Nepal & UN

PRIME MINISTER Girija Prasad Koirala, in a message on the occasion of the 55th United Nations Day the other day, observed that Nepal has regarded the objectives of the UN which include maintenance of peace and security in the world, mobilisation of international assistance for socio-economic development of the needy ones and the preservation and promotion of democracy, human rights and the rule of law as the basic objectives of its foreign policy. The very fact that Nepal’s foreign policy’s basic objectives not only closely reflect but are also in tandem with the UN’s own aims that are enshrined in its Charter speaks voluminously of the nation’s abiding faith in this world organisation’s aims. And, also its firm commitment to this world body’s global endeavours. The UN, created immediately after the Second World War to free humanity from the dangers and scourge of war, has been exerting all its mite to fulfill this onerous responsibility with the close cooperation and assistance of its member States, including Nepal. From amongst the numerous initiatives that the UN has taken to fulfill this laudable objective, one is indeed the creation of conducive conditions to bring about all-round development in all its member States. In this regard, the UN, with contributions from its member States like Nepal, has been keeping the peace in many troubled spots throughout the world. For, without peace, there can be no development. And where there is no development, then civil unrest and strife, coupled with social unrest, could erupt, thereby sowing the seeds of future conflicts and even wars.

As far as keeping the peace is concerned, Nepal’s contributions to the UN have been widely lauded by all member States. At the call of the UN, Nepal, which firmly believes in peace, has been sending its police and army personnel as well as civilians to keep and monitor the peace in different troubled areas of the world. This apart, Nepal, just like the UN, has been continuously advocating in various regional and global forums for the mobilisation of international aid for the socio-economic development of the developing and least developed countries (LDCs) as well as for the unrestricted access of developing and land-locked nations’ goods to the developed countries’ markets. Concerning this, Nepal’s most recent initiative was during the UN Millennium Summit where Nepal’s Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala not only highlighted the plights of the LDCs but also reiterated Nepal’s firm commitments to the ideals and objectives of this world organisation with which it has long, close and beneficial relations.

Congested Roads

A RECENT report prepared by vehicles’ management task force has it that the number of transport vehicles has reached 154,785 in the Kathmandu Valley while the total length of the roads in the Valley is only 750 kilometres. At present the roads in the Valley have the capacity to hold only 28,000 vehicles while the actual number of vehicles is found to be five times more than the capacity. If all the vehicles were to run at the same time in the Valley then the entire roads in the Valley will be teeming with the vehicles. That too, bumper-to-bumper, thereby fraying the nerves of the harried drivers and raising the heckles of the thousands of passengers. No wonder the much-used roads, after a few days of black-topping, start developing potholes and cave-ins. The decade long ill-management by the concerned authorities could be main culprit behind the present state of transportation system in the Valley. They seemed to have not only overlooked the carrying capacity of the existing roads but were also not that shy to allow the import of taxis, tempos and other vehicles. On the other hand, they seem to be devoid of any plans to extend or widen the roads to cater to the galloping increase in the number of vehicles. All this has resulted in frequent traffic jams which, in the absence of speedy remedial measures, could become a permanent fixture of the Valley. The government, to solve this problem, has recently come up with a policy to gradually phase out old and polluting vehicles from the Valley. Yet, there are still a large number of old diesel-fueled vehicles running in the Valley’s congested roads. If all these polluting vehicles, just like the diesel tempos being banned from the Valley, are to be completely phased out, then the pressure on the limited roads could be lessened. Also, the level of pollution would somehow be reduced. However, the need of the hour is for a long term policy. In this regard, the concerned authorities must not only have a policy to allow the import of environment-friendly vehicles but also to heavily penalise those operating environment-polluting vehicles in the Valley.