16 rescued, 37 bodies recovered from Khotang landslides

By Bedraj Poudel in Bhojpur and Binod Bhandari in Biratnagar

KATHMANDU, July 16 : At least 16 people were rescued during a combined operation of army and police in Khotang, the scene of multiple landslides yesterday. The search and rescue operation also succeeded in extricating at least 37 bodies from the rubbles of the houses dismantled in Sungdel and Dipsung areas of the district.

After returning from the landslide sites, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) at the Eastern Regional Police Office in Biratnagar, Rajendra Bahadur Singh, said that 16 people were rescued alive on Tuesday. He said that they were airlifted to Kathmandu for treatment.

Sungdel VDC Secretary Homnath Khanal said, "We thoroughly verified each of the households and found only 43 people were missing".

Khanal said that all the bodies buried underneath the landslides would be recovered by Wednesday provided that the weather condition is favourable for rescue operations. An army helicopter that flew from Kathmandu along with immediate relief materials could not land in the areas due to foggy weather condition.

Chairman of neighbouring Baksila VDC, Dipendra Kumar Rai, told The Kathmandu Post that 41 people were killed in the Sungdel VDC-2 and 6, and two others were killed the Dipsung VDC-2. The landslides also washed away 35 houses, one health post and a VDC office building. More than 300 cattle were also buried in the rubble. Over 90 other houses have been totally damaged, he added.

Details of property damaged in the natural disaster are yet to be assessed, as locals, Royal Nepal Army and Nepal Police personnel are still busy in rescuing the people still missing in the rubble, Baksila VDC Chairman Rai said.

Preliminary reports pouring in from the sites had suggested that around 150 people were missing in the landslides.

Sungdel VDC Chairman, Ran Bahadur Rai, is now facing the biggest misfortune in his life because he lost all seven family members, including his one-and-half-month-old daughter, in the tragic incident. Thirteen other travellers who were staying in his house during that fateful night were among those who went missing.

Khanal said that survivors of the natural disaster are now taking refuge in open sky without any food to eat and clothes to change. "They have nothing to eat and to live," he said.

Additional rescue teams, including Nepal Red Cross Society, from Diktel, Khotang’s district headquarters, and Sankhuwasabha have reached the area along with immediate relief. Secretary Khanal said that Nepal Red Cross Society would begin with distributing relief materials from Wednesday.

Meanwhile, issuing separate press statements in the capital today, Khotang Sewa Samaj and major political parties have expressed profound sorrow over the losses of lives in such a large-scale and damages of property in the VDCs.

In their press statements, they have wished speedy recovery of those who sustained injuries in the incidents and demanded the government provide immediate compensation to the bereaved family members and long-term rehabilitation to the displaced families.

Keeping in mind the grave situation, the Khotang Sewa Samaj has constituted a 101-member "Khotang Landslide Victims Co-operation Committee, Kathmandu" to collect relief materials to the victims. It has appealed to all to extend their assistance in the event of great misery.

Major political parties who expressed their deep sorrow over the deaths of the people and damages of property are the Girija Prasad Koirala-led Nepal Congress, erstwhile main opposition CPN-UML and Nepal Sadbhawana Party.

Ordinance on local bodies likely

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KATHMANDU, July 16:The government is mulling to issue an ordinance to regulate the functions of the local bodies, high level government source said here today.

"Government is obliged to issue an ordinance to change certain clauses of the Local Autonomy Act promulgated some four years ago after delegation of power to elected representatives," the government source said.

The source added that the certain powers vested in the elected representatives through the Act cannot be transferred to bureaucrats through the cabinet decision or regulations.

Despite opposition from all the political parties the government on Monday had decided to let the term of 3,913 Village Development Committees, 75 Districts development Committees and 58 Municipalities expire.

According to a source at the Ministry of Local Development, the ministry has been bypassed when it comes to draft the ordinance. "I heard some private lawyers have been roped in to prepare the draft of the proposed ordinance," the ministry source added.

Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka earlier had ignored the advise tendered by the ministry officials on the issue. The Spokesman at the Ministry, Hari Prasad Rimal, however said he has no idea about the government mulling to issue the ordinance.

The administrative jobs of the local bodies can be performed by the secretaries but certain issues of public interest are out of their jurisdiction under present Act, according to experts.

Recommendation for citizenship certificates, license for house construction, certifying relationship, financial transactions and expenditures for certain projects except salary of the government employees under the local bodies are such tasks that can not be performed by the bureaucrats.

Joint signature of chairman and secretaries is a must to operate the VDC accounts and also to approve the local development projects.

"Without promulgating an ordinance, it is not possible to implement any development projects," advocate Pradeed Thapaliya, who is also executive director of the National Federation of Village Development Committees (NFVDC), said.

According to a source involved in drafting of the ordinance, three options are being considered in a parallel manner while preparing the draft. "Institution of a district level infrastructure development unit to run the development project and an institution of a committee under Chief District Officer (CDO) to look after the social issues," he added. "An option of forming all party committees in each level will also been worked out." However, on the other hand, some experts are against the ordinance.

"The move is an intention to misuse the government mechanism and resources for partisan benefits," said former secretary, Dwarika Nath Dhungel.

There are 231,922 representatives in the local level including 40533 women.

NFVDC today condemned the government’s decision not to extend the terms of the local bodies, terming the government’s decision an undemocratic and against the spirit of decentralization.

"The decision of the government depicts that it has evil intention towards local bodies. It is against the spirit of the element of democracy and decentralization," a press statement issued here by the NFVDC said.

It has also condemned the inability expressed by government in holding the local elections in time. "It is ridiculous that a government, which has failed to hold local election on time, has announced the date for general elections," it added.

Meanwhile, Jhapa District Development Committee at its farewell ceremony Tuesday condemned the government’s decision as undemocratic. All the political parties, too, have unanimously accused the government of following extra- constitutional ways of governance in the country.

Mayor of Dharan Municipality, Manoj Kumar Meyanbo, accused the government of discouraging the participation of the local people in local development.

Biratnagar, Rajbiraj, Inaruwa, Bhadrapur and other municipalities in the eastern Nepal and Kathmandu DDC, too, have condemned the government’s decision at the farewell functions held separately.

After WB, Govt pins hope on ADB for Melamchi

By Surendra Phuyal

KATHMANDU, July 16:The government has formally requested the Asian Development Bank to provide additional financial assistance for Melamchi Drinking Water Supply Project, weeks after the World Bank disclosed its plans to divert the financial aid it had earlier pledged for Melamchi to the government’s poverty reduction programmes.

The World Bank earlier this month formally backtracked from its earlier position on Melamchi, saying it would divert the US $ 15 million financial aid to the government’s poverty alleviation programmes. The WB had verbally agreed to provide the amount in the past. However, officials at the Bank as well as in the concerned government ministry maintain that the WB decision came as per "mutual understanding".

Secretary at the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works and former executive director of the project, Dinesh Chandra Pyakurel, said Tuesday that the government made a formal request to the ADB on Monday. "We have made a formal request to the ADB to provide financial assistance of about US $ 40 million as per the understanding reached between us in the past," Pyakurel told The Kathmandu Post.

He, however, claimed that ADB was actually working on it. Pyakurel said that other donors, too, were keen to provide additional loans to the project. However, he declined to give their names.

Already, the ADB has agreed to provide US $ 116 million for the project that is estimated to cost US $ 464 million. The development bank had also funded the project’s engineering component by providing US $ 4.79 in the past. HMG is spending US $ 118 million on Melamchi. Other donors funding the mega-project include, JBIC (US $ 52 million), Norad (US $ 28 million), SIDA (US $ 25), NDF (US $ 9 million), OPEC (US $ 14 million), Japan Government (US $ 18 million).

On the project development front, Secretary Pyakurel said, "Things are progressing quite smoothly. Preparations are also underway to soon deploy security forces in the project site to ensure safety and proper use of explosives that are necessary to construct the yet-incomplete access roads."

The project, which would divert 170 million litres of water daily, is expected to quench the thirst of the water-scarce capital valley when it comes on line sometime in late 2008. The project’s targeted completion date has been postponed a number of times. The access construction works were marred by a spate of terrorist attacks in recent times.

On the state-owned water utility privatization front, he said that the government was preparing to invite fresh pre-qualification bids to select a private utility sometime in September-October. "Only one company – Vivendi (France) – submitted its bid last time, so we could not do anything. And now are preparing to invite fresh PQs," Pyakurel said.

The government is required to hand over the management of the state-owned Nepal Water Supply Corporation (NWSC) to a private utility before September 2003 as per the loan agreement with the ADB. "Hopefully, we will have a private utility by then, so that we can proceed ahead with the tunnel construction works (the key and most crucial component of the project)," he added.

Indian police hand over four rebels

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NEPALGUNJ, July 16:Four Maoist leaders including the key public relation person of the underground outfit Patha Chhetri alias Ram Karki have been handed over to the Nepalese authorities by India. All these four had been arrested in Delhi on Thursday after the meeting organised by the Nepal-India Solidarity Forum.

Besides Chhetri, others arrested and handed over to Nepal include Maheshwor Dahal, Surendra Karki and Aditi. Dahal is the son of Iswori Dahal, a prominent Maoist leader who is allegedly hiding in India. It’s not yet known where they have been kept after the hand over to the Nepalese authorities somewhere along the UP-Nepal border. Apart from being the key public relation person for Maoist leaders Baburam Bhattarai and Prachanda, Chhetri is also supposed to be very close to Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling.

Koirala for leadership hand over

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DHANGADI, July 16:Former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala said that the Monarchy has tended to lose its credibility after the June 1 Royal Place massacre last year. It is also at par with the loss of credibility of the parties over the last twelve years, he said. Koirala was speaking at the meeting of his party cadres from nine districts of the Western region on Tuesday.

Commenting on the party politics of Nepali Congress, Koirala said he was in favour of handing over the leadership to an able successor but neither he set the time frame nor indicated if he had any one in his mind as his successor.

" My only wish is the leadership of the party must go to the able successor. To this extent the blame for the delay falls on me," Koirala told the party cadres.

He also said that NC and institution of monarchy were the only two forces, which could be said to be the national forces of repute. " These two alone are deep-rooted," he said.

Meanwhile, Koirala issued directives concerning the ways to overcome the current crises dogging the nation and the party. He also expressed the regrets that he went on to repose faith on Deuba but in vain. " But it was you all who made him the commander of the region," Koirala told cadres.

Nepal go down to UAE

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KATHMANDU, July 16:Nepal’s unbeaten run in the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Trophy ended on Tuesday when they went down by six wickets against defending champions United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the Singapore Cricket Club, Singapore.

Nepal scored 159 runs in allotted 50 overs with the loss of nine wickets and UAE reached the target in 44.4 losing only four wickets.

The win for UAE means they will meet Hong Kong, who had lost the final against UAE in 2000 ACC Trophy, in the first semifinal. In Group A, Malaysia will meet either Nepal or Kuwait as the two teams will play each other in the determiner last group-match on Wednesday.

To Nepalis in America, Monarchy is counterweight to bungling politicians

By Akhilesh Upadhyay

NEW YORK CITY, July 16:His Majesty King Gyanendra’s 56th birthday celebrations provided a rallying point for New York City’s Nepalis, the largest Nepali community in the United States, and possibly the largest outside the Asian region.

Frustrated by ever-warring, and non-performing, politicians back home, the expats said they are looking up at the institution of Monarchy as the moral counterweight, and hoped that the King would not hesitate to use the whiplash, ever so gently but decisively, against the unruly bunch once in a while.

They would welcome any measure, they said, that would put the onerous task of institution building on a fast track, bedrock of a stable democracy. The King of Thailand, for instance, has made no design to wrest control from elected officials, but he has also led the nation by example, and taken bungling politicians to task.

At the birthday celebrations in the largest city in the United States, the talk last week revolved around non-performance of political parties at large, Maoist violence, and brazen display of unbridled ambition by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and Girija Prasad Koirala in particular.

The message, loud and clear: politicians, since you have failed us miserably in the last 12 years, we want the King to be more assertive.

"To me, the King’s birthday celebrations this time held special significance," said Saru Gurung-Rana, a public health graduate and a resident of Sunnyside, Queens. "I didn’t expect people of different political beliefs to come to the same forum, and voice their support for Monarchy."

In her fourth year in the city, Gurung-Rana was one of some four dozens Nepalis present Sunday at Ganesh Temple Auditorium in Flushing, Queens to celebrate King Gyanendra’s birthday, first such celebration since he was enthroned last year.

Queens, home to most of the city’s 10,000 Nepalis, has huge pockets of Chinese, Indian and Korean populations. Flushing, the last stop on the No. 7 subway line or the "Immigrant Express," is a fast growing Asian neighborhood peppered with low-priced stores run by Afghans, groceries by Koreans, and ubiquitous take-outs serving Chinese food.

The weekend program, accompanied by cultural performances, was hosted by Foundation of the Nepalese in America (FNA).

Two days earlier, on Friday, Nepalese Mission in New York hosted a similar program, which also marked the end of the official mourning period that began with the deaths of King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya on June 1 last year.

Nepali students and professionals, and foreign diplomats attended King Gyanendra’s birthday celebrations staged at the United Nations headquarters in midtown Manhattan, linked to Queens by, among others, the No. 7 Train.

"Public exasperation with political parties has added a new dimension to the institution of Monarchy," said Rajpal Singh, founding editor of The Nepal Digest, the first electronic magazine launched in 1990 to discuss news and views on Nepal.

"I can sense deep sympathy for Monarchy for what it has gone through in the last one year," Singh said, "and due to what politicians have done, or failed to do, in the last 12 years."

"But," he warned, "this goodwill should not be misconstrued as license for a return to the Panchayat. Just as any other Nepalis, the King has the right to assert himself to safeguard the nation, and people welcome this new assertiveness."

Sanjeev Sherchan, who works for a New York-based foreign policy think tank Asia Society, said he is indeed frustrated by Nepali politicians. "But I wouldn’t go far as to dismiss democracy just because these people haven’t delivered. Hopefully, we elect a new generation of leaders who will deliver the goods next time round." A resident of New York City and a regular participant of the King’s birthday celebrations since 1994, TND’s Singh in the meantime was already concerned about his participation in the next birthday celebrations, just as he was about the next election.

"My clothes were fine for King Birendra’s birthday which was in winter," he said wearing a broad smile, and dark-green woolen labeda-suruwal with a matching woolen coat as he headed home to Queens Village in No. 7 Train. "I will need a new set of national dress, something that can ward off the summer heat. I will save it for the next King’s (the heir Prince Paras’s) birthday. When is his birthday?" (At the King’s birthday programme in Flushing, Singh was Sunday honored with Saraswati Puraskar by FNA for his contribution as "a business entrepreneur, an IT professional," and "spreading knowledge about Nepal and Nepali people" as founding editor of TND.

After continued pressures from loyal readers, Singh recently revived TND—which can be accessed free of cost by sending an e-mail to: nepal@cs.niu.edu with help from a friend and an IT expert, Ujjwal Bhattarai. "TND now has a sanitized list of 1,500 subscribers," said the Northern Illinois University (NIU) graduate Monday.)