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Khokana, a small ancient village on the southern outskirts of Kathmandu Valley, is famous for its rich Newari culture and festivals. Newars have lived here for centuries. The place is also popular for its high quality ‘tori tel’ [mustard oil].

But the village has been in national headlines for a different reason in the past few years. The government wants to build the much-hyped Kathmandu-Nijgadh expressway through this village. The locals have rejected the plan, objecting that massive construction works will devastate the village and destroy its rich Newari heritage. They have been asking the government to change its decision, to no avail.

On July 3, police clashed with locals when the latter tried to plant paddy in their lands that the government has acquired for building the highway. The locals have rejected compensation against the acquisition.

Apart from the expressway, other projects are also planned through this village. Locals fear that the construction of the proposed outer ring road of Kathmandu Valley, a 132-KV transmission line, Bagmati corridor, and Kathmandu-Hetauda tunnel-way will ruin their abode and decimate agricultural productivity. On July 4, over 2,000 people gathered to protest government plans.

Locals say they are ready to give land for the projects in a way that doesn’t harm their cultural heritage. “We have proposed to give land outside Khokana for this purpose, but the government does not even want to discuss this option. It is trying to appropriate huge areas near the village,” says Krishna Bhakta Dangol, chair of a local committee mandated to talk to the government on this issue. “We want to protect our culture as well as our agricultural lands.”

Inviting trouble

Development planners and experts say Khokana highlights the folly in our national planning. In other places too the government has invited trouble by bypassing local people while designing projects. As they are key stakeholders in any project, addressing their concerns is vital. Former vice-chair of National Planning Commission (NPC) Jagadish Chandra Pokhrel says such issues should have been resolved during project finalization. “Khokana shows how we always make mistakes while designing projects and rue them later. It is a historic village with rich culture. When we do projects in such places, there should be broad debates and discussions,” Pokhrel says.

Pokhrel reckons that as the expressway is a big highway, it is better not to take the road through the village or keep zero-point there. “If there is no alternative, then the case would be different. But there are alternatives for the starting point of this highway,” he says. According to him, the use of force and suppression of people’s sentiments won’t do the project any good. A democratic way of running development projects is to hear the concerns of local people, he adds.

Government authorities, however, say that as project designing and compensations have already started, it would now be costly to change the design and choose a different starting point.

Environmentalist Prabhu Budathoki says the problem lies in our traditional top-down development model. The dispute in Khokana shows that development planners focus only on technical aspects while neglecting social, cultural and environmental issues, he says. For a culturally rich country like Nepal, these issues should be of paramount importance, he adds. “Both sides should sit for talks and find a solution to minimize damages. We cannot recreate Khokana village and its culture. We can only preserve them,” he says.

A logical option would be to address the concerns of the local people and divert the road a bit, even if it’s a little costly, advises Budathoki. That would be better than unnecessarily delaying the project owing to local protests, “which will be costlier than the diversion.”  

In the worst case, projects even get canceled in such cases. In the past, Melamchi drinking water project and Arun-3 hydropower have been significantly delayed for similar reasons.

But it’s not always the government’s fault. Political players and vested groups also create unnecessary problems at the local level, experts point out. For instance, local representatives of opposition political parties often try to instigate protests against the government. There is also this natural tendency among people to doubt distant government representatives.

“Local people tend to doubt government officials and their work, creating problems,” says former NPC vice-chair Pokhrel. In the case of Khokana, locals are also unhappy with the compensation for their land.

Khokana residents have already submitted an application at the National Human Rights Commission demanding protection of their cultural and human rights. The expressway project was initiated two decades ago but it was soon stalled, for various reasons. The government later gave the work to the Nepal Army. The planned 76-km road, which will be the shortest linking Kathmandu and the Tarai, is estimated to take four years to complete at the cost of Rs 110 billion.

Around this time in the previous years, residents of Karnali province would be in the highlands collecting yarshagumba (caterpillar-fungus or Cordyceps sinensis). Their houses back in the villages would be padlocked. Even schools would be closed, and teachers and children together pick this high-value Himalayan herb.

But this year the government has not allowed locals to pick this symbiotic larva-fungus owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. The time between the first week of May and the first week of July is considered the best season to hunt for this treasured herb that is famously used as an aphrodisiac and neural stimulant. It has other medicinal benefits as well.  

Many locals who ran their households from this trade are now facing a livelihood crisis. “I relied on yarshagumba to cover my household expenses,” says Mun Bahadur Nepali of Bareykot Rural Municipality-3 of Jajarkot. “As I don’t have a farm of my own, how do I look after my kids now?”

Residents of Dolpa, Mugu, Jajarkot, Jumla, Humla, and Rukum sell yarshagumba, often regarded as ‘mountain jewel’, to domestic traders who charter helicopters to get the delivery. They in turn export it to China, Hong Kong, and India at significant mark-ups.

This time, the federal government is holding off permission for the locals due to coronavirus fears. On June 7, the provincial government had written to the federal government seeking permission, as the high Himalayan areas are less affected by the pandemic. The federal government declined.

Lives at stake

Local families are now worried. “Our ‘jewel’ is lost in the highlands. And I don’t have any other job,” rues Indra Bahadur Bitalu of Thuli Bheri Municipality of Dolpa. “How am I to look after my six-member family now?” He used to earn about Rs 200,000 per season picking the larva-fungus.

Chhiring Tamang from Mugumakarmarong-8 of Mugu district says his major income source was yarshagumba too. “Due to corona, we couldn’t go to pick yarsha. If the government does not help us, we will die of hunger.” Such is also the condition of Chyawa Tamang, who also earned Rs 200,000 this season last year.

Pushpa Basnet of Bareykot Rural Municipality-4 of Jajarkot, an undergraduate at a local college, has also been reliant on this income for her studies since her school days. “I made around Rs 50,000 each season in the previous years. That was my money for studies, which is now gone,” she laments. Raju Nepali, a grade 11 student from Limsa-11, has similar concerns.

The yarshagumba collected from Karnali is mostly exported. According to Prem Bohora, a yarsha trader, the annual yarsha business amounts to over Rs 1 billion. A piece of the fungus is sold anywhere between Rs 500 to Rs 2,000. A kilogram of it would sell for Rs 1.5 million. From Jajarkot district alone, traders would make Rs 100 million annually. On an average, about two quintals of this medicinal herb is exported every year, according to the data provided by the Division Forest Office.

With the ban, the government has lost millions in revenue. Traders pay export duties, and the locals too pay taxes. Revenue losses in Dolpa district alone are estimated at Rs 50 million. Mugumakarmarong Rural Municipality of Mugu had earned Rs 99 million in yarshagumba revenues last year. It was expecting to raise Rs 100 million this year.

Tirtha Raj Awasthi, a 37-year-old pharmacist from Pokhara, has donated blood sixty-one times till date. He derives immense satisfaction from the knowledge that his blood could potentially save one or more lives. 

Awasthi donated blood for the first time back in 2003 at a community event in Asan, Kathmandu. A couple of years later, his cousin died from blood cancer while undergoing treatment. During his cousin’s treatment, Awasthi had ensured that he got enough blood of the required B-positive group. Awasthi’s involvement in arranging blood for his dying cousin gave him a mission in life. “From that time, I committed myself to donating and arranging blood for needy patients,” he says. 

Associated with the Nepal Voluntary Blood Donors’ Society, he is a well-known donor. Awasthi encourages all healthy people to donate blood to ensure its smooth supply. He remembers when even the most abundant blood group (B-positive) was once in short supply. “I used to appeal to people to donate blood through hand-written pamphlets that I would stick on hotels, shops, and local buses,” he recalls. 

Awasthi cycles to different parts of the country to promote blood donation. 

Suresh Manandhar, 22, from Bhaktapur, has donated blood seven times through an organization called BloodPal, a community of volunteers that connects blood donors to emergency recipients. 

“I am now eagerly waiting for my eighth donation,” Manandhar says. He shares how he was fearful during his first donation. “I felt nervous that time at the Bhaktapur blood bank. But my fear evaporated as soon as I realized what my help meant for the needy family.”

Kapil Dev Bhatta, 31, from Kathmandu, has already donated blood thirteen times. Whenever he gets a call for donation or sees a blood requirement post on social media, he rushes to donate. 

Since his first donation in 2011, he has accumulated both ‘good and bad experiences’. He thinks it is wonderful to be able to save someone’s life. Yet he also feels sad whenever he is deemed unfit for donation, which has happened a few times. 

“I was sent away thrice because of my low blood pressure. Usually, my blood pressure is average or a bit lower than average. Whatever the case, I am determined to donate blood, and will continue to do so,” he says. 

Awasthi, Manandhar, and Bhatta are among the many active blood volunteers in Nepal. They feel happy people are beginning to understand the importance of blood donation, and that the number of donors is rising. 

For healthy adults, experts suggest donating blood every three months. Donating blood not only saves lives; it is also good for the donor’s health. Prior to the donation, potential donors are checked for the right pulse, blood pressure, hemoglobin level, as well as for various kinds of Hepatitis, and HIV. “It is thus a good way to know the health status of your body,” Bhatta says.

Challenges galore

Although there is growing enthusiasm about donating blood, there are challenges as well. “People hesitate to donate when they see that our donation camps and blood banks are not properly organized,” Bhatta says. “People are also often doubtful about whether the blood they give will be put to good use.”

There is also this assumption that anyone with the same blood group can donate and receive blood, which is not true. People also keenly post and share ‘blood wanted’ items on social media without giving much information. “Just mentioning the blood group is not enough. The kind of donor varies according to what is needed: whole blood, PRP, platelets, or other things,” adds Awasthi. He says the more information people give, the easier it is to find the right match. 

The stock in the Nepal Red Cross Society blood bank sometimes goes unused as people first hit social media these days. “As soon as they know blood is required, the kin of patients start posting on social media asking for potential donors to come forward. Little do they realize the bank may already have the required blood,” adds Manandhar. 

Moreover, in many cases, some fees are levied against the pre-donation tests. There is also no uniformity in the fees. “The business motive evident in what should be life-saving charity is most unfortunate,” says Awasthi. 

The lockdown has added to the difficulties. There is the fear of contracting the dreaded coronavirus. Ram Subedi from Kathmandu, who is just 20, says he is eagerly waiting to donate blood for the first time—but only when the pandemic dies down. According to Manandhar, mobile camps are difficult to organize, and absence of vehicles is yet another problem for emergency donors.

Despite the lockdown, organizations like Nepal Voluntary Blood Donors’ Society and BloodPal have continued to organize donation programs by following social distancing and other safety norms. “Many of us are working to ensure a smooth supply of blood for patients in these difficult times. We realize it is a matter of life and death for many,” observes Awasthi.

Tensions between India and China continue to simmer in Ladakh of Jammu & Kashmir. Chances of escalation are high as the Indian media report a massive build-up of Chinese forces in the Galwan Valley. Apparently, the Chinese have also rebuilt the camp, just inside India’s borders, which the Indian forces had earlier destroyed. China, meanwhile, maintains it is India that needlessly provoked the Chinese contingent in Galwan. Troublingly, both sides continue to increase their troop presence in the area. 

Among those deployed on India’s behalf will be the Nepali nationals serving in its six Gurkha regiments. There are currently around 40,000 of them. There has been a lengthy debate in Nepal on whether the country should continue to send its able-bodied men to fight—and sometimes die—on behalf of another country. The problem is compounded for Nepal whenever India faces off against China, Nepal’s only other neighbor. Can India use the citizens of Nepal—which has traditionally had close and largely problem-free ties with the northern neighbor—to fight the Chinese?

Nepali foreign ministry officials say there has never been a formal protest from China over the deployment of Gurkha soldiers, who have repeatedly engaged in combat against the Chinese on India’s behalf since the early 1960s. With India-China tensions mounting again, the Gurkha soldiers of the Indian Army on leave in Nepal are being summoned back to duty. In this light, the splinter Maoist group led by Netra Bikram Chand, in a June 20 statement, ‘reminded’ India to desist from using Nepali soldiers against China.  

Despite such concerns, Nepal is in no position to ask India not to use the Gurkhas against China. “We have to accept the reality that they are part of the Indian defense system. We can do nothing about it,” says political analyst Krishna Khanal. Though it is an emotional issue for Nepalis, he argues the Indian defense force can deploy them as they wish. 

Nepal has never brought up the issue of revisiting Gurkha recruitment with India. But it sent a note to Britain in February this year, seeking a review of the tripartite agreement signed in 1947 between Nepal, India, and Britain that split the Gurkha regiments between India and Britain. In an initial reaction, Britain refused to change the agreement.

Till date, Nepalis continue to be recruited into the Indian Army. Lured by attractive salary, pensions, and other social security benefits, they join the Indian Army and take an oath to protect India’s national interests. According to Ashok Mehta, an old Nepal hand in New Delhi, Nepali youths in the Indian Army get four times the salary and pensions they would get in Nepal Army. 

The Covid-19 crisis has battered the Nepali economy and rendered hundreds of thousands jobless. This is surely not the right time for Nepal to ask its nationals in the Indian Army to come back or to stop recruitment into the force. But Nepal may find itself in a tricky spot if China asks it to reconsider.