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Come Nov 20, Nepali voters will elect their representatives to the federal parliament and seven provincial assemblies. Political parties and candidates are out campaigning. But it appears as though the electioneering is gaining momentum only for the federal parliament. Elections to the seven provincial assemblies seem to have been overshadowed by the typical campaigning razzmatazz for federal polls. The constitution envisions three tiers of government, so what goes on in provinces are equally important for voters.

Considering this importance, ApEx recently organized a roundtable with four independent youth candidates contesting for provincial assembly seats to find out about their election agendas. Excerpts. 

Robust provinces for a prosperous country

Jagannath Lamichhane, Kathmandu 5 (2)

Our political leadership has made the provinces a place to install their cadres. This suggests that they are against federalism. This has set a negative narrative regarding the provinces among the public and has kept the provincial assemblies and elections in shadows. But we must realize that, in federalism, there will be no local levels without provinces as all the three tiers of government are interrelated. Bagmati province generates almost 40 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and around 90 percent of total investment goes to this province.

Being such an important province, it could be a center for the country’s economic development.  So it is necessary to develop a culture of identifying and implementing development plans based on the suggestions of experts, rather than political parties.  As an independent, I am campaigning with the agendas of minimum living cost, affordable housing, inflation control, community center (with public library, café, mental health, career counseling, etc.), sustainable urban development, and digitalization.

Women’s participation key to institutionalizing federalism 

Sabita Maharjan, Lalitpur 3 (1)

Even if our constitution has mandated 33 percent women’s participation in each sector, this has not been implemented in a real sense. In the federal parliament, there are a few female lawmakers, but in the provinces, I have not seen anyone. This is one of the reasons why I decided to contest the provincial election.  Although Nepal is said to have made significant progress in terms of political and socio-economic aspects, a common Nepali person hasn’t been able to taste and experience these achievements. This is because we have yet to institutionalize federalism. In a well-functioning federalism, the general people can see the progress around them, as all levels of government are connected. I strongly believe that women’s participation is a must to institutionalize federalism and bring about real change. 

My constituency has many problems that I have identified. There are issues with drinking water, sewage management, social security fund, agriculture, etc. but nobody has shown the commitment to resolve these problems. But if I were to be elected, I would take the necessary steps to deal with these problems.  I have been involved in social work and empowerment of single women for more than a decade. I believe that my work experience will help me connect with the issues that need addressing.  

Will set an example of what provincial assembly member should be like

Sasmit Pokharel, Kathmandu 5 (1)

A change in the system is a great deal for a country. But we Nepalis have the tendency of easily accepting a political change. We accepted federalism but the political parties took it for granted. Today, it seems like the parties themselves don’t want federalism.  In the Bagmati assembly, there are 110 members, and three of them have served as the chief minister and almost 60 as ministers. The same case applies with other provinces. There has been no political stability at all.    If the political parties continue these types of practices, why should Nepalis believe them? 

So my argument is if a few independent candidates were to be elected in provinces, we could become examples of what real lawmakers should be like. My presence in the provincial assembly will ensure public discussion, public decisions, good governance, meritocracy, integrity, and transparency. I believe in teamwork. I will also forward a concept of provincial universities, as a large number of Nepali students are going abroad because we lack decent educational institutions. As a provincial assembly member, I will also focus on health insurance, digitization of services and promotion of art and culture. 

Will build youth-focused entrepreneurial province

Suraj Raj Pandey, Kathmandu 1 (2)

Our constitution has ensured a check and balance among all three tires of government. But what our politicians have been doing is fooling Nepalis by recruiting their puppets in provincial assemblies. There is no political discipline, no programs or policies for development. Every sector is paralyzed as a result.  I am an entrepreneur and I have no working environment in this country. So why will I stay here and struggle for no reason? This is the voice of present youths. Nearly 90 percent of my friends have left Nepal. The problem of brain drain is real, but no politician acknowledges it, let alone tries to address it. We can’t make a prosperous country by relying on remittance.  If I get elected, my first focus will be to create a youth-friendly entrepreneurial environment in Bagmati province. For better educational activities, my concern will be in the promotion of skillful education and the betterment of community schools.  

Nepal is a young country and it needs a government led by youths. So my objective will be to encourage youth engagement and participation in all sectors. My other priorities will be creating jobs, addressing the problem of drug abuse among youths, affordable healthcare and working closely with the Kathmandu Metropolitan City to find sustainable solutions for parking, waste management.

Constitutional provisions for provincial assemblies 

The main functions of the provincial assembly are to form the government, make provincial laws, monitor the activities of the provincial government, and discuss provincial public affairs issues in the assembly meeting. According to the provisions of Part 13 (Provincial Executive), Part 14 (Provincial Legislature), Part 15 (Provincial Management Procedures), and Part 16 (Provisions on Economic Procedures) of the constitution, the Provincial Assembly has to enact the following laws related to:

• Determining the language of state government work
• Grants received from the Government of Nepal and financial normalization grants to subordinate local bodies from their own revenue
• Establishment of judicial bodies at the local level
• Work, duties and powers, and other conditions of service of the advocate general
• Certification of authority in the name of the head of state and the decision or order of the state government
• Remuneration and facilities and oath of the chief minister and the cabinet 
• Provincial government work division and work execution regulations 
• Extension of term of the provincial assembly
• Privileges of provincial assemblies
• Rules of the provincial assembly
• Service conditions of the provincial assembly secretariat, secretaries, and employees
• Remuneration and benefits of the speaker, deputy speaker, and members of the assembly
• Provincial contingency fund 
• Provincial financial procedures
• Operation of the district assembly, the facilities of the members of the DCC
• Procedure for making laws of rural municipal assemblies and municipal assemblies
• Other provisions of rural municipal assemblies and municipal assemblies
• Equal protection, treatment, and facilities accorded to residents of another state in their own state
• Procedures for resolving political disputes between local levels and provinces 
• Work, duties, and rights of provincial public service commission, police, and government services 

Source: Constitution of Nepal 2015

The Nov 20 election is less than two weeks away. Candidates contesting the elections—ranging from 22 to 99 years old—are on door-to-door campaigns to bring voters on their side. Unlike previous parliamentary elections, this time there are a lot of independent candidates. Top political honchos find themselves pitted against new, aspiring leaders.

Here are three such independent youths who are competing against the former prime ministers.   

Rahul Kumar Mishra, Rautahat-1

A 25-year-old engineer Rahul Kumar Mishra filed his candidacy for federal election from Rautahat-1. The chairman of CPN (Unified Socialist) Madhav Kumar Nepal is also contesting the election from the same constituency. Rautahat is the hometown of independent candidate Mishra while Nepal has also contested elections from Rautahat several times. In the last election, Nepal won from Kathmandu-2.

Mishra has an engineering degree from the Thapathali Engineering Campus in Kathmandu where he was president of the Nepal-Tarai student union. He is also a co-founder and vice-president of CharitAble, a group of youths working to promote practical education while encouraging youths on environmental sanitation, waste management, and carbon control.  His major agenda is to make Rautahat an exemplary town in the Madhes by providing better education. He envisions facilitating community schools so that people don’t have to pay expensive fees at private schools. Mishra also wants to establish good educational institutions in Rautahat so that youths don’t have to go abroad for education and employment.   

Sagar Dhakal, Dadheldhura-1

Independent candidate Sagar Dhakal is 31 years old. He is a hydro-mechanical engineer graduate from Pulchowk Engineering Campus in Lalitpur. He also has a policy and management degree from Oxford University. Dhakal says he got involved in politics after thinking about how Nepal can be developed in the next 50 years. Though his hometown is Gulmi, he is contesting parliamentary elections from Dadhedhura-1. He says he has seen more problems in the district of Nepali Congress President and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba than in his own district. I

n 2017, Dhakal came into the limelight after a heated exchange with Deuba on live TV. He says that people under 40 should run the country. His electoral slogan is ‘Direct leadership of the youth, advice of parents, respect and rest for the grandparents’—meaning youths like him should run the country and second-generation political leaders should have an advisory role while Deuba, Oli, Dahal, and the others should now rest.

Yug Pathak, Jhapa-5

Yug Pathak, 44, is a writer, journalist, and political commentator. He filed his candidacy for the federal election from Jhapa-5, hometown of former Prime Minister and Chairman of CPN-UML KP Oli. Pathak was born and brought up in Makawanpur but he chose Jhapa for the election which he calls ‘Oozelution Movement’, a campaign against Oli. Pathak was also a leader of the civil society movement ‘Brihat Nagarik Aandolan’ whose aim was to fight against the unconstitutional move to dissolve the parliament by then Prime Minister Oli. He is a scholar of English literature. Two of his famous books are ‘Mangena’ and ‘Urgen Ko Ghoda’.

‘Mangena’ questions the ideologies that have been institutionalized since the Panchayat period. The book’s basic argument is that old ideologies should be discarded and new concepts should be developed to recognize and understand the current Nepali society.

Nepal has set four main agendas to present at the COP27 that takes place in Egypt later this week.  Climate change adaptation and reduction, climate finance, specific issues of mountain region, and financing for climate losses and damages will be the priorities, according to the Oct 23 media briefing by the Ministry of Forest and Environment.

The government has also released a press note on its intent to call for a global pledge on dedicated financial facilities for loss and damage caused by climate change and locally led adaptation principles. In last year’s climate conference, Nepal had submitted a research report on loss and damage attributed to climate change. 

“Relying on that document, we have framed our issues and will prioritize them,” says Megh Nath Kafle, spokesperson at the ministry. Nepal has been demanding $50bn annually as climate finance. To date, there is no exact figure as to how much funds Nepal has been getting as climate finance. Kafle says climate finance is a cross-cutting issue, where many areas overlap and interlink.  “There are no clear stats on how much we are getting in climate finance. The ministry is planning to maintain real data so that we can claim our share of climate finance.”

During the COP26 held in Scotland, Nepal announced to remain cumulatively ‘net zero carbon’ from 2022-2045 and become carbon negative after that, halt deforestation and increase forest cover to 45 percent by 2030, and ensure all vulnerable people are protected from climate change by 2030. 

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba also urged world leaders to recognize specific climate vulnerability of the high mountains and prioritize the mountain agenda in all climate-related negotiations. He said that keeping global temperature rise to below 1.5° Celsius was vital for the mountain people.

Madhukar Upadhya, an environmentalist and climate change expert, says Nepal’s commitments and appeals for climate action on international platforms are irrelevant.  “The likes of Pakistan and Bangladesh have been much more effective in highlighting their plight in international climate forums than Nepal,” he adds. “Those countries too have internal political conflict, yet they lead the international platforms like COP.”

According to the reports presented by the Nepal government, melting glaciers, erratic and unpredictable weather conditions, changing rainfall patterns, and increasing temperatures are impacting Nepalis.  But the government has failed to draw the attention of global communities on these issues.  Nepal has been raising its climate-related issue through the group of Least Developed Countries (LDC) on climate change. The group comprises 46 countries that are especially vulnerable to climate change but have contributed the least to the phenomena.

Nepal is also a member of the G-77 group on climate change issues. Climate experts like Upadhya are of the view that Nepal’s climate diplomacy through the LDC group and G-77 is not yielding results. Instead of only relying on these platforms, they recommend that Nepal take the initiative to lead the mountain agenda by bringing all mountainous countries.

Nepal’s climate agenda COP22 (Morocco, 2016)

• Informed that Nepal ratified Paris Agreement 
• Associated with the statements made by Thailand on behalf of G77 and China and Congo on behalf of the Least Developed Countries
• Informed that the government prioritizes accessing and managing climate finance, upscaling of renewable energy, building adaptive capacity and resilience and implementing mitigation actions to achieve sustainable development goals
• Over 80 percent of the climate finance to local level with a dedicated climate change budget code

COP23 (Germany, 2017)

• Urged the global leaders to implement key areas of Paris Agreement
• Sought funding support from the global community while also urged to raise relevant funding and support for calamity-vulnerable countries
• Sought developed countries’ contribution of $100bn per year by 2020 as agreed upon during the Paris COP21
• Raised questions on adaptation, mitigation measures, means of implementation and cross-cutting agendas like climate and gender

COP24 (Poland, 2018)

• Reported the good practices that has been carrying out to support the economic status of the local people affected by climate change as well as in the areas directly related to their livelihoods such as protection of forests, soil conservation, water management, agriculture, fruit cultivation, and livestock farming
• Raised the issues that will contribute to the concept of ‘Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali’ that the government had brought
• Highlighted the adverse impact of climate change on the economy of the Himalayan region as well as relating this to the marine economy
• Pursued issues related to agriculture, biodiversity, development infrastructure, and technology transfer among other topics

COP25 (Spain, 2019)

• Prioritized three areas considering the unique needs and circumstances of the fragile mountainous region: climate finance, technology transfer, and sharing of best practices
• Encouraged the parties to come up with ambitious NDCs by 2020 in both adaptation and mitigation measures so that the objectives of the Paris Agreement can be achieved by the stipulated time
• Engaged in discussions of loss and damage, technology development and transfer, transparency, capacity building, climate finance, as well as formal and informal networks
• Requested to implement Article 6 of Paris Agreement with the assurance that financing will be provided and technology transfers will occur to benefit the least developing countries (LDCs), to make them more climate-resilient

COP26 (Scotland, 2021)

• Called for recognizing the mountains’ climate vulnerability highlighting that around 80 percent of Nepal’s population is at risk from natural and climate-induced hazards and in the last 40 years, natural disasters have caused close to $6bn in physical and economic damage in Nepal alone
• Announced that emit ‘no net’ carbon between 2022 and 2045 and become carbon negative after
• Committed to halt deforestation and increase forest cover to 45 percent by 2030
• Urged the parties to agree on a clear roadmap for a new collective, quantified and ambitious goal on climate finance before 2025

Ropeways are an ideal means of human and goods transport in Nepal, a country filled with rugged mountains and hills. In fact, installing ropeways is six times cheaper than building roads. The 42-km Hetauda-Kathmandu Ropeway, for instance, cost half as much as the Tribhuvan Highway on the same route to build. Studies suggest Nepal could have up to 2,000 ropeways and feasibility studies have been completed on 62 of them. But only five ropeways for human transport and almost a dozen gravity goods ropeways are in operation in the country.

The 22-km-long Tri Chandra Nepal Tara Ropeway came into operation in 1927, and it is believed to be one of the first ropeways in the whole of South Asia. But despite being a ropeway pioneer country in the region, Nepal’s infrastructure development has largely revolved around building roads. What if ropeways were the major means of transport in Nepal? We have to see the economic, environmental and social aspects, says Dipak Gyawali, former water resource minister. “Being six times cheaper than building roads, ropeway, for one, would have helped significantly to minimize national expenses.”  

But neither the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport nor the National Planning Commission (NPC) has any plans and policies for ropeways. Chandra Mani Adhikari, economist and former NPC member, says ropeway development is certainly food for thought.  “Even with the saving of 10 percent fuel, there will be a national saving of Rs 20bn,” says Adhikari. “This is important, given that Nepal imports almost Rs 200bn worth of fuel a year.” As the major goods carrying ropeways got abandoned post-2000, there is no real data on how they would have performed.

But until they were in operation, they had shown promising results. For instance, the rate fixed by the government for goods transported by the Nepal Tara Ropeway was Rs 346.80 per ton against Rs 480 charged by trucks.  Provided there were sufficient goods to transport, ropeway shutdown for even a single day resulted in a revenue loss of Rs 53,407, contends Shyam Sundar Shrestha in the book ‘Ropeways in Nepal’ by Dipak Gyawali, Ajaya Dixit, and Madhukar Upadhya. Another case for the ropeway is that of Himal Hydro Project. It had three ropeways—Andhi Khola, Jhimruk and Khitmi—for transporting goods and raw materials.

The cost of hauling goods by Andhi Khola Ropeway was compared against the road, porter and mule transports by Resham Raj Dhakal, whose outcome has been published in the same book.  It states that to gain 250 meters in elevation for every 1,200 meters would have required constructing three kilometers of road, which, at the prevailing prices for hill terrain, would have cost about Rs 30m. A second choice was to hire porters at an expensive cost of about two to three rupees per kilogram. Mules were available at rates up to Rs 1.5 per kilogram. 

Considering the depreciation of the ropeway system and its equipment as well as the interest on borrowed capital (20 percent depreciation and 15 percent interest), the annual capital cost of the ropeway was estimated to be about Rs 805,000 (0.35×2.3m). The annual operation and maintenance costs of the ropeway system came to Rs 110,000 a year. In a year, the ropeway transported 1,300 tons of materials at the cost of Rs 704 per ton. This was three times less expensive than what porters would have charged. There are also environmental and social benefits to prioritizing ropeways over roads, particularly in a country like Nepal made largely of hill and mountain terrains. 

Landslides and erosion are regular occurrences in the hill and mountain districts of Nepal. These events have been exacerbated by unplanned development projects, where large swathes of forest covers are denuded.     During this Dashain festival alone, over 20 people died and properties worth millions were damaged or destroyed as a result of landslides. Rastriya Samachar Samiti, the state news agency, reported the death of seven members of a family in an incessant rainfall-triggered landslide that buried their house at Barkotebada, Kanaksundari Rural Municipality-5, Jumla, on October 8.The rainfall also blocked and damaged roads in many places in the highland district.

Government data suggest that, on an average, 2,500 people are killed in road accidents every year while thousands of others are injured. Globally, Nepal is among the countries with highest death rates caused by road accidents. These road accidents not only affect the families, but they also have a bad impact on the national economy. “If we had adopted ropeways, these disasters and fatalities would have been minimized,” says Gyawali.  Besides causing disasters and fatalities, unplanned development projects are also damaging our environment in general, says Bhushan Tuladhar, clean energy campaigner.  “Our constitution mentions a clean environment as a fundamental right of citizens. Yet, international studies show that every year approximately 42,000 Nepalis die from air pollution,” says Tuladhar. “So yes, ropeways would have been a good idea.”

Tihar is incomplete without sayapatri (marigold), makhamali (globe amaranth), and godavari (chrysanthemum). The Floriculture Association of Nepal (FAN) suggests around 2.45m garlands (usually a meter long) will be sold in the market this Tihar. Of them, around 2m will be sayapatri, 0.42m makhamali, and the remaining are godavari. Last year, around 1.85m garlands (1.5m sayapatri) were sold.

Demand for flowers increases by around 15 percent every year in Nepal. Where makhamali is concerned, Nepal is planning to export around 0.1m of garlands. But, to supply enough sayapatri in the market, florists are bringing flowers from India. 15 percent, i.e. 0.3m garlands are expected to come from India.

According to FAN, the price of sayapatri garlands will not be more than it was last year. It will be sold for Rs 60 to 70 per garland this year too. In Tihar, flowers worth Rs 130m will be sold. Annually, this transaction reaches up to Rs 400m. Unlike the previous Tihar, there is very little retail footpath business of flowers this time. “Balen business-free-footpath campaign has hampered this year’s Tihar as there is no crowd on the streets of Ason,” says Tularam Nakarmi, a street vendor.

Along with the increase in demand for flowers, commercial floriculture has expanded to 28 districts, including Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Kaski, Chitwan, Gulmi, Palpa, and Morang. Nepal currently produces 450 species of flowers commercially. They are cultivated by over 700 farmers in an area of about 157 hectares.

Covid-19 was first reported in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and soon spread globally. In January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a pandemic, the fifth distinguished pandemic since the 1918 Spanish flu. Now, after almost three years, the threat of Covid-19 has largely subsided. Pratik Ghimire of ApEx talks to virologist Dr Sher Bahadur Pun, who is also the chief of Clinical Research Unit at Kathmandu’s Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, about the Covid-19 status both in Nepal and globally.

Can you explain the present global situation of the Covid-19 pandemic?

Though there are still active covid cases, it has significantly decreased compared to the previous years. Once the pandemic starts, there could be no end of cases, but that doesn’t mean it could hamper the lifestyle for ages. Most of those who have tested positive in recent times were asymptomatic or not seriously ill. 

Is there any possibility of the next deadly wave?

I don’t think so. Even if new waves were to arrive, there are negligible chances of it being deadly like the first and second waves. Not every mutation needs to be deadly. The logic behind this is many people have already tested positive which has created antibodies in their bodies. Besides, a large number of the world population has been vaccinated against covid.

Is there any time limit for a pandemic to end, and do you think it time to downgrade Covid-19 as a communicable disease?

There is no certain duration to ascertain whether a pandemic is over or not. It works on how long it affects humanity. But there is a WHO technical support group that works on the technical aspects of a pandemic. In the case of Covid-19, I personally think that the time has come to reconsider its status as a pandemic. Though few countries are still witnessing a significant amount of covid cases, the infection is not as deadly as it was previously, thanks to the protocols they have adopted against the disease. 

China is still adopting strict measures against Covid-19. What do you think is the reason behind this?

China has introduced a zero-covid policy, which emphasizes zero cases in the country. The policy aims to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. To achieve this goal, China has introduced harsh measures and implemented strict lockdowns and mass testing. I personally am not convinced with this policy. It is difficult to make a country with the world's largest population free of Covid-19 infections. There may be cases as the virus has been detected in the swabs. But the concern should be if the infection has entered the patient’s lungs. As I said before, there are some countries with significant covid cases but they are not deadly. This is because of the covid vaccines. I don’t think we should be comparing the present situation with the previous ones. The scenario has changed with the arrival of vaccines. 

Has Nepal become free of covid threat then?

I guess so because the stats say so. Over 70 percent of Nepalis have received a complete dose of Covid-19 vaccines, which is a very good number. Scientists and health experts have assured that the double dose of covid vaccines work. Many people have also received booster doses, just in case. From our experience, we know that the coronavirus is very tricky, as it changes its form regularly. So, it should be constantly kept under surveillance. But the general public is by and large safe. They should now be free from psychological threats.

When Bir Bahadur Ghale, a local of Barpak village in Gorkha, went to Hong Kong in 1986, he was fascinated by the cable cars he saw there. They were a convenient way of transporting goods and people in hill areas.  Ghale returned home with the dream of building a ropeway in his village. His dream came true in 1998 when the British Embassy in Kathmandu in cooperation with the Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG-Nepal) agreed to help with a goods-carrying ropeway in Barpak. 

The ropeway connected Rangrung and Barpak—villages separated by a two-day hike—and had an immediate impact on the people and the local economy. Every day, three tons of goods were transported to Barpak. The ropeway made an average of 20 trips a day between 10 am to 5 pm and generated an average daily gross income of Rs 1,500. In the book, ‘Ropeways in Nepal,’ Ghale mentions that the selling price of transported goods dropped by Rs 2-3 a kg (and even more) after the ropeway came into operation.

The neighboring villages of Laprak and Gumda also benefited from the ropeway. But the ropeway was shut down just four months into its operation after four people riding in the goods carriage died when the ropeway’s hauling cable snapped.   

Also read: Nepal’s most iconic ropeways—now abandoned

Ghale says the ropeway was not meant for transporting passengers but the villagers did not listen.  Over the years, Nepal has seen many ropeway systems fall out of favor or discontinued, even though they have a great potential.  Hong Kong and Switzerland are two fine examples where ropeways are being used as a form of transport in challenging topography where building roads is expensive and fraught with risks. Venezuela, Canada, Bolivia, China, Malaysia, Brazil, and the European countries have set world records on ropeways with their technology and service. Nepal can learn a lot from these countries and become less ‘road-obsessed’ and employing more practical solutions to transport and travel.   

Toni Hagen, renowned Swiss geologist and an expert in Nepal’s geology, mentions in ‘Ropeways in Nepal’ how Nepal could learn from Swiss ropeway.  After obtaining independence from colonial rule, he writes most developing countries embarked on a single-focus program of road construction without considering more economic alternatives. Switzerland, on the other hand, modernized its transportation system using a mix of railways, roads, and ropeways. 

Also read: High in potential, low in execution

Its balanced policy fostered the development of a judicious blend of transport technologies suitable to specific areas in the Swiss Alps and meeting economic requirements.  The Swiss Alps have historically been a formidable barrier to transport. The building of trails across the mountains to facilitate the transport of pack animals started in the 13th century, when Swiss democracy began, although some trails must have existed much earlier, in Roman times. 

“Nepal could learn much not only from its example but also from the examples of other mountain-blessed countries that have promoted the development of ropeways,” writes Hagen. But barring some ropeway and cable car projects, all of them privately launched, Nepal government has never seriously considered the form of transport that could not only save the cost of expensive road projects in the hill and mountain areas, but also spur economic activities in remote hinterlands.   Building ropeways can also be a way to promote tourism in Nepal. 

Also read: Is ropeway revival possible?

In Australia, for instance, a ropeway has been opened that crosses scenic coral reefs, tropical forests and mountains to end at a fashionable hill resort that has no access road. Malaysia, too, has several scenic tourist ropeways to reach resort centers on mountaintops that are not served by access roads. In the Kathmandu Valley, aerial ropeways could start at the outskirts of town, at the Ring Road encircling Kathmandu. These ropeways could also promote treks of one or two days in the beautiful hills around the outer rim of the Kathmandu Valley.

The great potential for establishing hotels in the Kathmandu Valley has so far been unexploited, but Nepal, like Switzerland and Hong Kong, has spectacular aerial ropeway rides to offer. On all continents, fruit plantations, mining enterprises, and many other industries use a great number of ropeways to transport goods. But Nepal lags behind in this front. The development of transport in Nepal has been quite different. Major highways are built and even repaired by foreign contractors. If national contractors are involved, they are mostly Kathmandu-based. Even to construct remote feeder roads in the districts, central agencies such as the Department of Roads (DoR) are involved.

Moreover, the roads are in notoriously bad shape. Ropeway experts say Nepal has great potential for opening up its poor but beautiful hinterlands to international tourists, yet roads are the only way to get there. They say the construction of roads without attention to protecting the environment ruins beautiful scenery.  “If Nepal had hired experts in destroying unique tourist sites and mountain scenes, they could not have done better,” Hagen writes in the book to make his case for ropeways in Nepal.

A study suggests that building ropeways is six times cheaper than roadways. The cost of maintenance is also minimal. Yet, the government is reluctant about this mode of transport. There is no government agency for ropeway promotion. To build a ropeway, one is put through a series of approval process and bureaucratic rigmarole. To install a ropeway for people transport in Nepal, an investor has to get approval from 21 different government authorities. Reports suggest that the country could have ropeways in nearly 2,000 areas. But only five ropeways for human transport and almost a dozen gravity goods ropeways are currently in operation.

The ruling coalition of Nepali Congress, CPN (Maoist Center), Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP), CPN (Unified Socialist) and Rastriya Janamorcha Party are busy negotiating seats for the upcoming elections to the federal parliament. The main opposition, CPN-UML, meanwhile, is seeking to forge electoral alliance with fringe parties, especially in Madhes. Pratik Ghimire of ApEx talked to political analyst Vijay Kant Karna to know what he thinks holds for the parties in Madhes in the Nov 20 polls.

How do you think the ruling coalition will settle the seats in Madhes?

Considering the population of 20 districts in the Madhes belt, it does not have enough constituencies. There are around 75 seats from the region, and the top leaders of the ruling coalition have been meeting regularly for a seat-sharing deal. Initially, they seemed to have a formula to divide the constituencies, that those who had won in the 2017 parliamentary elections would get the respective constituencies. But the Nepali Congress is reluctant to do so because many of its leaders would not get election tickets. The JSP has asked for 16 out of 32 seats in Madhes Province, but my prediction is that the party will settle for 12 or 14 seats. The Congress will have the second most number of seats followed by the Maoists.  It has been easy for the major partners in the ruling coalition to negotiate with the JSP since the other major Madhes-based party, Loktantrik Samajbadi Party (LSP), is not in the alliance. Also, the JSP has no valid grounds to claim the seats won by LSP in the 2017 polls.

Will the ruling coalition outshine other political parties in the Madhes region?

It would have been no problem for the ruling coalition to get perfect election results if the ruling coalition had won all the seats in the Madhes region in the local polls. But that is not the case. They should convince their provincial leaders and cadres if they are to win all the seats in the federal polls. If the influential leaders do not get the election tickets, there will be many rival candidates who will split the votes. It all depends on how these parties will manage the alliance and their intra-party disputes. Yet, the chances of the ruling coalition performing better in the Madhes region are good compared to other parties.  

Where does the UML stand in Madhes?

UML Chairman KP Oli recently visited Madhes and tried to convince the voters. A few of the leaders from other parties have also joined the UML in recent times. But the UML position on the bill to amend the Citizenship Act and the move of the president not to authenticate the bill could affect the party’s election outcome. Many Madhesi voters are not pleased with what happened with the bill. 

Is there any hope for small parties and independent candidates?

I don’t think so. There are no real independent candidates in Madhes that I can think of. They are either established politicians who have changed or quit the party due to intra-party disputes. In the local election, too, a couple of candidates from the Janamat Party of CK Raut won the election. This victory was not due to the party’s organizational strength, it was due to the popularity of the candidates among voters. They would have won from whichever party. The same happened when Manoj Sah won the mayoral seat in Janakpur. He was a popular local Congress leader but his party did not give him the election ticket. So, he contested as an independent candidate and won. Remember, he was already an established politician. So, unlike in Kathmandu, Madhes is yet to see the rise of purely independent candidates.

Are the Madhes agendas still relevant for the voters?

The Madhes agendas will never be irrelevant for the voters in the region. But for the political parties, it will be difficult to collect votes by advocating those agendas as they had done in the 2017 polls. The Madhes-based parties did not get the votes in the previous election so that they can expand their bargaining power while forming government. The voters wanted their representatives to advocate for their agendas in parliament. So, yes, the Madhes agendas are still relevant to the voters. But whether they trust the political parties to champion those agendas is a different issue entirely.