Wiping Out Poverty

Millions of people in the world are living a life of misery because of poverty. South Asia houses the most number of people who are poor. Situated in the same region, Nepal too has been burdened with poverty and a majority of its people are deprived of the basic necessities which others take for granted. Therefore, it is no surprise that His Majesty’s Government has given top priority to its poverty alleviation programme. The other day, while meeting the president of the World Bank, one of the major donor agencies for Nepal, at Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, Finance Minister Mahesh Acharya, rightly re-emphasised this policy of the Nepalese government by telling him that wiping out poverty was the main challenge for the Himalayan Kingdom. Even in its present economic reforms programme, which the international lending agency fully backs, the present government has made poverty alleviation the focal point. The government has given so much emphasis in battling poverty because, it is this factor which has come as an obstacle in the progress of other sectors too. Only if the people can be well off economically, then will the nation see progress in vital sectors like education, health and hygiene among others.

Meanwhile, as the majority of the Nepalese people, specially those living in the rural areas, are poor, it is these people who have to be targetted in the government’s poverty alleviation programme. In this regard, the authorities must also be very careful that the very economic reforms programme, which is being so much encouraged by institutions like the World Bank, does not hurt the populace who need the government’s support so much. However, it is encouraging that the World Bank feels Nepal is doing enough in the economic reforms side and the pledge by World Bank president James D. Wolfensohn, that his bank is willing to increase investment here, is also a welcome one. The confidence of an international financial institution like the World Bank, is very important for the socio-economic progress of this country, which has to rely a lot on outside support. It can be hoped this cooperation between the World Bank and Nepal will be further enhanced by the meeting between Finance Minister Acharya and the top executive of the funding agency and this will in turn lead to effective poverty alleviation programmes which will help the Nepalese poor.

Traffic Congestion

Kathmandu, the capital city of the country, is suffering from numerous problems. Of several other problems., traffic congestion is creating havoc in the city. According to official statistics, the number of total vehicles far exceeds the total capacity of the road in the Kathmandu Valley. The snarling traffic congestion has several other negative impacts too i,e, from time consumption of the commuters to health and environmental hazards. The problem is becoming one of the biggest problems in the capital. The problem became further complicated at the absence of other related facilities like parking spaces and due to the narrow roads. There have been demands from public sectors for the proper management of traffic system and parking areas so that problems could be lessened to a large extent. In the recent years, traffic accidents in the capital are also on the rise, which have been attributed mainly to the poor road and vehicle conditions and growing traffic congestion. As the growing traffic congestion has created multi-fold problems, the government and other concerned agencies have started some measures for lessening it and to find solution to other traffic related problems. Parking areas were almost not in existence until some years ago in the capital. Thought some areas have been developed for parking vehicles at the core of the city, it is not yet adequate. Private sector is also coming up with the initiative of developing parking areas. The most important of all is that planners have started giving due attention and priority to parking spaces while designing urban plans. Against this background, a recent news story in this daily has it that a new parking area is being developed in Tinthana of Kathmandu for long-route buses and trucks. As the present Bus Park in Balaju has not been able to provide parking spaces to all buses, such long route buses and trucks are parked in the Ring Road, causing big traffic problem. As the new Bus Park with enough parking areas and other necessary facilities for buses and truck is soon coming into operation, it would certainly provide sigh of relief to all and help solve the present problem relating to traffic congestion and parking. This bus park also may not be sufficient for a long time to accommodate ever growing vehicles in the Kathmandu. Thus, some other such areas also ned to be developed in order to solve the traffic problem in the long run.