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Film Southasia Festival of Documentaries, which opened on November 21 by director Kabir Khan, wrapped up on November 24, awarding the Ram Bahadur Trophy for the Best film to 6-A Akash Ganga directed by Nirmal Chander Dhandriyal.

The three-member jury noted of 6-A Akash Ganga: “A mesmerising tribute to the enigmatic Hindustani classical musician Annapurna Devi, whose genius shaped generations yet whose life remains shrouded in mystery. Directed with sensitivity and reverence, the film masterfully combines archival footage, intimate interviews, and rare performances to peel back the layers of a recluse who became a legend.”

The Jury Award was split between two films Devi by Subina Shrestha and Chardi Kala – An Ode to Resilience by Prateek Shekhar, with the jury noting: “The two exceptional films, each addressing the profound undercurrents of conflict in Southasia, are being awarded the Jury Prize jointly, standing together as equal bearers of the region’s most urgent stories.”

Additionally, this year, Film Southasia honored filmmaker Anand Patwardhan with the ‘Documentary Stalwart Award’, honoring his decades of productions focused “on social justice, humanity and memory”.

The Best Student Film Award went to Hello Guyzz! by Samiksha Mathur. The Tareque Masud Best Debut Film Award was awarded to Siege in the Air by Muntaha Amin. The Best Film on Depiction of the Climate Crisis, sponsored by ICIMOD, went to A Flaming Forest by Salman Javeed, Vivek Singh Sangwan and Satya Ambasta.

This year’s edition of the biennial Southasian film festival featured 47 films from nine countries, screened over four days. With the theme, Documentary in Anthropocene, this year’s festival focused on the alarming ecological deterioration of the planet, including in Southasia, while also presenting many documentaries that touched on Southasian lives across boundaries.

The festival was also host to workshops and discussions, kicking off with a directing workshop with chief guest Kabir Khan. ‘Kathaharu’ and the ‘WOW Festival’ conducted masterclasses with Jane Mote, The Whickers, UK, and film editor Shweta Venkat, in collaboration with Film Southasia. Other discussions were held on the themes ‘Understanding the Anthropocene’, ‘The Evolution of the Nepali Documentary’’ and ‘The Sudden Runaway Success of Nepali Cinema’.

The jury, consisting of Farjad Nabi (Lahore), Anitha Pottumkulam (Chennai) and Kiran Krishna Shrestha (Kathmandu), in their closing remarks, highlighted the importance and urgency of the theme related to human-induced deterioration of the environment, “This year’s theme—Anthropocene—is not just timely but essential. It is a stark reminder that what we share cannot be restrained by borders.”

The Kaligandaki Corridor serves as a direct route connecting India and China.

This nationally significant project links the renowned Muktinath Temple in Mustang with Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam Buddha, boosting both religious and cultural tourism.

Indian tourists have increasingly begun using the corridor to visit Muktinath, making it the most efficient route for their pilgrimage. According to Harihar Sharma, Deputy Mayor of Jaimini Municipality, the corridor also connects tourists from the Kaligandaki coastal area to Lumbini.

“The face of Baglung has transformed due to the southern corridor, which is currently undergoing blacktopping,” Sharma noted. The corridor includes a 44-kilometer stretch in Baglung, passing through Balewa, Kushmisera, and Jaidi, before connecting to Gulmi via Chhisti Chhischilo.

“The corridor has opened the door to South Baglung's development. Roads have been paved within five years of its opening. Indian tourists can now access Muktinath, while Chinese tourists can reach Lumbini, fostering trilateral trade relations,” Sharma added.

Since the corridor’s expansion, large cargo trucks and tourist buses have started arriving at Muktinath from Gaindakot via Jaiminidham, Baglung Kalika, and Panchakot. Once road paving is complete, the corridor is expected to see significant traffic, making it the shortest route for travelers entering Baglung, Myagdi, and Mustang from India.

According to local resident Sanam Rana, the convergence of the Kaligandaki Corridor and the Mid-Hill Highway in Baglung will further enhance tourism development in the region.

In the five years since its opening, various segments of the 495-kilometer corridor—extending from Gaindakot to the Korala border crossing with China—have been rapidly upgraded and paved. Inaugurated in 2018 with support from the Nepali Army, the corridor now enables Chinese tourists to travel to Lumbini through this route.

The corridor, planned 24 years ago, is progressing toward completion. It is being developed in two key sections: the 224-kilometer Gaidakot-Ramdi-Maldhunga segment, and the 255-kilometer Maldhunga-Beni-Jomsom segment. According to Kalpana Adhikari, Chief of the Kaligandaki Corridor Gaindakot-Maldhunga Project Office, 162 kilometers, or 67 percent, of the Gaidakot-Maldhunga segment has already been blacktopped.

The corridor has significantly simplified travel from Lumbini to Mansarovar via Muktinath. Campaigner Tikaram Dhakal anticipates further accessibility improvements after the road paving is complete.

With the corridor’s activation, Indian pilgrims are now traveling to Muktinath via the Ruru region, while Dhakal highlights the need to attract Buddhist pilgrims from China to Lumbini, the sacred birthplace of Lord Gautam Buddha.

The corridor, envisioned from Gulmi 24 years ago, connects several prominent pilgrimage sites, including Triveni Dham, Devghat Dham, Keladi Dham, Ramdighat, Ranighat, Rudrabeni, Setiveni, Purti Ghat, Jyamrighat, Palpa Bhairabhsthan, Baglung Kalika, Galeshwor Dham, Kagbeni, Muktinath, and Damodar Kunda.

Thagi Kadara and his family – a resident of Khallajai, Laljhadi Rural Municipality-4, Kanchanpur, was compelled to take shelter at a neighbor's home for the past one week after a herd of wild elephants broke down his house. 

The rampaging tuskers also ate up grains stored inside his house. The Kadara family was forced to take shelter at a neighbor's house with remaining grains and clothes.

"We usually visit our house in the afternoon", he said, adding, "Every day we go to the neighbor's house before the evening to take shelter".

The Kadara family has abandoned staying at the home since a week back, fearing that the herd of elephants will come again and create havoc. "The elephant almost took our life, fortunately we escaped the tragic incident and survived", Thagi's wife said.

She narrated, "We came to know the rampage of the tuskers when they started demolishing the house wall at midnight. The entire house was fearfully shaken. We ran away carrying my ailing husband who had recently undergone abdominal surgery".

The herd of tuskers had eaten up eight sacks of paddy kept inside the house, she said, adding the mammoths also made the utensils useless. 

Like the Kadara family, the houses of Harilal Tamta and Raj Tamta, who take shelter in their neighbor's home, have also been destroyed by elephants.

The elephants ate the grain inside the house of both Tamta families. All three families who were rendered homeless after demolition are living in a worried state.

Raj Tamta said that the elephant rampage forced them to ask for food from others every day.

Chief of Laljhadi Sub-Division Forest Office, Karunakar Joshi said seven employees of the office, who had been working for a month after leaving the forest conservation work, had to join hands with local residents to chase away the rampaging tuskers.

"The elephants have destroyed sugarcane farming in ward 4", he shared. Besides creating public awareness to protect the general public from elephants, arrangement of lights on the roads, sirens and honking of tractors have also been carried out to prevent further human loss, he added.

According to him, the number of elephants including cubs in the nearby forests has reached 24.

The Department of Environment has urged the public not to burn the solid and plastic wastes after the rise in air pollution in several parts of the country, including the Kathmandu Valley. 

The Department urged one and all to avoid burning such wastes with the gradual rise in air pollution after the onset of winter.

Air pollution has increased in the Tarai region and the Kathmandu Valley for the past few weeks.

The Department informed that the main causes of air pollution were smoke emanating from industries, factories and vehicles, forest fires, open waste and burning of agricultural residues, smoke emanating from homes, and dust from roads and construction sites among others.

An air quality index between 0 and 50 is considered good, 51 to 100 moderate, and 101 to 150 unhealthy for sensitive groups.

Likewise, 151 to 200 is considered unhealthy, 201 to 300 very unhealthy and 301 dangerous levels.

Noting that air pollution has a critical impact on human health, the Department has requested to take special precautions targeting children, the elderly and respiratory and heart patients and pregnant women as the most vulnerable to pollution impacts.

The Department has urged the concerned not to burn solid and plastic waste and agricultural residues, maintain vehicles regularly, use clean energy in industries and kitchens, and properly control smoke and dust emanating from roads and construction sites. The Department has been measuring air pollution through stations across the country.