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Who would not want their very own plot close by the Prime Minister’s Official Residence at Baluwatar, all for free? If wishes were horses, beggars would ride them, wouldn’t they? Close by the famous address lies swathes of land—government-owned land called Lalita Niwas. How could this prime property not have drawn the attention of the all-powerful land mafia? Well, it did. Pretty soon, a nexus developed around some powerful politicians, wily bureaucrats and equally powerful business interests. Pretty soon, new ‘private owners’ of the government property emerged. As they say, with a little help from friends in high places, nothing is impossible, right? But the plot does not end there. A widening police probe, launched a couple years ago, has brought some powerful figures from politics, bureaucracy and the business community under its dragnet. Out of the seven people arrested in a recent swoop, former Joint Secretary Kaladhar Deuja, former Under-secretary Hupendramani KC, and Surendra Kapali were released within a few hours of their arrest after a Supreme Court interim order instructed the authorities to probe the individuals by keeping them out of custody. Former Commissioner of the Election Commission Sudhir Kumar Shah, Director of Bhatbhateni Supermarket Min Bahadur Gurung, Dharma Prasad Gautam, and Gopal Karki remain in police custody as part of the investigation that has already netted a former deputy prime minister, two former land reforms ministers and three government secretaries. As the investigation into the infamous land-grab continues, a couple of questions arise. How could the government leadership of the time not have known what was going on under its very powerful nose? What will happen to this high-profile scam? Will politicization of crime and criminalization of politics, going on unabated in this country, scuttle the probe, much to the relief of more high-profile figures at the cost of the people’s right to know uncensored truth? Questions like these naturally arise because the investigation into another high-profile scam—the Bhutanese refugee scam—has raised similar uncomfortable questions. The government should be mindful that thorough probes into high-profile scams and action against those found guilty are necessary to cleanse the governance system and restore people’s faith in it. It should not forget that half-hearted probes will not serve the purpose. Chances are that they may be seen as attempts to settle old scores. Therefore, the onus is on the government to prove that it has no other motive behind these probes than bringing out the truth. The sooner the government realizes that the public deserve the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, the better.  

Six months after inauguration, Pokhara International Airport received its first international flight—from China—on Wednesday. The Lake City known for its scenic beauty and hospitality offered the guests, including the participants at the Nepal-China Dragon Boat Race Festival scheduled at the Fewa Lake on Friday, a hearty welcome. The landmark touchdown at the airport has offered a ray of hope for Nepal’s economy as a whole. Let the pundits of diplomacy wrack their brains over whether it was fitting on the part of Chinese Ambassador to Nepal, Chen Song, to reiterate the same old line—that the airport is part of BRI. This allows us to delve a bit more into more pressing concerns. Half a year into the inauguration and a maiden flight later, let’s reread part of the $215.96m loan deal between the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal and China’s Exim Bank. Of this loan with a repayment period of 20 years, 25 percent is interest-free while the remaining amount has a two percent annual interest attached. This means the airport has to start earning right away, which is easier said than done. While the airport on the lap of picturesque hills and snow-clad peaks keeps looking at the sprawling city of Pokhara and much beyond for flights, politicians and bureaucrats seem to be twiddling their thumbs. Remember, this is the very crop that goes out of the way to fast-track projects, bothering not even to conduct in-depth viability studies. As the airport continues to stay idle, it will be timely to ask as to what the government, particularly the Center, has been doing to promote it in international markets. Has it been using diplomatic channels to encourage international airlines to operate flights to and from Pokhara as it has become clear that star-gazing isn’t an effective way to bring business to the airport, even if it is located at one of the most popular tourist destinations? While the envoy’s latest BRI claim has helped keep the controversy alive, it has also shown, most probably, the northern neighbor’s willingness to make this project a success. Nonetheless, it is objectionable on the part of China to claim the airport as part of BRI as a framework deal on BRI was signed only in 2017 whereas Chinese loan for the airport was taken in 2016. Also under rough weather is the Gautam Buddha International Airport in Lumbini, developed with financing from the Asian Development Bank and the government of Nepal by mobilizing Chinese contractors. For want of shorter and more cost-efficient flight routes, this airport hasn’t been able to attract international flights. Our government seems pretty comfortable with this state of affairs, even as the burden of one more foreign-financed project keeps increasing on the taxpayer. Lumbini, the birthplace of Shakyamuni Buddha and several other lesser Buddhas like Krakkuchanda and Kashyap, is the ultimate pilgrimage of peace-loving humanity. Ambassador Chen’s remark is perhaps an indication that his country’s international prestige is attached with these projects. So, Nepal should request China to send in guests and make these projects a success. In the long run, the government should expand its diplomatic outreach to bring in guests from around the world. That’s too little to ask from the practitioners of the art of the impossible, isn’t it?

What’s stopping Nepal, a country with good hydropower potential, from going electric? Before navigating the choppy waters for possible answers, it will be worthwhile to recall in brief what the then Prime Minister, Sher Bahadur Deuba, pledged on behalf of Nepal at the World Leaders’ Summit during the 26th Conference of Parties in Glasgow. While reiterating Nepal’s firm commitment to implementing the Paris Agreement, the PM pledged to decarbonize the national economy in all sectors with the aim of reaching a net zero emission by 2045. During the last 40 years, disasters have caused Nepal physical and economic damage worth $6 billion, he pointed, adding: We will ensure that 15 percent of our total energy is supplied from clean energy sources and maintain 45 percent of our country under forest cover by 2030. Fast forward World Environment Day (05 June, 2023). In his address on the big day, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal expressed confidence that the day will inspire all concerned to transform into results the several initiatives and commitments the government has made at national and international fora to combat environmental problems. PM Dahal pledged that his government will make the Environment Conservation and Climate Change Management National Council more effective. When it comes to swearing by the green cause, successive governments have not been lagging behind. But the status of implementation of their lofty promises leaves much to be desired. In this context, government pledges to develop one more cross-border pipeline (Siliguri-Charali), extend the Motihari-Amlekhgunj cross-border pipeline up to Lothar of Chitwan and develop more pipelines for easing oil supply within the country are likely to result in increased consumption of fossil fuel instead of the green energy (hydroelectricity), taking a heavier toll on environmental well-being and public health. India’s per capita energy consumption stands at 1255 MW against Nepal’s 300 MW (approx). Still, Nepal aims to earn big by selling the green energy to a monopsony market, despite reports that consumption of green energy within the country yield multiple benefits, electrifying the economy as a whole, whereas the sale largely benefits the buyers. Therefore, Nepal should focus more on increasing domestic consumption of the green energy. As the transport sector has a huge contribution to Nepal’s greenhouse gas emissions, the government should think seriously—and act—to switch to electric mass transit systems throughout the country, to begin with. Through policy interventions, it should create a conducive environment for the production of vehicles that run on electricity in Nepal itself. On the consumer end, reduced taxes on private electric vehicles like two-wheelers and four-wheelers will provide considerable relief.

Petroleum pipelines in a country that can light homes, run industries, mass transit systems with the green energy—hydroelectricity—with a little bit of planning. How does it sound? Sounds a bit odd, regressive even, doesn’t it? Well, it should. In international fora, Nepal has pledged to reduce emissions drastically. Submitting its 2020 Nationally Determined Commitments (NDC) to the UNFCC Secretariat, the country pledged to devise and implement a low greenhouse gas emission development strategy to achieve net zero GHG emissions by 2050—a commitment that the then Prime Minister reiterated during the Climate Ambition Summit. That was a big pledge from a country with a negligible carbon footprint, grappling nonetheless with disproportionate effects of climate change like receding snowline, glacial retreat, cloudburst, flash floods and glacial lake outburst floods. Thanks to the Russia-Ukraine war that came right after the Covid-19 pandemic, Nepal has been witnessing an upward swing in petroleum prices for months, driving consumer prices in a fossil fuel-ruined economy and adding to the miseries of the consumer with ever-dipping purchasing power amid a deepening economic crisis. The situation is such that the people have lost count of the times that the state-owned petroleum monopoly, Nepal Oil Corporation, has ‘adjusted’—read hiked—prices of the imports from India, based on the exporter’s price list, say, in the past six months. Nepal is neither producing oil nor making arrangements for cheaper imports, in the foreseeable future. Fuel prices are not going down anytime soon. Countries around the world are moving away from the oil-based economy. They are seeking greener alternatives. Against this backdrop, our government’s obsession with petroleum imports is beyond comprehension. This obsession got reflected also in the budget for the fiscal 2023/24, which has increased taxes on electric vehicles while lowering taxes on vehicles that run on fossil fuel. What’s more, after his recent visit to India, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal informed the Parliament that the two sides are gearing toward the construction of a cross-border pipeline from Siliguri to Charali (Jhapa) and the extension of the cross-border Motihari-Amlekhgunj pipeline up to Lothar of Chitwan. He also talked about an understanding to build more petroleum pipelines within the country. In the same breath, the PM talked about lofty plans to export 10,000 MW of hydroelectricity to India within a decade. A country with good hydropower potential planning to export almost all of the green energy and continuing with the import of the dirty fuel—petroleum products—does not make sense. Increased consumption of oil is sure to widen Nepal’s trade deficit with India that currently stands at a whopping Rs 504.74 billion. The petroleum addiction will worsen air pollution in the country, thereby affecting public health as well as environmental well-being in one of the most climate vulnerable countries and taking a huge toll on its economy. So, the government should decrease petroleum consumption and promote the use of hydroelectricity through policy intervention. If it fails to do so, it will be no wonder if these pipelines become some sort of albatross around Nepal’s neck. Let better sense prevail before it’s too late.