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The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on Thursday filed a graft case against 32 persons, including former Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Jeevan Bahadur Shahi, for their alleged involvement in carrying out irregularities while procuring a wide-body aircraft for the national flag carrier- Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC).

The anti-corruption watchdog also filed a case against then General Manager of NAC Sugat Ratna Kansakar, the government secretary and Chairman of NAC Board of Directors Shankar Prasad Adhikari, then Director General of Customs Department and then NAC Board of Directors Shishir Kumar Dhungana, Civil Aviation Ministry's Joint Secretary Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane and others.

The CIAA has sought Rs 1.471 million in recovery for their alleged involvement in the misappropriation in the procurement of the wide-body aircraft.

Similarly, others implicated in the case are Board of Directors Teknath Acharya, Jiban Prakash Sitaula, Achyut Raj Pahadi, Nima Nuru Sherpa and Muktiram Pandey, according to the CIAA.

The Commission has also sued aircraft suppliers’ company's representatives, citizens from Germany, Romania and Moldova.

AAR International INC’s chief and four others have also been named as the alleged ones claiming Rs 1.471 billion in compensation, CIAA Spokesperson Narahari Ghimire said.

The school and hostel buildings of Shree Sharada Secondary School in Rawa Besi Rural Municipality, Khotang, built with Government of India’s financial assistance of Rs 36.10 million under ‘Nepal-India Development Cooperation’ was inaugurated on Thursday.

The buildings were jointly inaugurated by San Bahadur Rai, Chief, District Coordination Committee, Phatik Kumar Shrestha, Chairman, Rawa Besi Rural Municipality, Khotang and Shri Suman Shekhar, First Secretary, Embassy of India, Kathmandu, reads a statement issued by the Embassy of India.

Public representatives, government officials, social workers, representatives of the school management, teachers, parents and students were also present on the occasion.

The Government of India grant under ‘Nepal-India Development Cooperation’ was utilized for the construction of a double storied school building, hostel building and procurement of furniture for both buildings. 

This project was implemented through the District Coordination Committee, Khotang.

The project was taken up as a High Impact Community Development Project (HICDP), earlier known as Small Development Projects, under an agreement between the Government of India and the Government of Nepal.

Shree Sharada Secondary School was established in 1952. The school is providing education from Class 1 to 10+2 level. There are over 365 students studying in the school, about 50% of whom are girls.   The school has achieved remarkable success in providing quality education.

Since 2003, the government of India has taken up over 550 HICDPs in Nepal in various sectors and has completed 488 projects.

Amongst these, 85 projects are in Koshi Province in various sectors, which includes one project in Khotang. In addition to these, the government of India has gifted 974 ambulances and 234 school buses to various hospitals, health posts and educational institutions in Nepal on the occasion of Independence Day and Republic Day of India. Amongst these, 141 Ambulances and 35 School buses have been gifted in Koshi Province, which includes 4 ambulances and 1 school bus provided in Khotang District, according to the statement.

As close neighbors, India and Nepal share wide-ranging and multi-sectoral cooperation.                  

The implementation of HICDPs reflects the continued support of the Government of India in bolstering the efforts of the government of Nepal in upliftment of its people, augmenting infrastructure in the field of priority sectors especially in the education sector in Nepal. 

It would cost Rs 4.50 billion to run the Melamchi Drinking Water Project throughout the year.

At an interaction related to the long-term management of the Melamchi Drinking Water Project organized at Singha Durbar today, Executive Director of Melamchi Drinking Water Development Committee, Zakki Ahmed Ansari, said it would cost Rs 4.50 billion for the improvement of the project.

Preparation was underway to bring water from the Melamchi river in Helambu of Sindhupalchok district to Kathmandu Valley in all 12 months by improving the project, he shared, adding it would cost Rs 4.50 billion to construct permanent structures for long-term solution of the project.

Ansari mentioned that it was appropriate to shift head works of the project one kilometer beyond the present intake site for long-term improvement of the project.  Water supply of the Melamchi project has been stopped after the flood on August 1 and 14, 2023 that damaged temporary structures constructed earlier. Preparation was underway to shift the head works for regular operation of the project, according to the committee.

Chairperson of the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee, Rishi Pokharel, suggested forwarding the improvement plans only after carrying out study of the cost and managing resources to make project's activities effective.

Melamchi will not materialize until local people's demands are met

Nima Gyaljen Hyolmo, Chairman of the Helambu Rural Municipality, Sindhupalchok, said Kathmandu Valley will not be getting the supply of drinking water from Melamchi next year until the demands of the people of Helambu are met.

Speaking in an interaction entitled 'Sustainable Management of the Melamchi Water Supply Project' organized in Singha Durbar today, he said they will not allow diverting water from the Melamchi river if their demands are not fulfilled.

Among the demands of the Melamchi Project and flood-affected people include construction of embankments for river control, protection of at-risk settlements and waiver of loans taken before the massive flooding incident in the Melamchi river from banks and financial institutions for construction of homes and starting business in the Melamchi corridor.

Similarly, providing compensation of Rs one million as compensation to the family of each person killed in the flooding, making available the drinking water levy through the local government and issuing grant of Rs two million for construction of new houses are among the demands of the 17-point charter of demands put forth by the Project and flood-affected locals.

Stating that the federal government has not shown any concern so far towards fulfilling these demands, Hyolmo, the Rural Municipality Chair, warned of shutting down of the Melamchi Project if the demands are not met.

"The demands of the local people have not been fulfilled even after our repeated request for the same. If the demands are not addressed even now, be assured, water will not be available from Melamchi next year. If you want to drink water from Melamchi, come there along with your pitchers," he said.

According to him, although the Ministry of Water Supply and Sanitation is preparing to shift the Project's head works for the round-the-year supply of water through sustainable management of the project, the proposed site is also not safe. 

Until a few years ago, winter days in major cities across Nepal, including the Kathmandu Valley, were characterized by hazardous air quality, posing significant health risks to the public.

On January 4, 2021, the Department of Environment issued an alert to the public regarding the perilous air quality in Kathmandu Valley and other major cities, urging them to take preventive measures when outdoors.

Now, here is good news for us: air quality has relatively enhanced in recent years. According to Deepak Gyawali, the Department's information officer, although air pollution significantly increased in 2021, it has been gradually decreasing since then.

Major contributors to air pollution include carbon emissions from motor vehicles, dust particles released during road repair and construction and other construction works, emissions from industries and brick kilns, poor waste management practices, and forest fires.

Similarly, using firewood as a cooking fuel in rural areas contributes significantly to indoor air pollution. Moreover, increasing development activities in India and the burning of agricultural residues near the border towns and settlements exacerbate air pollution issues in Nepal.

According to Gyawali, the occurrence of rains and wind during peak pollution seasons, as well as the dry season, significantly contributes to mitigating air pollution.

Furthermore, the decrease in infrastructure development activities following an economic slowdown is speculated to have contributed to the improvement in air quality, although this hypothesis requires further study for confirmation.

Similarly, the use of electric vehicles and electric cookstoves has increased. The brick factories, which are one of the sources of air pollution, have also installed new technology. On the other hand, only around 50 percent of these factories are operating due to the economic slump.

Shankar Bahadur Chand, President of Nepal Brick Factory Federation, said the market for brick has reduced by 80 percent at present. "Only 40-50 percent of all the brick kilns are in operation these days, and that also not in their full capacity. Out of the 1,100 brick factories across the country, only about 500 are in operation at present," he said. He further added that it is difficult to re-operate a brick factory once it is closed down.

Kathmandu's air quality below standard

However, the air quality in some big cities, including in Kathmandu, is lower than the WHO standard.

The air quality from 0-50 in the Air Quality Index (AQI) is considered good for health. AQI 50-100 is considered average while AQI above this indicates an unhealthy atmosphere.

The AQI in Kathmandu today (Thursday) is 160 on average. Therefore, experts have pointed out that a lot of work has to be done to improve the quality of air in Kathmandu Valley.

The possibility of air pollution resulting from wildfires is always there in Nepal. Dust particles and the smoke, carbon, chemicals and various gasses emitted from factories and industries and incidences of fires are mixed in the air due to heightened pollution.

Toxic gasses like sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide that are produced when burning fossil fuels damage human health as well as contribute to the global temperature rise.

The government has established Air Quality Monitoring Stations at 27 different places in the country to measure the air quality. Preparation was underway to set up air quality monitoring stations at three more places in the current fiscal year. Air becomes most polluted between 7:00 am-8:00 am. 

Program Director of Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO), Rajendra Shrestha, said opinions regarding improvement in air quality should be verified.

Accepting that sources of air pollution have decreased and people have become aware, he shared, "Air pollution might have decreased due to reduction in factories, increase in use of electric vehicles and stoves, decrease in development construction activities, operation of brick kilns and road upgrading."

Three major reasons behind the death of the people in Nepal are disease related to heart, liver and brain hemorrhage. These three types of disease also have a connection with air pollution. Cases of diseases mainly related with respiratory problems are found to have increased due to air pollution.

As per the World Health Organization, around seven million people in the world die untimely every year due to air pollution. It is said that around 40,000 people lose their lives in Nepal every year from it. 

Air pollution has been making negative impacts on the overall environment not only on human beings. Therefore, partnership was necessary among all stakeholders to control air pollution.