta Koirala, employee at the District Administration Office, who also looks after the STC warehouse, admitted that stock of salt was almost nil because of its short supply.

Koirala said such crisis emerged after the proprietor of Khahare Construction Service, Nimakar Chhiring Sherpa, who hails from Kathmandu-6, did not transport this year’s fixed quota of 672 quintals of salt in the district.

Record shows that the contractor has supplied only 80 kgs of salt so far, one month ahead of rainy season during which transport of goods is impossible in this mountainous area.

Chief District Officer, Kailash Nath Kharel, said the contractor paid no attention to transport salt despite his repeated requests. He added that the concerned government body should find a way out to resolve the problem of the shortage of salt.

A farmer who trekked for two days from his home to the district headquarters only to purchase a few kgs of iodised salt was quite disappointed to return his home empty handed.

"People will not believe in the government’s high talks unless it resolves the simple problem like short supply of salt, let alone dealing with the Maoist insurgency," he said, adding the government should deliver promptly if it were to win public confidence.

A government employee said the government should not hesitate to book those contractors in its black list for breaching such agreements.

A local elected representative alleged that STC employees were also equally responsible for non-delivery of salt in the district.

Customs on small items irk consumers

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BIRGUNJ, April 30 - Small consumers of Birgunj have been angry with Birgunj Customs Office as they are required to fill up declaration forms and pay customs duty even for small goods of household use.

A resident of Birgunj-12, Dina Prasad, was bringing a stove from Raxaul, India. He told the customs officials that he had brought it for his personal use because his stove was leaking. However, he was asked to buy a declaration form at Rs 10, fill it up and pay customs totalling Rs 36 including the form charge.

People from well-to-do families buy goods in Birgunj. It is generally the poor consumers who go to Raxaul to buy few household goods. To charge customs duty for minor items and compel them to undergo the process of filling up the declaration form is not good, Chairman of Nagarik Samaj Parsa, Gajendra Dev said. He said customs could be charged for things like sewing machne, fan and other similar goods but it was injustice to charge customs for items like a stove and a pressure cooker.

Customs Chief Ishwor Pokhrel said it was difficult to know who brings goods for household purpose and who brings for business purpose. He said the office had to be strict because the same person could bring the same item 10 times a day causing revenue loss to the government.

3 held with fake notes

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JANAKPUR, April 30 - Police arrested on Sunday three Indian nationals here along with bundle of fake Indian currencies.

According to Police Inspector Yuvaraj Thapa at the District Police Office, Dilip Chaurasiya and Bishwanath Mishra from Sitamadi, India and Mohammed Farid from Bilaspur in Uttar Pradesh were arrested possessing fake currencies of IC 40,000.

Police said the accused had been staying in different lodges over the last two months and the fake notes were imported from India. Inspector Thapa suspected that a large gang was involved in this racket.

Load-shedding affects industries

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HETAUDA, April 30 - The six-hour daily loadsheding by Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has adversely affected different types of industries in Hetauda.

The production of Hetauda Cement Industry, which operates 24 hours a day, has suddenly declined. The industry is also facing difficulties in digging and transporting limestones.

The industry used to produce cement worth three million rupees daily. Following the loadshedding, it has been incurring a loss of Rs 600,000 daily.

The industry which used to pay a revenue of nine million rupees on average to the government every month is now paying only five million rupees a month due to loadshedding. The industry is finding it difficult to meet its annual target, according to an employee.

The NEA has resorted to loadshedding of six hours in the morning and evening to ensure that there is least impact in the cement industry.

Similarly, different other big, medium and small industries located in Hetauda Industrial District have also been incurring loss daily following the loadshedding.

Yeti Paints Pvt Ltd has to bear a loss of Rs 225,000 daily due to loadshedding, according to the industry.

The industry, which used to produce two thousand litres of paints in different colours, is now producing only 1,200 litres daily, according to Production Manager Daimy Jung Shah.

Likewise, Nepal Tobacco Industry which is also located inside the industrial district, is incurring a daily loss of 75 thousand rupees, sources of the industry said.

More than three dozens of industries located in Hetauda Industrial District incur an estimated loss of 4 million to 5 million rupees daily.

Loadshedding has also adversely affected the multi-national companies, such as Nepal Liver Limited, Colgate Palmolive, Asian Paints, and Essel Packaging.

Bodies of mishap victims handed over

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BHADRAPUR, April 30 - Bodies of the seven people killed on Sunday’s fatal collision of two public buses have been handed over to their respective families after carrying out post-mortems at local hospitals, according to area police office in Damak.

Other 63 passengers sustained injuries when the two buses collided with each other at Maidhar on the East-West highway.

Those who succumbed to the fatal collision have been identified as Narayan Dangal, 50, and Krishna Dangal, 46, from Garamani VDC, Bhakti Khanal, 23, from Ghailaduba, Suman Rai, 16, from Durgapur, Durga Puri, 48, from Juropani, Dambar Nalbo 40, from Satasi Dham and Nidhi Upreti, 49.

All the deceased were from Jhapa district. Six of the passengers died instantly and another died while undergoing treatment at the BP Memorial Hospital in Dharan.

Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police Ramesh Rai at Damak said 44 passengers went home after receiving minor treatment. Still, eight seriously injured people are undergoing treatment at BP Memorial Hospital and four others at Damak-based Amda Hospital.

Local initiative to provide land to squatters

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BHADRAPUR, Jhapa, April 30 - Suffered from squatters’ problem for a long time, some of the local bodies have decided to distribute unused government land in their locality to local squatters based on an all-party consensus.

As per the all-party agreement, the Duwagadhi VDC, located close to the district headquarters, has decided to disburse one kattha of public land to each genuine landless family.

VDC Chairman Shankar Pokharel said that the squatters from his VDC have been told to submit their applications with detailed statement by the second week of May.

Authorities of the Damak municipality have also called an all-party meeting to sort out the squatters’ problem.

The Municipality’s executive officer Madhu Sudan Pokharel said that the squatters would be provided one to five katthas of land depending on the availability of unused government land within the city area.

Although the municipality has yet to take a final decision to this effect, more than 1,000 huts have been erected on the public land in almost all wards of the Damak municipality.

Officer Pokharel said the municipality was collecting detailed information of the genuine landless people.

The northern Mechi municipality has also been following the suit of other VDCs to sort out the squatters’ problem and sought suggestions from different quarters for the effective resolution of the squatters.

At a time when the government formed committees dealing with squatters, the problem has remained ineffective. Locals,however, have taken the local bodies’ decision positively.