Submit your Article

Until seven years ago, it took almost an hour to get from one end of the 21-km Butwal-Bhairahawa road to another in a vehicle. The narrow, rough road tormented vehicles and passersby with dust. Now, the same road has been turned into a six-lane highway and the distance between Butwal and Bhairahawa can be covered in a maximum of 20 minutes.

This road, now named Butwal-Behaliya Trade Road, has reduced the travel time between Butwal and the Indian border to 30 minutes. Locals as well as travelers are amazed at the progress. The federal Minister for Culture and Civil Aviation Bhanubhakta Dhakal, who recently visited Butwal via Bhairahawa, could not hide his surprise as well. “So much has changed,” he said on the visit. “Looking at this road, we can say the country is developing.”

Like the Butwal-Belahiya Trade Road, the Bhairahawa-Lumbini road has changed its face too. Tourists coming to Lumbini used to be disappointed with the old cars, ramshackle trucks and rough roads in the area. No more. The road from Bhairahawa to Tilaurakot via Lumbini has been widened to four lanes. “Once these roads are completed, the face of local tourism will be transformed,” says Leela Giri, Lumbini’s Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment Minister.

Around Rs 100 billion is being spent on infrastructure, including roads, in Rupandehi district. The construction of Bhairahawa's Gautam Buddha Airport as well as projects under the Lumbini Development Fund’s masterplan including 5,000-capacity meeting hall, Butwal-Belahiya Road, Lumbini-Bhairahawa Road, Belwas-Bethari Road are in the final stages of completion. The International Conference Center in Butwal is the largest in the country, with more than half the work in the Rs 1.2 billion project now complete. A permanent exhibition venue is also being built with the meeting hall.

The construction work of Buddha Circuit has also been completed to make Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, accessible by road from all sides. Now visitors coming from the western side will reach Lumbini via Tilaurakot and Ramapur. From the east, an upgraded road also leads to Lumbini through a postal road. Agricultural produce can now be brought to markets easily. Farmers can reach markets of Butwal and Bhairahawa even on bicycles, carrying their agricultural produces. “Paved roads have greatly eased our lives,” says Ram Naresh Kurmi of Suryapura Chowk.

Butwal is a riverside city and its development as a river civilization has already started. After becoming finance minister for the second time, Bishnu Poudel had laid the foundation stone of the Tinau-Danav Corridor.

The roads to be constructed on either side of Tinau and Danav rivers will be connected to the Bhairahawa-Lumbini road. The long-term goal is to extend it to the Indian border. This six-lane road will link connecting roads in rural areas of Rupandehi and enhance the beauty of the Tinau River. Plans to build an arch bridge over the river are also being discussed. There is yet another plan to build a dam to create a reservoir for boating.

While most of us were busy whipping up dalgona coffee and baking banana bread during Covid-19 lockdowns, Ayushma Rana was out distributing food packets to those in need. Despite her family’s repeated pleas to stay home as she had two small children and aging parents, Rana could often be found scurrying from one place to another in Bhaisepati, Lalitpur, trying to reach as many daily wage workers as possible.

“I told my family I would help 100 people and then I would stay at home. When that goal was met, I said 50 more, and I’d stop. But before I knew it, I’d managed to reach 6,000 people,” says Rana, founder of ST Group which deals in luxury gift packaging and event management.

Ayushma Rana distributing food packages during Covid 19 lockdown.

This, however, wasn’t anything new for her. Rana has always tried to do whatever little she could whenever she could. During the 2015 earthquakes, her home in Ekantakuna, Lalitpur, got destroyed but she and her brother were out helping victims with food, medicines, and other necessities. Since 2016, she has also been distributing socks and woolen caps to street children, vendors, milkmen, and garbage collectors every winter.

“I believe each one of us must do what we can whenever we can. Every little bit counts especially in a country like Nepal where the government is apathetic and so many people struggle to make ends meet on a daily basis,” she says.

Her views are echoed by Saurav Rimal, who is involved in various smart city projects. Rimal says we have, for far too long, been complacent and thus dependent on the local authorities and the government. We are quick to complain but hesitate to take action, he adds.

When Kathmandu was under a lockdown, Rimal visited places in the city like Gongabu bus park, Bhrikutimandap, and Kirtipur that used to be crowded pre-Covid. His goal was to find daily wage earners who were struggling to put food on the table.

Saurav Rimal feeding monkeys during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Rimal’s efforts kept more than 500 families from starving during the lockdown. He also fed monkeys and stray dogs in and around the Pashupati and Swayambhunath areas.

Recently, Rimal distributed jackets and blankets to sugarcane farmers from Sarlahi who were in Kathmandu for a protest. They were asking the government to see to it that the sugar mills cleared their dues.

Many of them, he says, didn’t have a proper place to stay and had flimsy clothes ill-suited for Kathmandu’s steadily dipping temperature. Rimal used his own savings and money sent by friends abroad to buy them some warm clothes as well as make arrangements for a decent place to stay.

“I know what I’m doing isn’t sustainable. There is only so much I will be able to do with my limited resources. But I still intend to do everything I can for as long as I can,” says Rimal.

This is where unity as Nepalis would come in handy, he adds. If communities came together to help those in need instead of merely cribbing about how the government doesn’t do anything, we could witness a sweeping change across the nation.

“Unfortunately, most people have the mindset that as long as they are paying their taxes, they needn’t be bothered with anything else,” he says.

No help is small

Juju Kaji Maharjan, who comes from a family of social workers, feels this is because most people underestimate the power of a single person working for a cause. They don’t think feeding a homeless person or helping a family with their hospital bills can make much of a difference. 

Juju Kaji Maharjan distributing food after the 2015 earthquake.

What most don’t understand, he says, is that small actions can have a ripple effect and ultimately lead to big changes. The results of those small actions aren’t immediately visible that a lot of people find it difficult to stay motivated.

Rana says helping others gives her a sense of peace and more people should do it because it feels so good. “It’s an endorphins rush that you’ve got to experience,” she says. When she hands someone a pair of socks, she is consoled by the fact that the receiver might stay a little warm, at least for that night. Every selfless action has the potential to make life a little better for someone else and for you too, she adds.

According to Dristi Thapa, who works at The Orphan’s Home in Nakku, Lalitpur, no help is big or small. What matters is you choose to operate out of a place of love and that will never go unappreciated.

Thapa started working at the orphanage as she has always believed in the importance of giving back and making a difference, as small as that might be. The children at the home, she says, take delight in the tiniest of things. For example, they were ecstatic about a slice of cake they all got on her birthday. Their eyes just lit up, she says. You would have to consider yourself lucky to be a harbinger of that kind of pure happiness.

Dristi Thapa celebrating her birthday with orphans.

“I might not be able to do very much but if I can bring even the littlest of joys in a child’s life then it will be a life well lived,” she says.  

Joy in feeding

Jimi Prem Karthak, proprietor of The Lunch Box, a fast-food restaurant in Kupondole, Lalitpur, runs Food for Naanis program. It was initiated with a simple idea of providing good food for children who need it. The program runs in the city and, though they get a lot of flak for it, Karthak says there is a reason they aren’t keen on focusing on rural areas just yet.

“People in villages grow their own food and most families eat nutritious meals. On the other hand, many low-income families in Kathmandu don’t care about nutrition. It’s also, I think, a case of bad parenting,” he says.

However, Food for Naanis isn’t a charity program and he isn’t a social worker. He doesn’t want to be a messiah for those his program helps. Run entirely on donations by friends and family, and with contacts he has made over the years, he says he is running a party (much like a political one) where there is good governance.

Children eating from food boxes under the Food for Naanis program headed by Jimi Prem Karthak.

“This approach works because there are many people who want to help but don’t have the time to do so on their own. Nor do they know who to trust with their money. If they see there are people who are doing things in an organized way, it’s a win-win situation for all of us,” he says.

So, in that way, Food for Naanis is actually a medium to connect those who want to help with those who seek it. The program has a record of feeding 2,300 children in around two dozen orphanages in a single day.

However, transparency and accountability are often serious issues when you start taking donations, even if they come from friends and relatives. Rana made multiple appeals through social media as she sought help to provide nutritious food to pregnant women, lactating mothers and newborn babies.

To assure those who sent her money through various online payment portals, she took to posting photos of the supplies as well as the deliveries. She also posted photos of hospital bills when she used the funds to treat Covid-19 patients who were unable to afford healthcare.

Do it anyway

Karthak says transparency is sometimes a struggle because orphanages and schools’ authorities don’t always want him to take photos. It’s often a hassle to explain that he just wants to show donors that their money has reached the intended beneficiary.

It’s this complexity in an otherwise noble undertaking that makes Rimal steer clear of donations, though his circle of friends has helped him time and again. He would rather people give what they can to those in need themselves. You could, he says, start by giving a homeless person a packet of biscuits. It could be as basic as that.

“What’s important is that we change our mindset that a little won’t go a long way,” he says, urging you to imagine what, say, 500 rupees set aside from your salary every month could eventually amount to and how that could help someone who doesn’t have the same privileges in life as you.

“And think what could happen if every person in your community started doing this,” he says.

Maharjan agrees that, if you aren’t happy with how things are, you have to start doing what you can instead of always placing the responsibility on someone else’s shoulders.

“The thing about taking up social causes is that besides being an immensely gratifying experience, it’s addictive as well. Once you start and get the feel of it, you cannot stop,” he concludes.

The Tatopani border point with Nepal’s northern neighbor China, which had been closed under various pretexts, partially reopened from February 9. Before that, the checkpoint had been completely closed for 20 days. The Chinese government had completely shut down the checkpoint from January 7 to 27 for the reconstruction of the Miteri Bridge.

Six goods-bearing containers arrived at the dry port of Larcha in Bhotekoshi village municipality between noon and evening on February 9 after the Tatopani checkpoint came into partial operation, informs Lal Bahadur Khatri, chief of customs office at the dry port. According to Khatri, six containers stuck at the Miteri Bridge since the border closure arrived at the port. “From there, the goods were loaded into six containers with Nepali number plates and dispatched to their destinations,” Khatri adds. So far, the border is open only one-way, from China to Nepal. Export of Nepali goods to China has not resumed, including at the Rasuwa port.

According to Khatri, at least 20 containers will enter the country daily from Khasa with the border’s reopening. “The Chinese side is also positive about increasing the number of containers it exports to Nepal. The checkpoint will be fully functional from February 14,” Khatri says, adding that the Chinese side has made internal preparations to send 40 containers of goods daily. With only 48 trolleys at the customs office in Larcha, the Nepali side has made arrangements to receive only 20 containers a day.

Tatopani is the main trade border point connecting Nepal and China. The Rasuwa checkpoint has been opened as an alternative to the Tatopani border, which has been blocked time and again under various pretexts. The import from China is worth over Rs 20 billion a year while export is worth only around Rs 3 billion, with the Tatopani border acting as the main trading route. According to Naresh Katuwal, president of the National Federation of Nepali Entrepreneurs, the number of containers arriving in Nepal daily via Tatopani is insufficient. “The entrepreneurs have been facing this problem for the past 3-4 years,” Katuwal says. “Even though the Tatopani checkpoint is operational, we have been unable to bring enough containers.” The federation has asked for import facilities for at least 25 to 30 goods-bearing containers a day.

Bachchu Poudel, president of the Nepal Himalayan Cross-Border Chamber of Commerce and Industry, says China has implemented a ‘quota system’ at Tatopani. According to Poudel, the containers with fresh goods are still stuck in China and only the containers carrying backdated orders have arrived.

Poudel says Chinese control over bilateral trade will remain in place until Nepali containers reach the Khasa market without any hindrance. According to him, the checkpoint will again be affected for the next three weeks with the approach of the Chinese new year. China has been closing its borders every year during its lunar new year.

Nepal is set to produce hydrogen fuel using excess electricity that would otherwise go to waste. Although this fuel is new to Nepal, in developed countries, it is used in three different formats.

Nepal Oil Corporation and Kathmandu University have jointly started the process of producing hydrogen fuel in Nepal following the signing of a bilateral agreement between them to work together in the field of fuel and energy.

According to Surendra Kumar Poudel, executive director of NOC, following the agreement, the national oil monopoly plans on producing and exporting hydrogen fuel. Thus far, the corporation has been buying fuel from India and selling it in the domestic market.

“The bilateral agreement is a cornerstone in the development of technology to generate fuel from electricity,” Poudel says. According to him, the plan to generate hydrogen fuel using excess electricity from hydropower projects including the Upper Tamakoshi is being materialized.

The Nepal Electricity Authority has projected around 53-840 MW of electricity to go to waste this year due to lack of consumption. The projection is based on the calculation that an additional 825 MW of electricity will be generated this fiscal year. This electricity is likely to be wasted during the rainy season due to high production, low consumption and zero export.

Electricity worth potentially billions of rupees is currently being wasted. With the KU’s technical assistance, the corporation has put forward a plan to produce three types of hydrogen fuels (gas, liquid and solid) using that excess electricity. The corporation can potentially earn billions of rupees by exporting hydrogen fuel while at the same time making a big dent on an annual fuel export bill of around Rs 200 billion.

As per the agreement, the Green Hydrogen Lab under KU’s Department of Mechanical Engineering will in the near future hold a demonstration on hydrogen fuel production using electricity. According to lab team leader Dr Biraj Thapa, a public program to produce fuel is being organized within February. After the program’s completion, production will then start and be scaled up in phases, he informs.

According to Thapa, about 50 units of electricity is required to produce 1 kg of hydrogen fuel. “However, due to the high cost of electricity in our country, the cost of production is going to be a bit high for time being.” If excess electricity is available at an affordable price, 1 kg of fuel can be produced at Rs 600. At current rates, it takes Rs 1,600 to produce a kg of hydrogen fuel.

Hydrogen fuel can be stored for a long time by converting it into gas, liquid and solid matter, as required. The corporation has prepared a plan to start producing hydrogen gas cylinders and gradually displace the existing LPG ones. Similarly, diesel-powered vehicles in the capital will be replaced by those powered by liquid hydrogen. The best bit? This fuel is pollution-free.