Highway at the mercy of Almighty!

Late Tony Hagen had rightly said of Nepal that this country as a matter of fact did not need a Planning Commission as such. The authority on Nepal must have said so upon concluding that nothing of the sort of a planning for the development of the country could be charted out here in this country for observable reasons. He should have concluded this only after studying thoroughly the functioning style(s) of our men in the control of state and albeit at the Planning Commission which is definitely ad nauseating and continues to be so. Thanks the men at the Planning Commission that Tony Hagen had to come into a forced determination. The gist is that Nepal is a country where there in no planning and hence no need of a commission.

Had there been a planning then the men at the Commission and the men at Singhdurbar must have exhibited their strong desire to give a facelift to the road that is not only in a dilapidated condition but has already become infamous for its intermittent accidents thus taking lives of hundreds of the people of the country. Instances are numerous which reveal that this High Way, the way leading from Kathmandu to Narayan Ghat and back to Kathmandu, well within these seven months of the last monsoon deluge has not only taken scores of human lives but has also consumed hundreds of passenger buses and trucks alike due to the worse road conditions. This road is the single opening to the districts outside the valley and persons travelling by this road find no other alternatives other than to use this completely bruised road at least from Mugling to Narayan Ghat.

Shame on those who had begun talking of the speedy construction of its alternative soon immediately after they too felt the need that this road needed urgent attention prior to the upcoming monsoon. Shame on those who did talk about it but forgot the whole affair for their own personal political reasons. Shame on those public leaders, in the opposition, who too have observed the inferior condition of this Highway but for reasons unknown to us all favor not to press the government in this regard. Instead, the men in the opposition have their own political drums to beat that thoroughly neglects the plight of the commuters in thousands and thousands who are forced to use this life-taking roads.

The fact is that the thundershower is approaching and there are no marks as of today of any government intendment to begin works in this sector. This means that if the road were not treated on time would mean that several kilometers of whatever is left of the road will have immersed in water or washed up by the impending downpour.

Thanks the intrepid drivers taking up the steering have so far been able to minimize the fatal accidents.

Talks of the need for the speedy construction of a Bagmati corridor highway linking Kathmandu to the Terai in Sarlahi district and the talks of joining Kathmandu with Hetaunda through a tunnel had come into the open. However, the men who initiated such talks have become silent since then for unknown reasons.

Bad politics breeds bad politicians. Bad politicians provide space for the prevalence of polluted politics. A polluted politics is what we have today, politely speaking. Who is polluting the politics day in day out is any body’s guess. We have only become the tools of the bad politicians. Good or bad, we have to live with these politicians.

Shame on the politicians in power. Shame on the politicians not in power.

Thanks Colombo!

The Nepal-SAARC Journalists’ Forum proudly declares that on the Forum’s official request, the government in Colombo provided a few scholarships to the Nepali students on a course on journalism. The government in Colombo deserves our deep appreciation in having been able to initiate a sort of link in between the Nepali journalists with their counterparts in Sri Lanka.

In fact, one has to admire the efforts of former Sri Lankan Ambassador Ms. Pamela J Deen who did in effect got the scholarship approved from her government in Colombo but for internal reasons apparently, the Nepalese students could not be invited in the year 2002. However, thanks to the incumbent Sri Lankan Ambassador, Ms. Grace Ashirwatham’s untiring efforts that the scholarship came into effect and the fact is that a sizeable number of Nepali journalists have already returned Kathmandu upon completion of their one-month long study in Colombo.

Needless to say, such interactions in between the media men of the two countries does contribute in enhancing bilateral relations. The media men who have just come back from Colombo enriching their brains in the sector of journalism have told us that the standard of the lectures provided to them in Colombo by media experts was simply superb. Understandably, journalism in Colombo stands at a very very matured level and hence what lessons our fellow media men received there will in more ways than one would contribute to the enhancement of Nepali journalism.

The Nepal-SAARC Journalists’ Forum wishes to thank the government in Colombo through its diplomatic mission in Kathmandu and hopes that such opportunities would be provided to the Nepalese media men in the future as well. By the same token, the Forum appeals the rest of the SAARC member States having diplomatic representation in Kathmandu to follow the Sri Lanka suit and train Nepali journalists to attain a new height wherein we have been lagging far behind, comparatively speaking.

The Forum would finally wish to thank the Sri Lankan envoy and her colleagues at the mission for their kind support they provided to our media men who got an excellent opportunity not only to take advanced lessons on media but also brought back to Kathmandu the sweet memories of the Sri Lankan hospitality they were accorded while being in Colombo for a month plus.

Headline | National | 5 Question  | 2nd Impression | International | Letter | Past