Disappearing children, a growing problem

Seema A. Adhikari

KATHMANDU, Feb 3:  Hundreds of children are reported missing every year across the country. The causes behind their disappearance could be any of these: abducted for flesh trade and organ transplants; lured by child abusers; kidnapped for ransom in which case their whereabouts are soon known; or simply fleeing home to escape the poverty and then surviving by begging, rag-picking, thieving or working under difficult conditions.

All of these possibilities are what makes six-year-old Subash Thapa’s parents desperate. Little Thapa was last seen eight years ago at Kalanki Chowk. For all these years, his parents, who work as vendors on the street, have been futilely knocking at all the possible doors—police stations, child welfare centres, newspaper offices, as well as Nepal Television and Radio Nepal which air the description of missing people free of charge.

Last year, the capital’s police headquarters at Hanuman Dhoka received 671 missing cases of children—337 girls and 334 boys. While the NGO, CWIN (Child Workers In Nepal), recorded 1414 cases of missing children—801 boys and 613 girls—last year.

But the most alarming cases are of those missing children who are trapped by the criminal networks. These boys and girls could either fall in the net of syndicates which indulge in flesh trade and organ transplant, or fall in the hands of abusers. There have also been instances of Nepali children transported to the Gulf to slave it out as camel boys in the desert.

"This problem can only be solved if our government works with neighbouring countries’ governments to rescue the children," says a child rights activist.

CWIN says 41 cases of child abduction were reported last year. Some of those were kidnapped for ransom, while many others could have been abducted for flesh trade, organ transplants, or forced begging. Although evidence on children as sex workers are numerous, there is no "clear" proof about Nepali children being used for organ transplant and forced begging, says Gauri Pradhan, President of CWIN.

But in most cases, the children disappear to escape the poverty at home, says Pradhan. "In an attempt to earn some money, they work in urban households, tea stalls, carpet factories, brick kilns, stone quarries, hotel and restaurants." But when the going gets tough, says Pradhan, they land up on the streets as beggars.

The most unfortunate part is that only a very few cases have been reported where the missing children have been found. "That is due to poor networking among police stations across the country," says Chattra Kumari Gurung, an advocate at the Legal Aid and Consultancy Centre (LACC), an NGO.

And when the missing children are found, there is also the problem of providing shelter to them. Although every district has a Child Welfare Centre, the lost-and-found children hardly make their way there.

Some of the missing cases are simply a matter of parents abandoning their children, says Arzoo Rana Deuba, social activist: "Mostly these so-called missing children have been abandoned by their parents. They leave their children to fend for themselves on the street."

In some ways, it’s almost like the movies. But unlike in the movies, most of the children who get lost, never really get to meet their dear and near ones again.

Industrial effluent forcing Bagmati treatment plant to shut down

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KATHMANDU, Feb 3: The multi-million dollar sewerage treatment plant and tunnel constructed to facilitate the flow of clean water in the Bagmati river near the holy temple of Pashupatinath has not helped much. The water flowing down the backyards of the temple continues to remain largely polluted, thanks to the dozens of industries in the river’s upstream area that discharge untreated chemical wastes.

Officials and technicians overseeing the treatment plant-cum-tunnel project on Sunday warned that the accumulation of chemicals in the plant could force them to close down the plant itself in near future.

They were speaking to journalists at a press conference on the banks of the Bagmati, where they spoke at length on how the untreated liquids and solid waste were hampering their efforts to treat the liquid waste and facilitate the flow of clean water in the river.

They also called on the government to crackdown on the carpet industries polluting the holy river. Equally responsible are soap industries, dying factories and the two medical colleges that sit in the river’s upstream area—the Nepal Medical College and the Kathmandu Medical College, according to them. Records show a total of 68 industries are operating in the area.

The officials of the High Powered Committee for Implementation and Monitoring of the Bagmati Area Sewerage Construction/Rehabilitation Project said that the treatment process has been badly affected by thick foam produced from the industrial effluent over the plant’s treatment ditch.

"These foams are there because of the chemical waste and they are not allowing oxygen to mix with the water in the ditch and smoothen the treatment process," said RD Shah, the manager of the treatment plant. Construction works of the Rs 500 million worth plant and a tunnel that bypasses the dirty water to the same river at a point near Tamraganga were completed last year.

According to Bidur Paudel, the Chairman of the project, the foam is adversely affecting aerobic bacteria’s growth.

The bacteria consume biological pollutants in the water. "The industries around Bauddha, Jorpati, Mitrapark and Chabahil are draining all the unwanted materials without a pre-treatment, ignoring the provisions of the existing laws that bans the practise," Poudel said at a press conference.

The industrial sewage accumulated at the plant contains detergent, non-biodegradable materials and toxic chemicals, all of which are the source of foam at the treatment ditch, according to officials at the project. Reporters on the site inspection tour were visibly shocked to find at least three feet thick layer of foam on the ditch.

"The foam is forcing the plant to work below it capacity," Shah said, warning: "If the government continues to ignore this and does not put pressure on the industries to set up pre-treatment plant immediately, the plant might shut down."

The officials said that have been knocking the doors of the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Industries for the implementation of existing laws that mandatorily require industries to set up such pre-treatment plants. "But the concerned authorities are turning a deaf ear to our repeated pleas" Manager Shah told The Kathmandu Post.

Report on emergency submitted

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KATHMANDU, Feb 3: An emergency monitoring team of parliamentarians led by Nepali Congress CWC member and former deputy prime minister Ram Chandra Poudel submitted its ‘on the spot study report’ to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and NC President Girija Prasad Koirala at their respective residences today.

According to member of the team, Hom Nath Dahal, the team presented the report to both the leaders that the law and order situation in district headquarters of Maoist-hit districts of mid- west region has "improved significantly".

"Situation of the district headquarters in other districts also seems to have improved but in rural areas it is yet to improve," Dahal said.

The Maoist supply line in the affected districts, said Dahal, have not come under the government’s control yet, adding, "There are signs of prolongation of the Maoist problems."

Lack of proper co-ordination among the security agencies, civil administration and the political parties in some districts was the major cause that hindered the desired success of the ongoing operation against the rebels.

The report also have cautioned the government of violation of human rights and urged the government to follow international norms and the treaties concerning human rights of which Nepal is a signatory. The report also pointed out the lack of relief and compensation package.

The Prime Minister has vowed to implement the report immediately, Dahal added, "but Girija Babu has promised to study the report and take necessary action."

All set for Women’s Commission Bill

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KATHMANDU, Feb 3: The government is all set to table the Bill on setting up a National Women’s Commission in the upcoming 21st session of the Parliament.

"The government has already readied the draft of the Bill to be tabled in the Parliament," said Rajendra Kharel, Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare, here today. "Now it is being discussed in the Legislation Committee of the Parliament."

Reading out the provisions of the draft Bill, Minister Kharel while addressing a function in the capital, said the Bill has been designed with the prime aim of promoting the fundamental human rights of women.

Later, talking to The Kathmandu Post, Under-Secretary at the Ministry, Suman Acharya, said the Ministry officials on Friday had carried out discussions with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba about various aspects of the Bill.

"Once the Bill is approved by the Legislation Committee with or without amendments, it will be endorsed by the Cabinet," said Acharya. "Then, it will be tabled in the Parliament."

According to Acharya, the Bill proposes a five-member National Women’s Commission headed by a chairwoman. All the Commission members will be selected on the basis of recommendation made by a committee comprising of the Prime Minister, Chief Justice and the leader of the main opposition in the Parliament.

The chairwoman should have made special contribution towards women’s welfare for at least 10 years. Of the other members, three of them should be those who have worked in the area of women’s welfare for a "long time", while the remaining one will represent the dalits, minority and downtrodden communities.

Though the Bill has not specified the special programmes to be carried out after its endorsement, the Commission itself will be responsible for designing and implementing the programmes, according to Acharya.

Former Minister of State for Women, Children and Social Welfare, Kamala Pant, talking to The Kathmandu Post, said the initiative to set up the Commission was taken five years with the setting up of the Ministry of Women and Social Welfare.

Pant also said the draft Bill has already been passed by the Finance Ministry and the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs. "The first draft of the Bill was prepared five months ago," she said.

However, Pant said the Bill still is found wanting on some important issues. "It has not incorporated the issue of women’s property rights," she said.

The Commission, if it sees the need, can inspect various jails, correction homes and rehabilitation centres to understand the living conditions of women. According to Pant, the Commission besides being empowered to inspect and analyse the type of service rendered by a social organisation and its internal facilities, also has the right to give directives to any social organisation to provide immediate relief to the victims of rape, violence, trafficking, battering, child marriage and polygamy, among others.

The Commission will be working as an independent entity without entertaining any interference from the Ministry, said Minister Pant. But she was quick to add that the Commission will work as a "helping hand" of the Ministry.

Planners conjure dream Nepal by 2027

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KATHMANDU, Feb 3: If planners have their way and if everything goes according to plan, the Water Resources Strategy prepared by a panel of water resources experts can make Nepal a better place to live in by 2027, with the living condition of the Nepali people significantly and sustainably improved.

The 25-year strategy, endorsed by the Cabinet on January 9, 2002, plans to ensure safe drinking water and sanitation facilities to all the people, round the year, irrigation to 90 per cent of the irrigable lands and electricity to 60 per cent of the households. And more.

Nepal will also be exporting substantial amounts of electricity to earn national revenue.

Only roughly 66 per cent of the population have access to safe drinking water currently, and only 38 per cent of the irrigable land has round the year irrigation facility. The hydroelectricity generated—about 400 megawatts—is hardly enough to meet the country’s growing power demand, and little more than 15 per cent of the population have access to electricity.

Like most plans and policy documents of the past, say critics, the strategy is a "fantastic document", and the goals it wants to achieve sound very much ambitious given the past reality of non-implementation. "We have seen many plans and strategies in the past, but nothing has worked," says a senior official at the Ministry of Water Resources emphasizing the implementation part.

Even the coordinator of the strategy formulation panel is sceptical. "We can achieve nothing if continuity is given to non-implementation like in the past," says Arjun Prasad Shrestha, the coordinator of the panel that drafted the strategy, and Executive Director of Water and Energy Commission Secretariat (WECS) at the Ministry. "So it’s time our politicians started becoming more serious about this."

Prepared after a series of consultative meetings with government officials, planners and stakeholders, the policy document was approved by the Water and Energy Commission on October 2, 2000.

On the water supply and sanitation fronts, the strategy plans to ensure access to water supply to 85 per cent of the population by 2007, access to potable water supply to all the people by 2012, and decrease in the incidence of water-related health problems by 50 per cent by 2027.

The strategy aims to expand and manage irrigation systems in an optimal and sustainable manner. It plans to increase year-round irrigation to 50 per cent of the irrigable land by 2007 and 80 per cent by 2017, and increase the efficiency of irrigation systems to 60 per cent by 2027.

It also plans to develop hydropower in a cost effective and sustainable manner for domestic use and export. If planners have their way, 820 megawatts (MW) of electricity would be developed to meet the projected demand, including 70 MW for export by 2007, when 25 per cent of the households would be connected by electricity.

By 2017, the strategy plans to have 2,230 MW of hydropower developed to meet the projected demand, including 400 MW for export by 2017, when it plans to connect 38 per cent of the households with electricity. It plans to supply electricity to 60 per cent of the households by 2027, when Nepal would be exporting substantial amounts of electricity to earn national revenue.

The strategy plans to ensure that effective measures are adopted to manage water-related disasters and mitigate their adverse effects.

It also plans to ensure the availability of emergency relief measures in all the developmental regions by 2007, put in place infrastructure for mitigating disasters in at least 20 districts by 2017, and reduce social and economic losses to levels experienced in developed countries by 2027.

To make sure that watershed and aquatic ecosystems are managed sustainably, the strategy plans to have a management plan for pilot watershed and aquatic system prepared and initiated by 2007, and full-scale environment protection and management projects implemented in priority areas by 2017. By 2027, the strategy aims to increase the quality of all watersheds by 80 per cent in all regions.

By 2007, it will also implement an action plan for tourism, industrial and navigation sectors on the use of water as well as for fishermen, and by 2017 it aims to have private sector investment substantially improved. By 2027, as contribution to GDP from these uses becomes significant and increases over time, it plans to identify opportunities for developing further uses.