Flight cut adversely hits passengers

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NEPALGUNJ, March 19 : Air transportation has become quite difficult for the people in the western and far-western regions of the country due to the irregularity in the flights of Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (RNAC).

The state-owned airlines has been unable to regularly operate its flights to and from Nepalgunj for the past two months. Consequently, the air passengers have to stay in Nepalgunj, waiting endlessly for the next flight.

The flights of the RNAC to the hilly districts of the western and far-western regions have been cut down to once in three days, a massive reduction from the previous average of five flights daily.

Till two months ago, the RNAC used to fly four twin-otters to and from Nepalgunj. Stating technical problem, the airlines has stopped flying two of these aircraft. At present the RNAC has a total five aircraft have been grounded.

The corporation seems to be quite indifferent to the repairing of the grounded aircraft. Out of these five, three can be repaired at nominal costs, according to RNAC sources.

"Some of the airplanes are only very moderately damaged and can be repaired at a nominal cost of Rs 200 thousand," said an RNAC pilot, speaking to The Kathmandu Post. "Oddly enough, the managerial body seems to show no interest in repairing these planes." He also said that one of the planes has been grounded because of one punctured tyre.

The hilly districts of western and far-western regions do not have road access. People in these regions have no other choice than to walk for several days in order to reach their destinations in the absence of air transport.

"At a time when more aircraft are needed, the state-owned airlines has cut down the existing number of flights," said Lal Singh Rawal, a resident of Jumla district. "We have started to feel returning to medieval ages."

The lack of air transport is not affecting the people of Jumla alone. It is also the cause of inconvenience to all the air travellers of Humla, Rukum, Achham and other remote parts that have no road-network connection.

However, there are a number of private airlines operating in these areas. But they are simply unaffordable for the majority of the people.

The RNAC is in difficult situation for the past few years. Government instability, political influence, rampant corruption, massive recruitment of inefficient staff are some of the obvious factors leading to state-run corporation to such a situation.

The reduction in the number of flights has not only affected air travellers, it has also left the RNAC employees idle. The airlines has 40 pilots serving the domestic flights alone. With no flights to operate for several days, the pilots as well as other crewmembers of the RNAC are also worried about their idleness.

"With the massive cut in flights, for us, it is like working only for ten days in a month and drawing the full-month salary," say desperate staff of RNAC Nepalgunj regional office. "Till now we are able to draw our salaries. But if situation persists, not only we lose our job, but even the corporation would collapse," they express apprehension.

Jangam directs removal of Trade Unions’ signboards

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KATHMANDU, March 19 : Bharat Jangam, Coordinator of Public Service Evaluation and Monitoring Team for Bagmati and Narayani zones, which is widely known as Mobile Team, has directed to remove the signboards of trade unions from office premises of Nepal Rastra Bank and other state-owned financial institutions from Thursday.

Speaking at an interaction organised by Nepal Rastra Bank here today, he also warned of taking stringent legal actions against the officials disobeying the direction. "If the officials fail to abide by the order, the signboards would be removed with the assistance of police," he said, adding that employees should not be allowed to be involved in politics during office time.

He also urged all the employees of NRB to be committed to fulfill the basic tasks of the central bank of providing safe and sound financial system in the country and asked the central bank to take urgent steps to make its services more efficient and people-oriented.

Dr Tilak Rawal, governor of NRB, said that the central bank has enhanced its activities regarding monitoring and evaluating the financial institutions after the enforcement of Nepal Rastra Bank Act 2058. He further said that NRB is committed to fulfilling its objectives by accelerating actions.

Baglung Festival to be organised

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KATHMANDU, March 19 : With the theme "Protection of Arts and Culture, Promotion of Domestic Tourism and Trade," the local industrialists, Jaycees, and Baglung Municipality are jointly organising a weeklong Baglung Festival, coinciding with the national festival of Chaite Dashain from April 8th.

According to the organisers, the objective of the festival is to protect and promote the arts and culture and the promotion of tourism in the entire Dhaulagiri zone. "It further aims at supporting the economy of the zone with the export of the local products," informed organisers.

Baglung District, whose map resembles the map of the Kingdom, is spread in 1,734 square kilometres and includes Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve, the only hunting reserve in the Kingdom. The district headquarters, Baglung Bazaar, situated at 950 metres high from the sea level is at a distance of 72 kilometres from Pokhara, states a press release issued at a programme today.

The district, that is an entry point to the famous Jomsom-Trek, includes a number of religious, historic and tourism sites including the renowned Kalika Bhagavati temple, a famous Hindu temple of the region, and the holy Kligandaki River, among others.

Dohori song (repartee) competition, traditional folk dances, fashion show, and the exhibition of the local products, among others, would be the attraction of the festival, says the press release.

Actiaken against oil station

MORANG, March 19 (PR) - Action has been taken against a petrol pump here, which has been cheating its customers for the past few years by tampering with the measurement device. An inspection and monitoring team of Biratnagar Regional Office of the Department of Standard and Metrology found that Bhattarai Oil Suppliers of Indrapur, Morang had tampered with its fuel measuring devices. The oil station was found cheating customers with 200 millilitres on every 10 litres of petrol and diesel and 100 millilitres on every 5 litres of kerosene for the past few years. The team has fined the pump with Rs1,000 and seized the faulty meters. The pump is now using standard meters provided by the office.

‘Book on Everest will help promote Nepal abroad’

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KATHMANDU, March 19 : A new book on Everest, published in English, French and Japanese languages, would help Nepal attract more adventurous tourists from all parts of the world, diplomats and experts expressed hope during a programme organised here today.

"At a time when the country has just begun showing the signs of recovery, the latest effort would be crucial in promoting Nepali Himalayas in the places where the languages are spoken," they said. They expressed the views at a programme organised to release the book ‘Everest from the Air’ written by captain Bed Upreti.

The fabulous pictures of Mount Everest, which are the major attractions of the book were taken by the author himself, mostly during the mountain flights. "The book is what the pilot experienced during his numerous mountain flights to the region," Upreti said, adding that the book might be helpful to promote Nepal in the world.

The books in three separate languages were released by Keith George Bloomfield, Ambassador of UK to Nepal, Michael E Malinowski, Ambassador of USA to Nepal, Claude Ambrosini, French Ambassador to Nepal and Zenji Kaminaga, Japanese Ambassador to Nepal in their respective languages.

During the programme the envoys said that the book is impressive and can help in bringing more mountaineers and trekkers into this small and beautiful Kingdom. "The book is very useful as it also covers several aspects of mountaineering like acute mountain sickness, history and the ascents of Everest," they observed.

Narayan Singh Pun, Minister for Physical Planning and Works, appreciating the write-ups and photographic skills of the author, stated that with the book, the world would know more about Nepal. Parasu Narayan Chaudhary, chairman of the Rajparishad Standing Committee presided over the function.