Traffic Week
Creating Traffic Awareness

By Apil R. Bohara

THE increasing number of vehicles has caused an increase in traffic accidents. While the vehicle numbers are increasing in geometrical proportion the roads are being constructed at a snail’s pace. Many agencies directly and indirectly are involved in mitigating traffic burdens and bringing the horrific traffic situation to some semblance of sensible road behaviour. Yet, it is also true that, it is difficult to solve this problem in a short period or with limited efforts.

Accidents

In Nepal every year, more than 1000 people lose their lives in traffic accidents. Just this fact depicts the serious problems we have on the roads, specially in cities like Kathmandu, which sees an increase in the number of vehicles and people as well. There are 3,50,000 vehicles registered at the city office. Considering the narrow roads and the small area that the city is built in, these are vehicles too many for a country like Nepal.

Records have shown that vehicle drivers always want to ply their vehicles on the road by hook or by crook forgetting their responsibility to make the roads safer for themselves and for others.

It may be amazing for people to know that two thirds of vehicle drivers have no idea about traffic signs and rules. They are only responsible for their unawareness but vehicle owners also indulge in inviting this kind of puzzling situation by neglecting traffic regulations and other road safety measures.

Similarly, our license issuing system is also extremely unscientific and impractical and it is helping in adding to the traffic accidents indirectly.

In Kathmandu Valley, there has been an unprecedented trend in traffic accident. Accidents occur more during working days when the traffic is heavy. Accidents also occur when holidays are near and mostly youngsters tend to drive under the influence of alcohol.

There is no doubt the scenario is grim and it will take efforts from all side, including the co-operation of all the people, to make our roads safer, but traffic authorities are confident accidents can be minimised with stringent regulations and their effective implementation.

The Valley Traffic Police (VTPO) plays a crucial role in creating traffic awareness among the people in Katmandu where immense traffic accidents have been occurring. The recent programme initiated by the VTPO to create awareness among school children regarding traffic regulations and other road safety measures, has proved to be very effective. This programme should be extended so that more people are made aware of road safety, for themselves and for others.

Traffic awareness classes, observation of traffic day, refreshers course in traffic regulations and correction classes have been organised at VTPO to create awareness among pedestrians, drivers and also the traffic police themselves.

Records reveal that motorcyclist and taxi drivers are more responsible in violating traffic rules. VIPO has been organising correction classes to create awareness among these reckless drivers and ensure they realize their mistakes so that they won’t repeat such mistakes in the future. Any person who has driven or walked in the streets of this city, can vouch that motorcycles and taxis are some of the biggest culprits in over-stepping traffic regulations and road safety measures.

VTPO has been organizing traffic week programmes since a long time to curb the traffic hazards in Kathmandu. It is experienced that to organize traffic week in a smooth and effective manner it is a really colossal task and it requires the involvement and cooperation of all. VTPO’s solo efforts though extremely appreciated, it is difficult for this police organisation alone to tackle this problem. The lack of proper co-ordination among different agencies further escalates traffic problem.

However, at present, during the Traffic Week which is being conducted, it is encouraging to see the participation of different sections, including schools and NGOs, in helping the traffic police create road awareness.

One factor that greatly contributes in creating traffic snarl-ups is the fact that while the load bearing capacity of Kathmandu Valley roads is only for one lakh twenty thousand vehicles, one hundred and eighty thousand vehicles have been registered at the Bagmati Transport Office. The poor infrastructure of roads, sharp bends, innumerable intersection, junctions and encroachment of roads, makes further complicated the situation in Kathmandu.

It is reported that in Kathmandu Valley the numbers of accident are higher than in the rest parts of Nepal. This is not surprising, but it can be said that the root cause of increasing traffic accidents is the lack of traffic awareness, both among drivers and also pedestrians.

That is why, the VTPO, to create traffic awareness among road users, has once more organised the traffic week that is going on now, but this time in a more comprehensive and expanded manner. And this has been effective in spreading rays of awareness.

Safer Road

The participation of students, NGOs, INGOs, government officials, transport entrepreneurs and other relevant agencies has helped this traffic week become more effective. School students are taught about road safety measures. Vehicle owners and drivers seem to be joining hands with traffic police in maintaining road regulations. The major point is, the participation of all is required to make our roads safer.

For Effective Forest Management

By Jhabindra Bhandari

NEPAL is a mountainous country where majority of the rural population rely on subsistence agriculture. No doubt agriculture is the backbone of rural economy and development . From the very beginning, people are heavily relying on natural resources for their livelihoods and socio-economic development. Nepal is very rich in natural resources and hence people’s access to and their rights to the use of these resources for their socio-economic development sould always be a matter of priority.

Impact

Despite the growing challenges of poverty and illiteracy, rapid population growth is one of the important challenges in development. Population growth and deforestation are closely interrelated. Increasing problem of population growth exerts heavy pressure on the forest and other natural resources. The people depend on forests for fuel wood, timber, fodder medicinal plants and other forest resources necessary for subsistence. As forests are also used for grazing livestocks, the loss of forest has also serious impacts on environmental degradation. Besides this cause decline in agriculture productivity.

Over the last two decades, community forestry programme has achieved significant results in forest conservation and development. One of the important purposes of this programme is to meet the basic needs of the local people through forest conservation and proper use of these resources. In order to make community forestry programmes more effective, it is equally essential to promote multi-purpose forest management in community forest.

The policy provisions of forestry sector master plan as outlined in the Ninth Five Year plan explicity demands the growing needs of facilitating local community forest users groups in their effort to meet forest related basic needs. The focus is always on community participation in forest resource development, management and conservation so that local ownership is experienced from the point of sustainability.

Past experience reveal that the forest user groups need practical training in forest management and development of operational plan for effective use and management of these resources for significant improvement in their livelihoods. In all aspects of these initiatives, the emphasis is always placed on sustainable use of natural resources.

In this regards, Federation of Community Forestry Users, Nepal (FECOFUN)- a national level organisation was established in 1995. The FECOFUN has a very important mission to develop self-reliant and institutionalised community forestry user groups in order to perform their roles and responsibilities more effectively. This is the only organisation representing all officially registered community forestry user groups as per the forest legislation. As per the FECOFUN’s report, out of the total community forestry user groups across the country, there are about 7,162 user groups officially affiliated with FECOFUN. And more interestingly, this trend is growing in the recent years.

It is a matter of fact that the FECOFUN has adopted the important ethic: "the right of people’s participation in policy formulation process, the basis for sustainable forest management." It has been able to advocate key issues of community forest, environment, and bio-diversity, particularly in community forestry related policies. As it is very clear that community forestry has significantly contributed to local and national economy, the role of the FECOFUN in conservation, proper utilisation of forests, environment and biodiversity seem to be very important these days.

This is worthwhile to mention that the FECOFUN has been initiating a number of support programmes to community forestry user groups in the country. In order to enhance women’s participation in the forest management, the FECOFUN has started a wide range of capacity building workshops and training to women user groups across the country in close coordination with its district chapters and district forest offices.

Apart from legal support, the leadership development and management training to community forestry user groups have been very effective. Such initiatives are very helpful in raising community awareness of forest conservation, sustainable use of natural resources and biodiversity for socio-economic development. Participatory workshops, meetings and training among local stakeholders are promoting income generating activities through proper utilisation of non-timber forest products.

In order to share and learn from the experiences in participatory forestry management, the FECOFUN is disseminating its activities, issues, challenges and opportunities to a larger audience and stakeholders in community forestry through radio programme, workshops, observation and study tours. Besides, its regular publications like informative posters, pamphlets, reports in community forestry are very useful to learn on wide range of issues related to community forestry in a broader perspective.

Major Drive

Community forestry is increasingly becoming a major drive in management of forest resources in the hills. It demands and advocates for active community participation, participatory planning, and sustainable use of community forest resources. It is one of the high priority programmes in the forest development that is also helping to decentralise resource decision making upto the village and community level. It has given rural people a resource base to fulfil the basic needs of forest products and hence offer opportunities to initiate income generation activities.

Water Pollution

By P. Gopakumar

AS summer sets in, scores of the people of the Kathmandu Valley are scrambling for water. But what is in water? Is it safe to consume? In what could be seen as a telling comment on the levels of water pollution in the city, both the Bagmati and the Bishnumati receive lions share of its pollutants (exact figures are not available) that traverse in the city. Unfortunately, we do not have even a single water treatment plant. What flows from the city is nothing but sewage. Water pollution is the biggest environment problem in the city. While other natural resources like air also have to be cleaned, there is no scarcity as such. However, the availability of water is very limited. There are very few sources of water in the city. Alarmingly, all the sources are getting increasingly polluted. The ground water in different parts of Kathmandu has different levels and types of contaminants. This could be a result of the polluted water of the rivers. The sub-soil aqua reserves in different parts of Kathmandu is unfit for drinking. Apart from these areas, some other parts also have excessively high levels of contaminants like nitrate, fluoride and salinity.

The fluoride concentration is high in areas which once raised brick kilns, garbage dumping, use of fertilizers, defecating in the open areas, animal waste and leaking septic tanks lead to excessive nitrate in ground water. The different pollutants have different effects on the people. A high fluoride contents leads to dental and skeletal fluorosis, bone deformation and other disorders. Excess nitrate is known to cause holes in heart, discolours the skin and impairs the digestive system. Saline water can cause an imbalance in the salt content of the body

A few simple tests are needed to find out. Installing a simple water filter may not be enough if the ground water has excess levels of fluorides, nitrates and salinity. People should first figure out their water treatment needs. Excessive nitrate, fluoride and salinity in the groundwater are the three main problems in the Valley’s water. While simple electronic filter just removes bacteriological and suspended particulate impurities, there specialised filters to tackle impurities in the ground water. In a normal water filter, there are three stages through which water passes. First dirt and suspended particles are removed. Then the water is passed through a carbon camber to remove the smell. Finally, with a ultra-violet lamp chamber, the bacterial presence in the water is deactivated. On the other hand, the filters for removing three other impurities – heavy metals and even fertiliser contents in the water – use the process of ‘reverse osmosis’ in which the water passes through five stages. First the water should be treated. Then in a pre-filter, big dust particles are removed. In the sediment filter the minutest particles are removed. In the reverse osmosis silver impregnated carbon portion, fluoride, nitrate and other impurities are removed. There are several different brands of such water filters are available in the city. They are priced between Rs. 15000 to Rs.25000 depending upon the capacity.