NATIONAL 5 (Spotlight Weekly)]

More But Not Merrier

The preliminary results of Census 2001 show Nepal's population expanding by almost five million in the last decade

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

Nepal has become richer by almost five million people in the last decade. That also means the country has become more crowded.

However, bigger is not always better and more may not be always merrier. Especially when it is the population that is getting bigger and in a country with geographic terrain that limits the expansion of agriculture.

A scene a crowd : Burgeoning population

Although previous theories emphasizing the negative aspects of the population growth are fast giving way to the recent experiences that have established that prudently harnessed human resources could be the most important factor for economic growth, for a land-locked and hill-topped country like Nepal, the increase in the number of mouths to feed may not be desirable.

The preliminary results of the Census 2001 show that from the population of 18.49 million in 1991 (18,491,097 to be exact), it has reached 23.21 million in 2001 (23,214,681). The rate of population growth is said to be 2.27 percent, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). The bureau had undertaken a headcount across the country in June.

The preliminary results fixed the number of males at 11,587,547 and that of females at 11,627,134. Nepal has 40,000 more females than males. Ten years ago, the number of females was greater by almost 50,000.

About 20,000 enumerators had collected data for the Tenth Census 2001. "Although our program was affected by the unfortunate incident in the royal palace, we completed it successfully," said S.M.N. Suhani, the acting director-general of the CBS. According to him, the final report of the Census 2001 will be made public after four months.

The preliminary report showed that 14.2 percent of the total population live in urban areas. It also indicated that the population growth rate in the plains (Terai) has increased rapidly compared to the same in hilly and mountainous regions.

One reason why the rapid increase in the Nepal's population is not desirable is its geographic structure. About 68 percent of the country's area is taken up by hills, 15 percent by mountains, leaving 17 percent of the landmass as plains. As the hills and mountains are sparsely inhabited, it is the plains that feels the pressure of any population increase.

The plains of Nepal are considered its agricultural powerhouse. The expansion of human habitation in the plains, therefore, leads to a corresponding cut-down in the area used for agricultural production, which still is the mainstay of Nepalese economy.

According to the preliminary report, the district with the largest population is Kathmandu. The capital city has a little over one million (1, 093, 414) people. Manang district is at the other end of the population spectrum. It is the most sparsely populated place with only 9,494 people. Other districts including Mustang, Dolpa, Humla and Mugu also have sparse population.

Most districts in the Terai have large populations. Morang (843,548) is in second place after Kathmandu followed by Rupandehi, Jhapa and Sunsari districts.

The central region, expectedly, has the lion's share of country's population. It occupies 33.90 percent of total population followed by the eastern region with 23.10 percent, western region with 20.40 percent and mid-western region with 13.10 percent. The far western region has the least share of population with less than 10 percent of people living there.

Although the CBS has only produced preliminary results of the Census 2001, it indicates that the government has not been able to check the disproportionate growth of population. A lot remains to be done in achieving balanced and equitable growth, especially in view of skewed population distribution the report portrays.