Here are some of the top stories from The Kathmandu Post (May 10, 2019).
Agitated residents, traders shut down unrepaired Bouddha road
The Bouddha Trade Association, local residents and business owners in Bouddha shut down the Tushal-Jorpati Road stretch for hours on Thursday, demanding an immediate construction of the 11.46-km Chabahil-Sankhu Road section that has been stalled for years.
Protesters set up barriers, burnt tyres and abandoned wires along the road for five hours from 8am. This led to a clash with the security personnel.
Four protesters and a member of the police force were injured in the incident. The situation was contained after police fired two rounds of tear gas to disperse the protesters.
“Dust is a major problem as vehicles move on the gravelled road, throughout the day. The condition worsens when it rains, resulting in frequent accidents,” said Kishore Yonjan, a local who participated in the protest. “And this has been our reality for four years.”
Expansion of the Chabahil-Sankhu Road stretch was divided into four sections with each section being awarded to separate contractor. But four years on, less than half of the road stretch has been completed despite innumerable pleas to the authorities concerned to ensure speedy construction.
Dadeldhura, once covered with forests, is gradually losing trees
Up until a decade ago, Dadeldhura was almost all lush forest. Over 75 percent of the district was under a cover of the massive Mahabharat forest, which spread for 66 kilometres from Mahakali in the west to the Tele highlands along the Doti border in the east. The Chure forest spread from Mahakali to Kailali. But today, massive deforestation and encroachment by human settlements have cut down the forests by nearly half.
Forests cover 115,000 hectares of the total 153,800 hectares of land in the district. These forests are divided into two distinct areas—the Mahabharat, spread across the mid-hill region, and the Chure forest in the southern part of the district in close proximity to the Tarai, according to the District Forest Office. But a study conducted two months ago by the Sustainable Development Research and Training Centre showed that almost 35 percent of this forest area has been stripped naked.
Entry to the once-dense Mahabharat forest, which runs along the Bhimdutta Highway in western Nepal, shows large swathes of open spaces where trees once stood. To the north-west of district headquarters, deforestation and human settlements have systematically encroached upon the inner forest.
According to the government data, Dadeldhura exports over 200,000 cubic feet of timber every year, but there is no available record on illegal timber business, which many say, is rampant in the district.
Nepal Airlines offers cheapest flight to Osaka: Rs45,000 one-way
Nepal Airlines is resuming its Japan service with a flourish. It is offering flight tickets to Osaka at the throwaway price of Rs45,000 one-way, which is 25 percent cheaper than the going rate. A roundtrip ticket will cost Rs80,000, airline officials said.
The national flag carrier said it would be operating three weekly flights to Kansai International Airport, Osaka from July 4 with its two widebody Airbus A330 jets. The non-stop 6-hour flight will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
The flight will depart from Kathmandu at 2:30 am and arrive in Osaka at 11:55 am local time. The return flight, which takes 7 hours, will leave Osaka at 1:55 pm local time and reach Kathmandu at 6:00 pm.
“We will finalise the airfare on May 15 and start selling tickets the next day,” said Navaraj Koirala, deputy spokesperson for Nepal Airlines. “We have expected to run the promotional fare campaign for at least two months before the Dashain festive season begins,” he said.
The national flag carrier had planned resuming flights to Japan in September last year, but incomplete preparation delayed those plans, as it awaited approval from the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau to land at Kansai International Airport.
Nepal seeks Chinese grant to prepare detailed report of rail via Kerung
Nepal has sought a Chinese grant to prepare the detailed project report of the Kerung-Kathmandu cross-border railway. A request has already been sent to the Chinese side for consideration.
Officials familiar with the development told the Post that the Chinese side has not responded to the request. So things are not clear if the northern neighbour will provide grant to prepare the detailed project report (DPR) of the cross-border railway, which is one of the most ambitious projects Nepal and China have been working on. Nepal believes that completion of the link will massively enhance its connectivity with the northern neighbour, bringing an end to the landlocked country’s dependence on India for third country trade.
Two officials familiar with the negotiations with the Chinese side told the Post in interviews that they were quite convinced that China will provide a grant to prepare the DPR even if no official confirmation had been made.
Trade deficit jumps 22 percent to over Rs 990b in first nine months
Nepal’s trade deficit in the first nine months of the fiscal year jumped almost 22 percent year-on-year due to a spike in imports of oil, bitumen, aircraft parts and cereal. The deficit reached Rs991.78 billion at the end of the third quarter.
The trade deficit represents the gap between the value of goods and services imported into the country and exported out of the country. According to the Department of Customs, Nepal spent Rs1.06 trillion on importing goods, up 21.73 percent year-on-year, while export earnings from merchandise trade increased 16.88 percent to Rs69.82 billion.
The ever swelling trade deficit prompted stakeholders to urge the government to formulate policies to address the yawning gap as it is preparing the budget for the next fiscal year.
Officials said that the government was planning to restrict imports of a number of luxury items through the annual budget statement.
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