Welcome to the countryside: This is not a one-horse town!

Introduced without much fanfare (ribbon cutting, coconut smashing, big promises and all that jazz), this column aims to offer a cursory reading of news reports appearing mainly in the Nepali print media. Though no big name in the Nepali media firmament, yours truly will try through this forum to offer an unbiased and insightful analysis of the stories by not discriminating against any publication big or small. The effort will be on coming up with this column daily, though yours truly admits that the task will not be that easy for a juggler. Hope you all will be with yours truly through thick and thin. 

Too little, too late

In disaster situations in Nepal, relief for the victims is too little and too late. In most of the cases, those with political clout have an upper hand in relief even when others’ needs may be greater than theirs.The Kathmandu Post daily has run a report portraying a sorry picture of relief distribution in Province 1 of the federal republic of Nepal.It states: Relief materials meant for the flood and landslide victims of Limchubung and Tapli rural municipality in Taplejung district are stuck in godowns while the victims lie in wait for relief.The report further points: Local units have not distributed foodstuff like rice, pulse, salt and edible oil, airlifted on Thursday and Friday for the victims, yet. Their reasoning: The available relief materials are not enough for all the victims in the rural municipality.It quotes Keshar Khadka, the ward chief of Limchungbung-5 and spokesperson for the local unit, as saying that they have yet to determine the exact number of victims.“But we don’t have the required amount of the relief materials. The number of people demanding relief far exceeds the amount of relief materials available,” the report quotes Khadka. “However, we will assess the data of genuine victims who were hit the hardest and distribute the relief materials soon. For now, the number of victims seeking relief is far more than what we can provide for.”

Tardy pace of road works

Kathmandu: The June 31 edition of the Annapurna Post daily has run a report (http://annapurnapost.com/news/133470) highlighting delays in the expansion of roads in the Kathmandu Valley.

It points that the contract for the expansion of the 0.8-km Lagankhel-Satdobato road was awarded to on June 8, 2016 with a 16-month deadline for completion of the work.The deadline elapsed with the construction work barely moving forward. As of now, as per the government’s assessment, only 50 per cent of the work is complete.The report points: The Kathmandu Valley Road Expansion Project (KVREP) had started works for the expansion of nine road sections – Jorpati-Sundarijal, Nakkhu-Bhainsepati-Bungmati, Dholahiti-Sunakothi-Chapagaun-Lele-Tileshwor-Saraswati Kund, Pepsicola-Kandaghari, Karmanasa-Harisiddhi-Godawari, Imadol-Godawari, Lagankhel-Satdobato, Chabahil-Jorpati-Sankhu, Tripureshwor-Kalanki-Nagdhunga -- in the valley. Progress in the expansion of these sections is dismal.   It states: Despite repeated extensions of the deadline by the government, contractors have failed to complete the works.Vishwa Vijaya Lal Shrestha, spokesperson, KVREP, says dispute over compensation is behind the delay in the expansion work.He explains: At all sections, local people have halted the work demanding compensation.Shrestha was probably referring to locals’ demand for monetary compensation for land acquired for these projects.

Waiting for the Big Catch

An urban fisherman waiting for a Big Catch, on the banks of the Bagmati river near Dhobighat, Lalitpur, on July 30. Yours truly ran out of patience to check whether the man's patience paid off

Text and Picture: Devendra Gautam