Street Festival brings memories of old days

By Bishnu Budhathoki

For three days of the Pokhara street festival from December 30 to January 1, hotels and restaurants in Pokhara had a field day. Almost all the hotels were full and restaurants were packed with local visitors. "Still, it was like old days," a visibly beaming hotelier said.

The street festival was the conclusion of the 4-month-long Festive Pokhara - forerunner to the year-long 'Jaun Hai Pokhara'. The tree-day street festival left a positive symptom for the tourism entrepreneurs.

Earlier, hoteliers and other tourism entrepreneurs used to neglect local customers with their eyes mainly focussed on foreign tourists, but in recent days with the flow of foreign tourists left to a trickle, tourism entrepreneurs have started seeing domestic visitors as the saviour to the beleaguered tourism industry in Pokhara. The arrival of foreign tourists to Pokhara has declined by 70 to 80 per cent.

It was only after they reached to morbid condition their attention and attitude has changed, and they have started attracting Nepali tourists to survive the 'winter' of Nepalese tourism.

Hoteliers located around the Lake Side, the prime tourist destination, have started to provide better service to their Nepali clients.

Hari Prasad Gurung, Regional Chairman of Hotel Association of Nepal, and proprietor of Hotel Hungry Hai, told The Rising Nepal that the overall security situation needs to improve for the tourism industry to survive. "Unless that is done and the image of a peaceful destination is restored, programmes only will not bring in the tourists," he said.

However, he accepted that the street festival and the 'Jaun Hai Pokhara' (Let's go to Pokhara) could help to buffer the situation before the industry revives.

Elaborating the 'Jaun Hai Pokhara', Gurung said that there will be a week-long special programme at the end of this month in different parts of the country like Kathmandu, Birgunj, Dharan and Biratnagar.
According to Gurung, a joint team of tourism entrepreneurs, the Nepal Tourism Board and other business entrepreneurs will organise an exhibition at Bhrikutimandap of Kathmandu from January 31 and February 1.

The exhibition will have art and handicraft exhibition, folk song and dance programme, food festival including special cuisine of potato and Sukuti (dried meat), and dohori geet competition.

Daman awaits to be discovered

By Bishnu Prasad Aryal

They say places not visited are more beautiful than those visited frequently. But there are places, which do not satiate the longing even after repeated visits. One of those places is Daman, 75 kilometres south of Kathmandu.

Situated at 2,488 metre along the winding Tribhuvan Raj Path, the first road to link Kathmandu with Terai, Daman re-beckons every visitor by gorgeousness and dozing off scene. No one can remain untouched by its enchanting beauty.

Daman (Simbhanjyang) lies is the highest point of the old Tribhuvan Raj Path; and the Makawanpur district, where it lies, itself is exceptional in terms of geographical and ethnological conundrum with historical, religious and tourism sites scattered all over the district.

Squeezed between the vastness of the Mahabharat range to the north and the plains of the Terai to the south, Makawanpur is home to nearly 400,000 people whose languages and customs are as diverse as its terrain.

Within a few hours distance one can enjoy the majestic view of the lovely Himalayan ranges then descend to the plains to ride elephant through the sub-tropical jungles and to look at the tigers.

There is a view tower at Daman, and with binoculars one can view the Himalayan in 180 degrees. One can see the eight highest peaks of the Nepalese Himalayas including Mt. Everest on the north and on the south it is the Gangetic plains. It is also famous for its bio-diversity and for its geological settings.
On its ground, it is the enraptured view of snowfall amid the serenity of pine trees that attracts visitors. Besides, the availability of several exotic species of plant made the government to declare this place as a 'mountain botanical garden' on the occasion of the International Mountain Year 2002.

Orchids in varied colours and patterns are abundantly available. No doubt Daman overlaps the whole Mahabharat range of the district in terms of the possession of the flora. Moreover, the area is also famous for several species of rhododendron. According to a research, Daman is home to 175, out of 350 species of rhododendron found in Nepal. For the types of orchids found here, this place can be called as an orchid library.

The view tower, called as Human Rights Tower, built at nearby Simbhanjyang, is the highest point on the Tribhuvan Highway. The two-storied tower is the first of its kind in Nepal. There is also a resort - Panorama Resort - where travelers can make a stopover for a few hours for some bites or for the night to experience the serenity it offers and to have the magnificent view of sunrise on the Himalayas. From the tower one can have the majestic view of Mount Everest, Annapurna and Dhawalagiri ranges, including five others.

The district is a veritable mosaic of several ethnic groups with their own unique languages, cultures and religions. Tamangs, one of the indigenous races, form the majority of the population. It is also famous for 'Chyobang' or 'Chepang', who still lead a primitive lifestyle, and the disadvantaged 'Bankariya' tribe. It is said that Bankariya is on the verge of extinction and is found only in Makawanpur. Nevertheless, the ethnic elements as diverse as its landscape, Brahmins and Chhetri have traditionally played an important role in the society, dominating the orthodox Hindu caste system.

Besides, historical places such as Chaittya Lwham, a stupa of the Ashoka era, which is considered to be of the 6th century, Hattisar Bhimphedi, (Elephant shed), the rich stone architecture at Makawanpur Gadhi, and historical places like Chisapani Gadhi and Kalitop are other attractions of the district.

On the natural side, there are Parsa Wildlife Reserve; Martyr's Memorial Park; and Indra Sarovar (Lake) where angling of rainbow trout is found.

39,388 manpower produced from TU this year

RSS

KIRTIPUR, Jan. 6: Tribhuvan University produced a total manpower of 39,388 in the fiscal year 2001/02.

In the technical area, the university this year produced a manpower of 666 under the Institute of Engineering, 175 under Agriculture and Animal Sciences, 504 under the Institute of Medicine, 164 under Institute of Forest Sciences, and 4,190 under the Institute of Science and Technology.

Likewise, under the Department of Law, the university produced 1,245 and 12,926 in Management, 4,462 in Education and 15,056 in Humanities and Social Sciences.

Seventeen persons earned doctorate degrees from the Tribhuvan University this year.

This is mentioned in the 42nd annual report of the university presented at the general meeting of the university senate held here today under the chairmanship of the university's Pro-Chancellor and Minister for Education and Sports Devi Prasad Ojha.

The number of students studying under Tribhuvan University this year reached 142,924 which is 70 per cent of the total number of students receiving higher education in the country.

The total number of technical and general colleges affiliated to the university has reached 191, says the report.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister Ojha said there is no need for any government to hesitate in assisting or granting aid to Tribhuvan University which has been playing a very important role in producing manpower for the nation.

Vice-Chancellor Naveen Prakash Jung Shaha pointed out the need to run programmes taking into consideration the challenges and demands of the 21st century.

Nepal-India agree to build Tanakpur-Mahendranagar link road

RSS

KATHMANDU, Jan. 6: An agreement was concluded today between the government of India and His Majesty's Government regarding construction of an all-weather link road connecting the Tanakpur Barrage with the East-West Highway at Mahendranagar in Nepal.

The Tanakpur-Mahendranagar link road project costing 475 million rupees, will be taken up and completed under 100 per cent grant assistance from the government of India.

The project is likely to be completed in two years.

This road project is an obligation accepted by the government of Inida as contained in the exchange of letters between the Prime Ministers of the two countries on February 12, 1996, which accompanied the signing of the Mahakali Treaty between Nepal and India, according to a press release from the Indian Embassy.

The Tanakpur-Mahendranagar link road will traverse a distance of 13.365 kms.

The design of the road provides for vehicular speeds of 80-100 kms per hour.

The roadway width will be 10 meters, out of which the carriageway with two lanes will be 7 meters wide.

Three major bridges having a total length of 277 meters have been proposed across three rivers along the alignment, and 15 minor bridges having a total length of 190 meters have been proposed for crossing local streams.

Adequate provision for surface drainage and cross drainage has been made, particularly in view of the foothill character of the project area.

One major intersection at the end of the link road where it meets the East-West Highway and 14 minor junctions for cross-roads have also been planned.

The Tanakpur-Mahendranagar link road will enable people living in the Far-Western Region of Nepal to easily reach Tanakpur, which is well connected by roads to Pithoragarh, Khatima, Sitarganj, Haldwani, Rudrapur, Nainital and Almora towns in the Kumaun region of Uttaranchal, India.

It also provides easy access to important towns such as Rampur, Moradabad and Bareilly in the Rohilkhand region of the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh.

Completion of this road will give a much needed fillip to trade and industry in the Far-Western Region of Nepal, it is further stated.

Police, millers alleged of smuggling sisau trees

RSS

BIRGUNJ, Jan. 6: Sisau trees grown at the sides of Narayani Irrigation Project canal are being illegally felled and exported to India for some years.

Indian timber smugglers often in assistance of police administration itself take away the timbers across the border at night time by animal-pulled carts and tractors, the local eyewitnesses said.

Moreover, even the saw-mills which are selected for the sawing and cutting of timber by the government are involved in illegal export assisted by few locals who receive financial allurement from the millers, the locals say.

The sisau trees were planted in a wide range in the year 2040/41 B.S. under the Terai Community Forest Development Programme.

The sisau trees have been grown in a total area of 37,400 hectares along the project canal which runs through different parts of Bara, Parsa and Rautahat districts.

However, fixed data cannot be found on how many trees were felled and how many are still growing.

The responsibility of conserving the trees and planting more saplings was handed over by the local community users' groups who could use up only the fallen and dried trees under the water resources act and irrigation regulation.

A three member district level committee including irrigation chief, assistant CDO and representative from among the users was constituted to regulate and inspect the local community groups but the concerned officials expressed their ignorance over the matter.

Some 51 officials and employees have been appointed for the conservation work of the security of the trees but they alone are not sufficient, said the chief of Narayani Irrigation Project.

The trees should be preserved not only because of the economic benefit they provide but also for the promotion of environment and the conservation of the soil and sides of the canal, he further said.

The responsibility of promoting and conserving such trees, which are good source of national economy, should not be limited to irrigation project alone but should be borne by forest offices, local administration, police and security bodies and local political workers as well, he said.

Long absence of officials troubles people in Dolakha

By Our Correspondent

DOLAKHA, Jan. 6: Owing to the absence of Chief District Officer (CDO) and assistant CDO, administrative works in the district headquarters of Charikot have remained at a standstill.

Administrative works are pending since many weeks. People coming to district headquarters for citizenships and passports have returned home sad and desperate.

It is paradoxical with government's commitments that it will reward and punish its servants depending on their deeds. But, no such punishment and reward are recorded. Many people in the district are deprived of citizenships and passports, says Shiba Prasad Bhandari, former deputy president of district development committee.

"The government has failed to address people's aspirations as per its commitment," added Bhandari.

People worry over tiresome waiting for minor administrative works in the district headquarters. It is almost futile to talk about these things at a time when there is no guarantee of security and other organs of society have been paralyzed, Bhandari added.

"People make certificate from villages for citizenship. They go to district headquarters, and wait for many days for CDO and return home empty handed and all the money spent for nothing. This has been a regular phenomenon here," says Nara Bahadur Shrestha of Bhenu VDC. He said that his job now has become more challenging even the tenure of local body has expired already.

CDO Dayaram Sharma was transferred while he was in leave and assistant CDO Ramkaji Khanal has been posted to another district, Shrestha added. The Ministry of Home Affairs however was informed about the development, has not sent officials for these vacant posts, says acting CDO Bisheshwor Dhakal.

The District Administrative Office (DAO) used to distribute 30 citizenships and 15 passports a day in average. Now, hundreds of people are deprived of getting citizenship certificates and passports, says Upendra Shrestha, a junior officer at the DAO.

Tourism priority area, says Shrestha

RSS

LALITPUR, Jan. 6: Assistant Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Ravi Bhakta Shrestha has said that the present government has given priority for the development of tourism in the country.

Inaugurating the 23rd annual general meeting of Lalitpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry here today he said the government is ready to work with the private sector to improve the situation of the commerce and industry in the country.

The government is trying to maintain the environment of peace at a time when the tourists arrival has decreased by about 28 percent in 2002, he said.

The address of His Majesty the King at the civic reception function held in Biratnagar is very relevant, significant and reflects the reality of the country, Shrestha said.

Acting president of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Binod Bahadur Shrestha said only the slogan of Export Year 2003 has no any meaning unless the government pay proper attention for the effective implementation of this slogan.

The function was held under the chairmanship of chairman of the FNCCI Lalitpur Kedar Lal Khosi.