Letters (Spotlight Weekly)

Good Issue

Thank you very much bringing up one of the most important issues like flood as a cover story "FLOODS: Cost Of Disaster (SPOTLIGHT July 30)". I have been reading Spotlight through internet and I am enjoying reading articles on various contemporary issues. I don't know how many of readers back home read Spotlight and how much they impress about you. So far as the person like myself who have been living far away from country, the stories are interesting and views are objective. I hope your team will keep up the spirit.

- Nirmal Dhungana
Cape Town, South Africa

Issue of Concern

Your cover story this issue covered a very important issue of general concern "FLOODS: Cost Of Disaster (SPOTLIGHT July 30)". In fact, although it is a matter of general concern the mainstream media give it very little space. It seems such issues do not fall in their priorities. The readers are, in a way, tired of reading political news that are nothing more than the narrations of internal conflicts and worthless gossips. If the mainstream media are working for the general public they should focus on news materials that are of general concern like the one you presented. News items such as floods, agriculture, small sector business and production get very less coverage in the mainstream. While we say that Nepal is an agro-based country, issues of agriculture are mostly ignored by the media. In such a situation Spotlight has done a laudable job by giving due coverage to such issues.

- Rabin Khadka
Galfutar

Focus on Mitigation

The cover story clearly presented about the loss due to floods in Nepal since last few years "FLOODS: Cost Of Disaster (SPOTLIGHT July 30)". It shows that the loss due to floods is substantial while the efforts to mitigate the disaster have not been enough. It is true that nobody can avert the nature's wrath on mankind, but we can certainly mitigate the risks and disaster. For this the government should formulate appropriate policies and implement them efficiently. They should displace the settlements in and around the riverbanks and try to make dams in the rivers. Likewise, when floods occur, the victims should be rescued promptly and they should get compensation. After all the job of people in the government is not just to inaugurate and participate in different functions. Their primary job is to look after the people in need.

- Hari Shrestha
Gongabu

Flood Forecast Required

Apropos the story about flood forecast "FLOOD FORECAST: RESCUE DISORDER (SPOTLIGHT JULY 30)" I would like to suggest the government to immediately start the process of flood forecasting in order to save scores of human lives, live stocks and properties. As has been written in the story, flood forecasting is very feasible in places like Nepal and that the basic infrastructure is also already set up. At the initial stage the government could start the process by fully utilizing the available resources. Even the additional costs to improve the system does not seem so high compared to damage the disaster is causing. So, the government should work on this issue urgently.

Himal Sthapit
Patan

Sad Irony

It is an irony that while the food is decaying at the godowns of the government, people are dying of hunger in the remote districts of this country "FOOD SHORTAGE: Hunger Strikes (SPOTLIGHT July 30). In such situation, the government should have ferried food at the famine hit districts by any means. The lack of transportation cannot be made an excuse, because if the government can spend whopping amounts for buying bullets and other ammunitions, why cannot it spend to save the lives of people who are short of food. Not just that. It has been reported that there are foods stored in the godowns of those districts. The government officials are refusing to distribute those food materials saying that they are to be used for emergency purposes. What is beyond everyone's comprehension is when will the emergency come? Isn't it emergency when people are not getting enough food to eat??

- Sabita Shrestha
Anamnagar

Use More Electric Vehicles

You have given a hint of the great havoc Kathmanduites will face in a few decades in your article about the air pollution "BAN ON TWO STROKE VEHICLES: Follow Up Required (SPOTLIGHT July 30). If the number of people and the number of vehicles go on increasing in the same manner, soon the valley will be over-flooded and the available infrastructure, which is already stretched, will not be adequate. The pollution if not controlled and monitored in an efficient way, will ruin the health of the residents of the valley. All of us need to be very serious about the issue right from now, if we are to live healthy and save our descendants.

- Shreeya Basnet
Baluwatar