Officials discuss ways to ensure salt supply to Karnali

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KATHMANDU, April 6:A joint meeting of government officials and parliamentarians from all the five districts of the country’s seriously food deficit Karnali zone has decided to chalk out ways to prevent shortage of salt and ensure adequate supply in the region.

The meeting, held under the aegis of the government’s Leprosy Control Programme, has also decided to explore possibilities to set up mini-iodisation plants in Humla, Dolpa and Mugu districts to iodise the salt imported to the region from the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China.

A statement issued here Saturday by the Salt Trading Corporation, the government-entity responsible for supplying salt in remote and semi-remote districts, also said that the officials have decided to use army helicopters to supply salt in the region.

The officials have also decided to take action against old contractors failing to make timely supply and appoint new contractors to carry out the job, and send quotas even to far-flung villages from the district headquarters. The districts are Humla, Mugu, Dolpa, Kalikot and Jumla.

Lawmakers representing the Karnali districts and officials from the Leprosy Control Programme Management Committee, Ministry of Trade Commerce of Supplies, and the Salt Trading Corporation were present at the meeting held here Friday.

"Arrangements would be made to supply salt to the villages en route to the district headquarters, and the existing tradition to supply salt straight to the district headquarters would be reviewed," the statement said.

Beginning next year, it has also been decided that the officials would review the actual salt needs of the region, and supplies would be made keeping in mind the population density and the presence of staff in the districts, according to the press release.

The zone faced a crippling shortage of salt in recent days, with the deteriorating security situation in the country’s poorest region taking the toll on socio-economic conditions and the supply channel. The districts also routinely face a shortage of food.

Hanging trolley bus cables affect transport

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BHAKTAPUR, April 6:It has been more than a week that the precious wires of the trolley bus service, dissolved on December 16, have been hanging irregularly on the road, but the sector concerned has not given any attention towards this end.

The main line that used to help ferry the trolley bus from local Gatthaghar to Naya Bato Thimi of Bhaktapur has broken down and is hanging down affecting transportation as well.

Local people and transport entrepreneurs here have expressed the possibility of a big accident as a result of the wire and also the theft of the expensive wires.

The wire had been disconnected by a branch of a tree on the road side broken due to the heavy wind followed by storm last week.

However, the power supply to the wire was cut off and it was shifted to the roadside, said police inspector Mohan Kumar Shrestha of the local area police office.

But even though the lone wire was set aside lack of balance among other wires is causing them to fall down as well.

The government decided to dissolve the trolley bus service owing to heavy losses suffered by the bus founded 28 years ago. It had been providing service on the 13 kilometre section from Tripureswor of Kathmandu to Surya Binayak of Bhaktapur.

All responsibility of the service following its closure goes to the Ministry of Labour and Transport Management, said Nirmal Krishna Manandhar, in-charge of the dissolved trolley bus service.

2nd World Assembly on Ageing opens in Madrid from tomorrow

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KATHMANDU, April 6:The Second United Nations World Assembly on Ageing will convene in Madrid, Spain from April 8 to April 12, according to a United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) press release issued here today.

The World Assembly is to be held in the wake of the opportunities and challenges of a rapidly ageing population during the 21st century. The aim is to promote the development of the "society for all ages" which was the theme of the 1999 International Year of Older Persons.

The ongoing declines in fertility in the world, reinforced by increasing longevity, continue to produce irreversible changes in the structure of all societies, notably, the historic reversal in the proportions of young and older persons. The profound, persuasive and educing consequences of ageing population present enormous opportunities as well as challenges for all societies.

This ‘grey cloud’ on the horizon, however, has a silver lining. The secretary-general of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, has said; "Trees grow stronger over the years, rivers wider. Likewise, with age, human beings gain immeasurable depth and breadth of experience and wisdom."

"That is why older persons should be not only respected and revered, they should be utilised as the rich resources to the society they belong to"

Keeping this in mind, the plan of action to be adopted by the Madrid Assembly is expected to call for changes in attitude, policies and practice at all levels in all the sectors so that the enormous potential of ageing in the 21st century may be fulfilled.

While recognising that the foundation for a healthy and enriching old age is laid early in life, the plan will also stress the importance of integrating the evolving process of global ageing within the larger process of development.

Among other things, the Plan is expected to call for: secure ageing, empowerment of older persons to fully and effectively participate in the economic, political and social lives of their societies, provisions of opportunities for individual development and well-being throughout life, guaranteeing the economic, social and cultural rights of older persons including their civil and political rights and commitment to gender equality in older persons through elimination of gender-based discrimination.

The adaptation of the International Plan of Action 2002 will help to bolster inter-governmental mandates and the political will of governments to take a crucial step towards the implementation of the Plan’s recommendations.

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs), research institutions and the private sector will take part in the World Assembly.

Besides medicine what TB patients need is balanced diet

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BHAKTAPUR, April 6:His Majesty’s Government provides anti-tuberculosis medicines to TB patients free of cost. But what they need is a balanced diet at least for next two months after the medication to completely relieve them from the malady.

Gita Rai, 20, a resident of Chandranigahpur in Rautahat district has no problem for medicine which she is getting daily from the government free of cost. But she wants a regular supply of balanced food to eat after starting treatment.

"How can I recover from TB without a square meal a day ? I do not think I will get rid of the malady merely by taking medicines," she laments.

Deepak who has been able to approach Nepal Medical College only after seeking financial assistance from his neighbours, who suggested him to do so, corroborates the same view.

"The medicines will not work effectively in such a feeble health conditions like mine. It is quite better if a balanced diet is provided to me twice a day for the coming two months," he says.

Gita Rai, a mother of three children, weighs just 35 kg. She even cannot walk without the help of others.

Although the government has been distributing anti-TB medicines to TB patients free of cost through its 229 centres and 834 sub-centres, arrangements have not been made yet to provide meals to such patients.

The TB patients coming from far-flung areas of the country and who are financially in a pitiable condition are of the opinion that they should be provided with proper accommodation and nutritious foods for at least two months along with medicines.

So far the government has not yet come up with such a scheme. However, the Britain Nepal Medical Trust which has been working in TB Control Programme in Nepal for a long time and a non-governmental organisation have been rendering accommodation and food to the patients at Solukhumbu district hospital in Salleri, Phaplu, for at least two months following the start of their medication.

Dr. Dirgha Singh Bam, director of National TB Centre and SAARC TB Centre maintains that in view of a score of death cases due to the non-availability of anti-TB medicines, the government is doing its best to provide the medicines to the district hospitals, health posts and sub-health posts free of cost.

"We are well aware of the fact that TB patients in the remote hilly areas are, indeed, compelled to walk as much as eight hours a day to get their medicines," Dr. Bam said. "The government is working to make the medicines easily available to TB patients in their vicinity as far as possible in a simple and smooth manner."

Dr. Bam is hopeful of providing accommodation and foods to the TB patients coming from the remote and poverty-stricken areas in association with social organisations and non-governmental organisations.

The white-plate drivers narrate their blues

"Travelling" which was amongst the popular choices of many to be included in the bio-data no longer seems to belong in that category, considering the number of buses plying through the roads. Even while travelling through twelve hours since 5:30 a.m. from the Capital to Birtamod, very sparse buses could be seen plying through the roads and many of them pretty unoccupied.

"That’s obvious under the given circumstances and the maze of security check ups being carried out at places," a common refrain of the fellow passengers which included Sudeep, my colleague, and a government official. And, toppers among the passengers concurring to this statement were couples of drivers. They, Mr A and Mr B (let’s not disclose their names), were to bail each other out of the tiredness during the course.

"What to do sir, people at least have a choice whether to ride a bus," said one of the drivers and his statement depicted a lot wherein lied the pain of the drivers, especially those driving government vehicles.

But to add up to their nervousness, the officer grumbled over the choice of travelling in a white-plate vehicle at such ailing moments. We were travelling on the government vehicles and were aiming reach to reach our destinations in the broad daylight.

Despite that, one or the other fellow travellers picked up the topic now and then, attaching the story of ‘ambush’. So to enliven the environment each one of us started to crack jokes. Mr B even related a long story of his past how he took to the bed for a week for gulping 25 glasses of local ‘tinpane’ liquor while betting with his partner over the question: who can drink more? "That cost me Rs 600 of Rs 1000 which I won from the bet," he said.

However, that too could not prevent the topic from cropping up repeatedly. So much so, when we boarded the vehicle in Birtamod, officials who welcomed us had a common thing to say: thank god you guys arrived in a single piece.

Our stay in Birtamod was fixed for five days and the guesthouse where we stayed lodged Mr A and B as well. During the night we had an-hour talks, which revealed that the drivers’ job has become living-on-the-edge. "What to do sir, officials from ministries, departments and boards among others demand the vehicle and as the office can not deny them we have to risk our lives driving wherever they say," was their common refrain.

But contrary to their worries, each and every government official demanded vehicles and even did not hesitate to send them to sensitive areas to carry out their personal works. They preferred to wait for an hour rather than travelling by foot for five minutes.

Even the junior officials ranked the credibility of their seniors depending upon how frequently he allows them to go for a ride. No doubt why the government expenditures rises day by day.

Heaviest complaints of the drivers came on the day when they were asked to drive to Letang. Even as Letang has been regarded as a sensitive area, it had witnessed shootouts and death of the locals few days ago. Maoists had even blown away a security vehicle recently. However, they had no options. Their pain was at a height when other media persons from Kathmandu, invited by the office for the programme’s coverage, made them run around whenever possible.

We were offered a vehicle one day and we travelled to the major tea estates of Jhapa and Ilam. Because this was my first visit to the tea estates, their beauty and serenity enchanted me. Greenery even at the peripheral vision, bushes of the same height and a number of workers busy plucking out the buds; all these, for me, existed in movies only until then.

But interestingly, more than us it was Mr A and B who were enjoying the tour. Not because they had not been there before, but because they were free from the tension of transporting hakims here and there.

They were, however, still full of words when they returned to their rooms during the night, as they have been asked to take the minister to various places for his political visits the next day.

Thus, every day was an eventful day before our return to the Capital was fixed. It was fixed that we would return on bus while the senior official would return on the vehicle on which we had gone to Birtamod. So prior to the separation Mr A and B said: we felt safe while driving to Jhapa because on the back of our mind we knew we have press people with us, however, with senior government officials travelling on it may god save us.

Dolakha plans to recontruct physical infrastructure

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DOLAKHA, April 6:Dolakha District Development Committee today organised a discussion programme with an objective to work out a plan for reconstruction of the physical structures demolished by the Maoists. The destruction has mainly affected people living in remote places, who are not in reach of these facilities.

Representatives from NGOs, INGOs and the local authorities discussed about the problems local people are getting from the demolition of most of the constructions built in the last few years.

Participants of the discussion programme also presented the damage report of their respective areas.

According to Ram Prasad Sharma, Chairperson of the Post Office, seven area post offices and fifteen extra post offices along with District Post Office have been destroyed by the Maoists setting fire on them.

"The letters to reach other foreign countries have been lying there neglected for weeks as the office has been shifted from there," said an official.

Rastra Bhushan Pradhan, Department Chief of Nepal Electricity Authority, Dolakha, said that the total destruction of the electricity office is of Rs 82,65,000 and now the reconstruction has to be started from ground zero.

Similarly, eight banks under the Agriculture Development Bank have been merged in the department of the District Headquarters.

And officials of five Range Post have congregated in the district headquarters after the postd was destabilised, said a related official in the discussion programme.

The rebels also destroyed property worth millions of rupees at the Agriculture Research Centre of Kavre by setting on fire the Soil Conservation Office Rebels had also destroyed property worth RS hundreds of thousands, which was also presented in the discussion programme.

Only in Dolakha alone, rebels destroyed property worth billions of rupees. And at last the participants pointed out the need of re-establishment of the infrastructures and also pointed out a need to re-start services again in those places.

Butwal is 6th polluted city of nation : Report

RSS

BUTWAL, April 6:The problem of environmental degradation is increasing day by day in Butwal, a town in Rupendehi district in western part of the nation.

A study has found out that Butwal comes in the sixth place among the cities in the country producing the largest amount of waste.

According to the Nepal Environment Report- 2001, Butwal annually produces 9,689 tonnes of solid waste. Out of this waste, 81 per cent comprises domestic waste.

Several streets in the town and the bank of the local Tinau river are littered with waste as people carelessly throw away polythene bags packed with litter and most of the people go to the Tinau riverside to attend the call of nature.

Apart from the problem of solid waste management, Butwal is also facing the problem of river erosion. The erosion of the riverbank and washing away of large chunks of land along the bank during the rainy season when the Tinau river bursts its banks is a matter of serious concern for the townsfolk.

Deforestation in the watershed area of the Tinau has led to an acute shortage of water and the level of water is receding each year. Moreover, the river level is being raised due to the deposition of soil and debris on the river banks as a result of several frequent landslides in the Chure hills.

Rapid deforestation in the Chure hills has increased the risk of landslides in several areas, according to geologists.

The numerous forest fires that destroy large swathes of forest areas in the Chure hills each year further aggravate the problem of deforestation.

Furthermore, the river water has become polluted due to activities like passing out stool, throwing of garbage, washing clothes, servicing vehicles and mixing of industrial effluents directly into the river. rampant quarrying of sand and pebbles from the river bank have also aggravated the problem.

It is also learnt that arable land in several downstream villages have been littered by plastic bags and other such urban wastes as a result of the direct dumping of waste into the river.

Rapid urbanization and unplanned constructions taking place in the town is another matter of concern for the environment of the town. as a result of this agriculture land has disappeared and there is lack of open space and the city has become more congested.

Factories producing footwear, textile, rubber and plastic goods which are located in the main town area are also contributing to the environmental pollution in Butwal.

Butwal, like other towns, is also under the increasing pressure of vehicular pollution and other forms of environmental pollution.

Teachers arrested for helping examinees cheat

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SIRAHA, April 6:Two teachers of Lahan have been arrested by police on the charge of helping students cheat in the ongoing School Leaving Certificate (SLC) examinations here.

The two had entered the Lahan examination centre carrying passes issued by the District Administration Office of Siraha, according to the officials.

Dr. Tikaram Sharma, the Chief District Officer (CDO) of Siraha said that the two had written their names on the passes of other school inspectors. Both of them—Badri Narayan Chaudhary and Ram Narayan Yadav—were arrested by police while they were helping students cheat at the Lahan Campus exam centre and the Technical School exam centre respectively.

In Charikot, inspector at the Tripura Glorious Academy Pradip Baral was expelled for misconduct during the examinations, said the Chief of the centre Tara Panta.

Likewise, action has been initiated against school teachers Kedar Khadka and Prahlad Chhettri on the charge of encouraging students to cheat during the SLC examinations at the Kalinchowk Secondary School in Charikot, said the District Education Officer (DEO) Ramchandra Adhikari.

However, the SLC examination in all the five examination centres in Charikot has been going on smoothly as of Friday, said the District Education Office. In Janakprudham, three exam inspectors were expelled from different exam centres on Friday, the fourth day of the SLC examinations-2002.

The three were expelled after they were found of misconduct during the examinations, said DEO Mohan Prasad Upadhyaya. They were expelled from the Janaki Secondary School, Saraswati Secondary School and Kanya Secondary School examination centre. The total number of exam inspectors expelled so far in Janakpurdham has now reached seven.

Similarly, in Kalaiya, two exam inspectors were relieved off their posts in Durga Secondary School exam centre. They were involved in misconduct during the science examination held on Friday, said Administrative Officer at the District Administration Office, Bara, Sundar Raj Aryal.

Similarly, seven teachers and a school inspector were expelled for their irresponsible activities on Friday. Six teachers were expelled from Salyan district while one was expelled from Dang district. The expelled teachers will not be employed as the invigilator in future, said Rakesh Srivastav, the DEO of Dang. A school inspector, Arjun Acharya, of Rangeli of Morang district was expelled by the SLC examinations monitoring and inspection team. The team found he is involved in misconduct during the examinations.

Kalazar spreads in 11 E Terai districts

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DHARAN, April 6: Researchers studying about the spread of Kalazar claimed that the disease has increased its grip on 11 districts in the eastern region of the country and Morang, Sunsari and Saptari are the worst effected districts determined so far.

The finding was disclosed after the disease was seen in Dulari of Morang district for the third time after an interval of three years.

According to a Community Health Programme on Kalazar Control and Studies Unit in the BP Institute of Medical Sciences, 60 patients attacked with the disease visited the hospital for treatment six years ago. The number increased to 261 last year.

The disease claimed the lives of 23 persons in three months three years ago in Dulari. The institute has found Morang, Sunsari and Saptari districts to be the worst affected areas, said Dr. Suman Rijal. "There are currently 19 patients undergoing treatment in the institute," said Dr. Rijal. "Among them, eight are from Morang, seven from Sunsari, two from Saptari and one from Bhojpur."

"The disease is now spreading fast as it lacks effective measures to control it and mainly due to patients who withdrew from the treatment process without having fully recovered," said Dr. Rijal. Six years ago, seven patients returned unexpectedly without taking the full course of treatment, according to Dr. Rijal.

The communicable disease can spread through small insects. The diagnosis of the disease is a lengthy and difficult process, according to Dr. Rijal. The institute uses the bone marrow of a backbone to diagnose the disease. "We are trying to find out easier ways to diagnose the disease so it can be done locally," said Dr. Rijal.

The injection used for the treatment of Kalazar, SAG, is found to be 85 to 90 per cent effective in the country whereas it is only 35 per cent effective in neighbouring India, said Dr. Rijal. The patients need to take the injection regularly for a month. The government distributes SAG free.

The local body of Dulari believes that the District Health Office (DHO) has determined the causes of the regular epidemic of this disease due to the lack of awareness among the people of backward communities and the non-effective measures taken. "The Village Development Committee (VDC) requested the DHO to spray medicine to control the disease a year ago," said Arjun Raj Adhikari, the Chairperson of Dulari VDC. "But the DHO did not respond saying they had no medicine in stock."

"The VDC is providing Rs. 500 for each person suffering from the disease as a travel allowance to go to Dharan," said Adhikari.

"The disease can not be controlled only by curing it," said Dr. Rijal. "The DHO and local bodies should try to increase its awareness and prevention."

Historic pond at Janaki temple to be beautified

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JANAKPURDHAM, April 6:A musical water fountain is to be constructed at the historic pond on northern side of the Janaki temple and a green belt is to be laid out around it in Janakpurdham, a pilgrimage for the followers of Hindu religion.

According to priest at the Janaki temple Ram Tapeshwar Das, a plan has been worked out to beautify the pond which has been encroached upon by local people and has become polluted. The plan is also to turn it into a centre of attraction for people coming from within and outside the country.

Under the proposed plan, re-construction works will be carried out along the pond which will provide accommodation for 400 persons at a time along with a water fountain.

Tourists can be allured with the beautification of the pond, Lal Bahadur Thapa of Janahit Sanrakshan Manch said and pointed out the need for concerted efforts for conserving and renovating the rest of the historic ponds lying in Janakpurdham.

Works on the re-construction are expected to be completed within a year. Goddess Sita is believed to be born in the town.