Cleaning around Dharahara begins

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KATHMANDU, March 23:After three-year-long battle in the court, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City is trying to clean up the one and only historic tower of Dharahara and the surrounding area, including stone water spouts of Sundhara.

KMC’s plan to convert the brick-paved area into a green garden with the statue of Bhimsen Thapa hangs in limbo as the locals protested against it and the court prevented KMC from making any construction here, some three years ago.

Ward No. 22 chairman Hari Krishna Dangol said that the ward office decided to clean the debris from the Dharahara that drew series of controversies for over three years.

"Now the court has issued its verdict. We have taken it as our responsibility to clean the area filled with piles of garbage and make it green," he said.

The ward office has employed a guard for Dharahara and has also started regular cleaning in the area these days.

"Those who filed a case against making a garden here never showed up to do any constructive work here any way." he said.

Chief of Solid Waste Section at KMC Rajesh Manandhar said that the KMC is sending its existing manpower to clean the debris at Sundhara and trying to maintain the natural beauty of the surrounding area.

"We are not providing any new manpower for Sundhara Garden. However,we think, it is the duty of the KMC to keep it neat and clean after the area has become free from legal controversies," he said.

KMC had leased the area to a private party so that a garden would be constructed in the area and a cafe would be run to generate income. The local people,however, protested against the plan saying it would encroach the public land and destroy its historic image. Furthermore, the Supreme Court gave a verdict not to start any construction work in the area until the case finalises. Consequently, the plan could not materialise and heaps of garbage started to pile up from the locals and street vendors.

Prime Minister Juddha Shamsher Rana renovated the tower in 1936 after the old one, constructed by Bhimsen Thapa a century ago, fell to its second floor.

Sociologists discuss good governance

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LALITPUR, March 23:Sociologists today expressed the view that exact development plans are not possible without thorough researches on the social diversity of Nepali society.

They said accountability, legitimacy and transparency, the three basic factors of good governance are still lacking in the government, though political leaders now and then talk about good governance and decentralisation.

Sociologist Janak Rai said that good governance has been a hot topic among elite Nepalis only because foreign donors are sensitising the issue.

He said the history of nation building has been biased and only a portion of the pluralistic society has been active in all parts of activities since long.

"Institutionalised form of equitable representation must be sought," he said.

"Handing-over certain minor responsibilities to Village Development Committees and District Development Committees should not be considered as decentralisation. It is what the power of Singha Durbar does not like to hold," he said.

Gauri Pradhan, the executive chairman of CWIN said today’s politics is guided more by ‘the market’ which is dangerous.

"We cannot even discuss about good governance in a country where even the Prime Minister does not know who actually is governing the country," he said.

Govt urged to amend bill on domestic violence

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KATHMANDU, March 23: An interaction programme on Domestic Violence (Crime and Punishment) Bill 2058 was organised here today.

Speaking on the occasion, Subash Nemwang, UML lawmaker said there are still lots of things that remain to be revised in the Domestic Violence Bill. "The definition of family in the Bill is too narrow," Nemwang added.

"There should also be a law of preventive nature so that women will be informed about the nature of domestic violence before it engulfs them," he further said.

At the programme Sapana Pradhan Malla, an advocate,said there are still half of the women population in the country who are believed to be the sufferers of one or the other kind of domestic violence.

"The Bill is still incomplete in many aspects and there is still no provision for rehabilitation centres for the victims," Malla said adding "The Bill only states about physical treatment but there is no provision for psychological treatment."

Women rights activists, Member of Parliament, advocates and politicians urged the government to amend the Bill as soon as possible.

Politicians, HR activists discuss Constitution amendment

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KATHMANDU, March 23:Politicians and human rights activists gathered here for a discussion programme raised various issues on the proposed Constitution amendment today.

Speaking on "Constitution Amendment and the Provisions Violating Human Rights" organised by the Human Rights and Democratic Awareness Centre (HRDC), participants from various political parties, advocates and human rights groups discussed the need to amend citizenship laws.

At the programme, they urged the concerned authorities to apply an appropriate cut-off-year in granting citizenship certificates to the people.

Rameshwor Shah, former secretary of the HRDC said that citizenship certificates should be given on the basis of law and not on the basis of birth.

Echoing similar concern, Gajendra Agarwal, a member at the Raj Parsihad Standing Committee said the government had blindly issued citizenship certificates in the past. He said that a provision for a just and fair process of giving citizenship certificates be included in the proposed Constitution.

Chitra Bahadur K.C., President of the National People’s Front urged the inclusion of the versions of smaller political parties in the discussions while amending the Constitution.

Experts also asked the government to gather opinions and suggestions from all categories of people, parties and experts while amending the Constitution.

Gaurishankar Lal Das of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Rajendra Mahato and Badri Prasad Mandal of Nepal Sadbhawana Party (NSP) were also present at the discussion programme.

Enforcing discipline during emergency

The night bus, loaded to the hilt with passengers, slowed to a crawl, then lurched forward suddenly as though to resume full speed and again geared up to a stoppage. This probably happened at a hundred places, much to the grumbling of passengers.

I was travelling home after a year or two. The state was at the crossroads to survival. Business had collapsed totally. On the once-bustling highway, very few of them squatted in front of gutted buildings, selling bread, cigarettes and instant noodles. The contrast was especially startling this time at several stops, and at every military outpost, where we had stopped and thoroughly ransacked.

Passengers spent their delayed time hanging out of the doorway, unable to believe what had caused them this delay. The journey that took approximately twelvehours during those peaceful heydays took more than eighteen hours this time. We spent nights unable to close our eyes, beating our heads against the walls.

At some point on one of the checkpoints, a group of security men shouted at us to get down from the bus and walk away to another point. It was mid-night. I was baffled, attempting to explain that not all people in the bus were able to walk away. However, security men turned angry and pushed me away.

I not only saw how social dissatisfaction was steaming up in people, but also felt a fire raging within me. Each one grumbled about the hours of delay caused by time-consuming military surveillance operations. Maoists’ rebels on the other hand were threatening to blow up every bus plying on the highway. This time, they were not sparing innocent women and children in the bus. Passengers were trembling with fear for they still had memories of a ghastly incident that left four people, including a child, charred to death in a bus.

Thankfully, there was also a positive reinforcement on the highway. The way the military handled a social crisis has deeply moved me. At Dhungedara, the Kakarvitta-Kathmandu bound bus shuddered to a halt. We were nearing a dead-end to a most arduous journey when a scene specially stuck in my mind ... an army official was scolding passengers, notorious for urinating openly before women folks and showing callous disregard for others. They were indeed, showing no respect for others and were doing it openly before everyone of us. Most passengers had swollen eyes and were complaining about the excessive delay caused by highway checking. Another bus came round and halted a couple of paces from ours’. People had an urgent need to urinate and every one probably had bursting bladders. The newcomers surged forward, cramming the road searching for more space to pass urine. Women closed their eyes, unable to behold the morning scene.

An army official, shocked by the degree of freedom and the lack of unctuousness they had shown for others, turned into a fire-eater and was saying, "Every citizen ought to be stylish but also tasteful and cultivated in their manners. Moreover, not to urinate before a woman. "

Most refused to budge an inch. "What an unfeeling brute you are ha... I believe some one here has a mother, sister. Could you behave like this before them?" The army blasted, expressing deep annoyance to a group of young men. He was trying to force an alternative-kind of discipline. The army successfully stopped them on time. Men crawled back to their seats trembling with fear. Any act of defiance would have straightaway landed the men in hospital but none opened their mouths.

I was holding a reporter’s notebook in my hand, sinking back in my seat and scribbling on it some of my tumultuous experiences during the journey. At my back, passengers resented through out the night for delay. They were talking aloud about when the emergency would end and that they would be travelling freely.

Whatever might be the long-term political fallout from the emergency, essentially, enforcing discipline among the unruly on the highway certainly deserves good praise for the army. I had never thought how the army would react to foul behaviour outside his sphere of activity. I wish the police would also bolster similar avenues of hope so that it will be a platform for solving social problems rampant in the country.

DOTS: An effective weapon to combat tuberculosis

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KATHMANDU, March 23: The Directly Observed Treatment Short course (DOTS) programme against tuberculosis (TB) has proved to be successful but the lack of knowledge about it is claiming thousands of lives each year.

In Nepal, 8,000 to 11,000 people die annually due to the disease, according to Dr. Dirgha Singh Bam, the Director of National TB Centre in Kathmandu. "There are around 90,000 TB patients in the country," says Malla. "Each year 44,000 Nepalese suffer from the disease."

The disease claimed six lives in remote Khairang village of Makwanpur district in last ten months, according to our reporter. Last year, the same village lost five people due to the disease. The DOTS programme has not been initiated in the village yet.

"The patients sacrifice cocks in a bid to please the God but when they are dying in the lap of the shamans, no God comes to their help," says Raj Kumar Malla, Chairperson of the village. "They find it very hard to walk 10 hours to the Primary Health Centre in Manhari."

The people of one of the poorest villages of the district are forcefully brought to Manhari for the diagnosis, adds Malla. "The village has high number of TB patients, most of them illiterate and poor, and it sans the effective treatment programme like DOTS as there are no health centres here," says Malla.

There are five treatment centres and 35 sub-centres for implementation of DOTS programme in Makwanpur district. More than 600 TB patients of the district are being treated under the programme, according to TB-Leprosy Control Department of Hetauda Hospital.

"The hospital found 384 new TB patients in last 10 months," says Ram Babu Yadav, Chief of the Department.

During the fiscal year 2001/02, 21 among 490 patients died of the disease, says Dr. Girish Kumar Upadhaya, Chief of the Hospital. "430 of them completed the medicine course whereas three patients did not complete the treatment," says Upadhaya.

The disease claims around 50 lives annually in the district, according to the health officials. Only 15 to 22 of them are recorded in the hospital, as most of the patients do not undergo the treatment, says Upadhaya.

Our reporter from Sunsari said that the disease has not been yet controlled in the district because of the ignorance of the people. The TB patients only visit the health centres in the later stages of the disease, making it very difficult to cure.

The disease killed 24 people in the district in last eight months, according to Dr. Braj Kishor Thakur, the Chief of District Health Office (DHO). "Last year, only 11 patients died in the same duration," says Thakur.

The DOTS programme has not been implemented in 14 Village Development Committees (VDCs) of the district. The district has a total of 49 VDCs and three municipalities.

Three TB diagnosis centres and 38 medicine distribution centres are established in the district, according to the DHO.

"More than 75.80 per cent of patients were successfully treated last year," said Pradip Kumar Shrestha, the Field Officer of Britain Nepal Medical Trust, in a press conference held here to mark the World TB Day to be observed on Sunday.

Irrigation projects halted owing to WB disapproval

By Motilal Poudel

SURKHET, March 23:The construction of 19 irrigation projects of the Mid Western Region under Nepal Sector Irrigation Project (NSIP), funded by the World Bank has been halted due to disapproval by the bank.

The duration of the NSIP will end by mid-July, and renewal of WB apporaval is necesary to go ahead, according to the Regional Irrigation Office in Surkhet district.

"There has been difficulty in obtaining the approval as the bank has suggested a completion to running projects before starting new ones," said an engineer of the office requesting anonymity.

The office suggested 8 new projects in Surkhet, 3 in Pyuthan, 5 in Dang and one each in Mugu, Dailekh and Rukum. The total costs of these 19 projects are estimated to be 83.4 million rupees, according to the engineer.

The NSIP was instituted in 1998, in the Mid Western Region. 64 among 129 projects under NSIP have already been completed. 59 among the running projects will be completed before the end in duration of the NSIP, according to the office.

The office is demanding an extension in duration of the projects and has identified 141 new projects for the added period.

Constituent assembly the only solution, says Dhungana

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CHITWAN, March 23:At a time when the satute amendment has become a buzzword among the politicians and all concerned in the country, Daman Nath Dhungana, noted human-rights activist and former Speaker of the Lower House of the parliament, has stressed for an urgent need of a constituent assembly, calling it the only solution to the present national crisis.

Speaking at a programme organised by Progressive Intellectual Association (PIA) here today, Dhungana, who was also a member among the framers of the present constitution, made a remark that the country is to witness a constitutional assembly, in the near future.

"If the constitutional assembly that stands in favour of the people is not taken in, the nation has to accept the Maoists’ rule imposed out of the barrels of guns," said he. He also charged the political parties opting for the constitutional amendment to have been urged by vested interest of being in power.

Another speaker in the programme, Ghanashyam Poudel, the Central Secretary of United People’s Front, stated that in the name of constitutional amendment, the greater parties were trying to strengthen themselves by keeping the smaller parties at bay from the main stream of national politics.

The programme participated in by the representatives of various political parties was chaired by Madan Mohan Joshi, the chairman of PIA.

Reserve to retrieve encroached land

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MAHENDRANAGAR, March 23:The Sukla Phanta Reserve has started removing encroachers from Pipaladi and Dekhatbhuli Village Development Committees (VDCs) in the second phase of a programme that aims to manage the extended area of the reserve.

The reserve started demolishing huts and houses built by people encroaching within the extended area of the reserve 5 months ago. In the first phase, more than 1,200 families of the encroachers from Ratauli Bichwa were successfully removed, according to reserve officials.

"The encoarchers in Bhatpuri, Padab and Bangra of Pipaladi VDC and Dakka of Dekhatbuli VDC are being removed," said Ranger Ramesh Thapa. "We aim to remove all the encroachers from these areas within the next 3 weeks."

The 150-sq. km. extension programme to the reserve was initiated 20 years ago. The area of reserve was initially 155 sq. km. But the programme became difficult to conduct due to a high rate of encroachment and lack of land to relocate the villages, according to Thapa.

Land allotted by the government to relocate the villages was also encroached creating more problems in the extension programme. "The reserve is currently preparing to distribute land to families enlisted in records prepared 8 years ago," said Thapa.

During the last two decades, 19 commissions were formed to solve the problems of relocation but all of them were unable to work due to various factors, according to reserve officials.