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The District Administration Office, Parsa claimed an indefinite curfew in Birgunj from 5 pm today until further notice.

Chief District Officer of Parsa Dinesh Sagar Bhusal said that the local administration clamped the curfew until further notice after the situation turned tense following clashes between two different communities in various places of Birgunj.

Initially, the debate had ensued between Hindu and Muslim communities while immersing the idol of goddess Saraswati in Motipur of Ishnath Municipality, Rautahat.

The curfew order has been issued up to Nagawa Chowk in the east, Tilawe Bridge in the west, Parwanipur in the north and Miteri Bridge in the south of the metropolitan city.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on Sunday registered a corruption case at the Special Court against 15 people, including three former secretaries, for their alleged involvement in irregularities on the Melamchi Drinking Water Project, a national pride project.

The CIAA said that the graft case was filed after it was revealed that the construction company, CMC, had received payment prior to carrying out the construction works relating to the project.

The anti-graft body has recommended that former secretary Sanjay Sharma and Joint-Secretary Mukunda Prasad Poudel pay a fine of Rs 60m each. It has also sought Rs 40m in penalty from erstwhile secretary at the Ministry of Water Supply, Bhim Prasad Upadhyay and Rs 600m from Gajendra Kumar Thakur, erstwhile secretary at the same ministry. 

Over Rs 110m has been claimed in fine from Rudra Singh Tamang, erstwhile board member of the Melamchi Drinking Water Development Committee.

The CIAA has also recommended a fine of Rs 710m from Chandra Bahadur Thapa, former board member of the committee, and Rs 220m from Ghanashyam Bhattarai, former executive director of the committee.

The commission has recommended a fine of Rs 323m to Ram Chandra Devkota, former executive director of Melamchi Drinking Water Development Committee. Another former executive director, Surya Raj Kandel, has been recommended a fine of Rs 890m.

The other accused in the case are the then Under Secretary Mani Bhadra Neupane, Accounts Officer Ram Chandra Neupane, former Under Secretary Beg Nath Poudel, former Under Secretary Kedar Prasad Aryal and Committee’s Deputy Executive Director Bhoj Bikram Thapa.

The CIAA has recommended a fine of Rs 323m each to Mani Bhadra, Ram Chandra, Poudel and Thapa. Aryal has been asked to pay a fine of Rs 447m.

Likewise, Deputy Team Leader Shiva Kumar Sharma of consulting firm Eptisa-BETS JV has also recommended a fine of Rs 483m.   

The CIAA has sought Rs 875m in fine from a consulting company Eptisa Services De Ingenieris SL and BETS Consulting Services Ltd JV. Construction firm CMC di Ravena has been asked to pay a fine of Rs 651m.

The government of Madhes province has not implemented a single provincial pride project in six years. Instead, it has focused on smaller programs with budgets no more than Rs 1m, but their progress too have been slow and laborious. Many of these projects have had their budgets frozen. The capital spending has never been satisfactory. The provincial government and ministers often make commitments to implement provincial pride projects but the reality is completely different. Their focus is mostly on small projects proposed by their cadres.

The provincial government has proposed a budget of Rs 44.11bn for the fiscal year 2023/24. However, the focus has primarily been on implementing piecemeal programs even though the provincial government has no dearth of resources. The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development has the highest budgetary allocation of over Rs 12bn. However, minister Krishna Prasad Yadav’s focus seems to be on implementing small projects proposed by party cadres rather than larger projects that could benefit the whole province. For instance, Hansapur Municipality in Dhanusha has been provided with 25 projects ranging from Rs 1.5m to Rs 2.5m. Pradeep Yadav, who serves as the treasurer of the Madhes Provincial Committee of Nepali Congress, is the mayor of Hansapur. In contrast, neighboring Dhanauji and Aurahi rural municipalities lack programs of even Rs 2m.

Dipendra Thakur, deputy leader of the CPN-UML parliamentary party in the Madhes Province Assembly, criticized ministers for pouring budgets into their constituencies while neglecting pressing needs elsewhere. The Dalit Development Committee, responsible for uplifting the Dalit community, which comprises 18 percent of the province’s population, has been allocated a meager budget of Rs 6.9m.

Ministers have also been accused of overspending in their areas through budget transfers. Minister for Finance Sanjaya Kumar Yadav and Minister for Industry, Commerce, and Tourism Sunita Yadav have been summoned by provincial assembly committees for transferring over Rs 600m in the last month of the previous fiscal year.

Dr Bhogendra Jha, former vice-chairman of the Madhes Province Planning Commission, said that the capital budget is being distributed without considering the priorities of the local people. Similarly, CPN (Maoist Center) assembly member Mala Kumari Karna criticized the chief minister and ministers for implementing budgetary programs only in their constituencies.

Maoist Center leader Bharat Prasad Sah also emphasized the need for the provincial government to focus on provincial pride projects instead of distribution-oriented plans. “The province hasn't implemented a single significant program over the past six years. I served as a minister in the government led by Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP). I, however, couldn’t implement development-oriented programs due to inadequate support,” he added.

Satish Kumar Singh of Janamat Party said party cadres are favored while selecting development programs. “Only those close to the ministers are benefiting from budgetary programs. We had the opportunity to make federalism work, but the government’s actions are making a mockery of it,” he added.

Chief Minister Saroj Kumar Yadav issued a 19-point directive on Jan 22, pledging to uphold financial transparency and good governance. However, the first budget of Chief Minister Yadav has faced criticism for focusing on distributing piecemeal programs to appease cadres rather than prioritizing substantial projects.

According to Minister for Home, Communication, and Law, Mohammad Shamim, projects such as the Ram Janaki Stadium, one electoral constituency-one road, provincial roads, and universities are considered provincial pride projects. However, he acknowledged that these projects are not gaining momentum. “Service delivery of provincial governments have been affected due to obstacles created by the federal government,” he added.

Two persons died and 16 others were injured when a jeep carrying wedding attendants met with an accident at Aabukhaireni Rural Municipality-1 in Tanahun district on Monday.

The deceased have been identified as Aasbir Gurung (72) of Aabukhaireni Rural Municipality-6 and Tulasi Gurung (17) of Byas Municipality-9, according to the District Police Office, Tanahun.

Aasbir died on the spot while Tulasi succumbed to injuries in the course of treatment at Chitwan-based New Medical College.  

The tragedy took place when the jeep (Ba 18 Cha 5921) fell some 500 meters down the road, said police.

Subina Gurung (15), Man Bahadur Gurung (67), Sukmaua Gurung (38), Alisa Gurung (6), Sabita Gurung (19) of Aabukhairenu Rural Municipality-6 and Shishir Gurung (10) of Bandipur Rural Municipality-3 were injured in the incident and they are receiving treatment at Aabukhaireni Hospital.

Similarly, Som Lal Gurung (56), of Aabukhaireni-6, Bhakku Lal Gurung (70), Sher Bahadur Gurung (56), Aasmaya Gurung (36), Dikshya Gurung (10), Sete Gurung (52) of Pyugharphant, jeep driver Raj Kumar Bishwokarma (38) of Aabukhairenu-1, Chij Kumari Gurung (36), 18-month-old Susan Gurung, and Sunita Gurung (37) were also injured in the accident.

They are undergoing treatment at New Medical College, Chitwan, added Police.