The corridor between Simara and Birganj is Nepal’s prominent industrial area. Proximity to the Indian border, and location astride the main highway to Kathmandu also makes it an important trade route. However, these very attributes also bring out many problems, including health risk. Pollution of the waterways by factories is one hazard, the toxic effluents leaching into the soil contaminating groundwater.&nbsp; The other less visible but insidious health hazard on both sides of the border is from <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/impact-of-lead-on-intellectual-development%20,3820" target="_blank">lead poisoning</a>. Neither in India nor in Nepal is there much awareness in government or the public about the long term impact of lead in the environment. &nbsp; The solution to this problem should also be crossborder, but like with every other transboundary issue there is very little discussion between the two governments about it. International Lead Prevention Week (21-26 October) is as good a time as any to look into the issue. <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(23)00166-3/fulltext#:~:text=The%20global%20cost%20of%20lead,income%20losses%20from%20IQ%20loss." target="_blank">Worldwide, lead exposure risk</a> has reduced after leaded gasoline phase-out because it was discovered that lead in the environment caused a reduction of IQ and cardiovascular disease in people. In Nepal, however, research by the group <a href="http://cephed.org.np/" target="_blank">CEPHED (Center for Public Health and Environmental Development)</a> in Kathmandu has shown that lead is still present in paint, lead chromate used in colour dyes specially during Tihar, and in cooking utensils. Nepal is already at the bottom in terms of average intelligence of the population, according to the <a href="https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/average-iq-by-country" target="_blank">World Population Review.</a>&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241025161024_45dd6cad017d1c1387d238213bb2cbfcadae2e0b17bedb839c44ca47bfd8655f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20241025161024_45dd6cad017d1c1387d238213bb2cbfcadae2e0b17bedb839c44ca47bfd8655f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1674" height="1360" loading="lazy" alt="lead poisoning in Nepal"> </figure>  Another <a href="https://a70774f5.streaklinks.com/CK_WIdlTE-cobDnhCwv4l9MA/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs41598-024-59519-0" target="_blank">Rapid Market Survey</a> by the group Pure Earth that analysed hundreds of household items in Nepal found that 14 types of ceramic, aluminium or plastic kitchen ware had levels of lead above safe limits. Recycled aluminium cookware that leach lead is said to be the best-known of the three sources. Here in the Tarai, there is evidence that lead content in the <a href="https://journal.com.ph/lead-loaded-eyeliner-tested-in-malaysia-also-sold-in-the-philippines/" target="_blank">kajal traditional eye-liners </a>used daily by women is high enough to be a health hazard. The frightening thing is that despite the known risk, there have been no studies in the borderlands between India and Nepal about the lead content in the bloodstream of the population, especially of women and children. There are some extrapolated global statistics that suggest one third of urban Nepalis have blood lead levels that are higher than the safe threshold. Even Amarnath Thakur of the Mangalam Diagnostic Centre in Birganj says there are no reliable figures on lead contamination. There was a paper published in the Journal of Pathology of Nepal in 2016 that said the blood lead level among school-going children was ‘alarmingly high’. “There has not been enough definitive research, but the condition is probably not very good, especially among children,” says paediatrician Sailash Thakur, who thinks it is largely because of the proximity of the industrial corridor. In Kathmandu, two out of every three children could grow into adults with <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/impact-of-lead-on-intellectual-development%20,3820" target="_blank">limited mental and intellectual capacity</a> because of high blood lead content. “Imagine what this will do to our country,” said paediatrician Imran Ansari at Patan Hospital told <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/impact-of-lead-on-intellectual-development%20,3820" target="_blank">Nepali Times in 2018</a>. A 2013 survey of school children in Kathmandu Valley calculated that every extra 10 µg/dl concentration of lead in the blood resulted in <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/jiom.com.np/index.php/jiomjournal/article/download/744/686" target="_blank">a drop in IQ of 2.35 points</a>.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241025161024_ad9df4419d7a7e9adcc77393dca9aab8680bb514797e66f940efcafbb8acc75a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20241025161024_ad9df4419d7a7e9adcc77393dca9aab8680bb514797e66f940efcafbb8acc75a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1700" height="1118" loading="lazy" alt="lead poisoning in Nepal"> </figure>  Here in Birganj, children and pregnant women are exposed to high lead content, but there is little awareness, no strategy to tackle it, and no action on the part of local, provincial or federal governments. Awareness is especially necessary just before festivals like Diwali, Chhath, or Holi when spices, vermilion and other colour powders are used with <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/toxic-tihar" target="_blank">high lead chromate content</a>, as well as heavy metals like cadmium and strontium that are highly toxic. The paint industry uses lead to make the products shinier, to reduce rust and to make paint dry faster. Even though the companies say that they voluntarily no longer use lead, there is little monitoring whether they do or not. One research in the Tarai found groundwater contaminated with lead and arsenic, but municipalities here have never heard of either. It has been ten years since the Ministry of Forests and Environment issued a gazette notice fixing the maximum lead concentration in paint to 90 ppm (parts per million). But that regulation seems to exist only on paper, and the government has abandoned its primary responsibility of safeguarding the health of people. Lead poisoning is not like other types of toxic ingestion, children and adults can be exposed to it through the ambient air and once it enters the bloodstream the lead then affects the brain and other organs over the long term. Children have been found to be especially vulnerable. Lead poisoning can even expose the foetus if the mother is exposed to it, and the damage it does is much more serious than what it would do to an adult. There are many sources of contamination: carelessly disposed lead acid batteries, inverter batteries, e-waste, leaded paint, water coming out of older leader pipes. But the general public is mostly unaware of these risks.&nbsp; Lead poisoning is a hidden danger, and if the federal government does not care, it should be the Madhes Province that does by spreading public awareness, monitoring sources of lead, and providing safe alternatives. &nbsp;Cooperation with local governments across the open porous border in India would also be essential.

Chandra Kishore

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Borderlines

The silent danger of lead

It was a rainy night in August, 50 years ago, in our ancestral village of Balara near the Indian border. Because of the monsoon, our village was surrounded by flood waters.&nbsp; I vividly remember my grandmother Sharada Devi picking me up, and putting me to sleep on the bed. Waking up the next morning, I learnt that she had been bitten by a snake, and a porter had carried her in a bamboo basket across the Bagmati to a shaman. She died on the way. That bereavement at a young age left a wound that is still fresh. Even after half-a-century, the trauma of snakes has not left me. Many thousands of Nepalis die every year because of lack of timely treatment for snake bites. The Tarai presents an ideal habitat for venomous snakes, and during the monsoon they come out of their flooded hideouts to enter homes and fields. The monsoon is also when there are more farmers out and about for planting, exposing them to the danger. Snake bite has been such a clear and present danger to life in Nepal’s southern borderlands that during the many festivals this season, stories are told of people who have survived snake bites because of their devotion.&nbsp; There are Maithili folk songs that pray for the welfare of snakes, but also plead for divine protection from snake bites at night, so they can wake up alive in the morning.&nbsp; The traditional occupation of the Natuwa people is of snake charmers. They used to travel from village to village blowing on a flute-like instrument, making a captive cobra sway and dance.&nbsp; The Natuwa can be Hindu or Muslim, and are also called upon when a venomous snake is found inside the house. Some earned the reputation for being quacks because of their ineffective and fake treatment of snakebites. Mobarak Miya (below) lives near Simara, and shows a round wooden box in which he used to keep his dancing cobra.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240926110956_e1c94271600b547e21183c3502b51993e37a1aa404b16b3cbff89124d360c149.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20240926110956_e1c94271600b547e21183c3502b51993e37a1aa404b16b3cbff89124d360c149" data-rendition-name="original" width="1204" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="The snake bite emergency"> </figure>  “Nowadays snakes are a protected species and the law does not allow us to keep them, but we had a charmed life as snake charmers,” recalls Miya, who now does day jobs to earn a living. For a hazard that claims thousands of lives every year in Nepal, there are no reliable estimates of fatalities from snake bites. Awareness is lacking about distinguishing between venomous and non-venomous snakes, or what to do if bitten. Snake bites are treatable, but health posts lack adequate anti-venom vials. About 10 people every year are killed by tiger or wildlife attacks, but those get much more media attention than the estimated 40,000 snake bite cases a year in Nepal and the 3,000 fatalities that result from them. &nbsp;&nbsp; As with everything else, it is the marginalised communities which are most exposed to the risk. Tarai Dalits, who spend more time outdoors in the fields and live in flimsy mud and thatch houses, suffer disproportionately.&nbsp; With federalism, rural municipalities should be taking a more proactive approach to supplying antidotes to their health posts and spreading awareness. But this is not happening. Statistics from existing health posts that administer antivenom show that many victims are from across the border in India. This proves that northern Bihar also suffers from the same risk and lacks treatment. The role of local FM radio in spreading awareness has transboundary importance because these stations have a considerable listenership in India.&nbsp; Tarai families are more exposed to the risk because most of Nepal’s venomous species are found in the plains. But in addition, unsafe housing, flooding, paddy plantation and harvest, grazing livestock, open defecation, and sleeping on the floor are added risk factors. Researchers at BPKIHS in Dharan showed in a pilot in four Tarai villages that a Motorcycle Volunteer Program to rush snake bite victims to health posts saved lives. There used to be about 500 snake bites per 100,000 population with a 10% fatality rate in the sites, but after the experiment, only 0.5% of the 315 cases were fatal. &nbsp; Snakes kill and maim the poorest Nepalis, which may be why the state is not so bothered, and there is a direct correlation with unsafe housing, lack of education, and quality health services.&nbsp; The snake bite emergency is as serious as ever. It could be that agriculture, pesticide use, urbanisation, infrastructure has forced snakes out of their habitat. Climate breakdown, heat stress, and floods could be making human-snake contact more probable. &nbsp;&nbsp; Whatever the cause, I lost my grandmother and many Tarai households lose family members every year. Nepal has had multiple governments in the past three decades, and two elections under the federal system that were supposed to provide accountable local governance.&nbsp; But the menace of snake bites remains an emergency. &nbsp; Chandrakishore is a Birganj-based commentator who writes this monthly column Borderlines for Nepali Times.

The snake bite emergency

As the well-known adage goes: you can choose your friends but not your neighbours. There is no alternative to learning to live together. Relations between neighbours in a housing estate or nation states is (or should be) dependent on long term bilateral interest, not instantaneous calculations. Nowhere is relations between nations become more of an everyday issue than in the borderlands. And how multidimensional relations between countries are managed and nurtured should be the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/learning-rubbish-memorising-gibberish">message in school textbooks</a>. Afterall, the foundations of knowledge and values are laid in school and in the books used to teach them. In most countries the content of textbooks is determined by the state, in fact it is an official document reflecting a country’s position on various facets of citizenship. Textbooks determine a person’s views on a cross border state.&nbsp; I have recently been leafing through the<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/delay-dilute-deny"> Social Studies textbooks</a> for Grades 9 (pictured, below) and 10 published by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology’s Curriculum Development Board at Sano Thimi. Imagine my astonishment when in the Grade 9 chapter on ‘Nation and Nationalism’ was this sentence in the section titled Border Security (translated from Nepali): ‘An open border opens up the possibility of increased human trafficking and drug smuggling. In fact, an open border can poison relations between people and even lead to war.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240717080732_a0492a1be8aaa76b0a90985f0c8ebf85874f53fd9e328d09aef9b614aa29cb84.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20240717080732_a0492a1be8aaa76b0a90985f0c8ebf85874f53fd9e328d09aef9b614aa29cb84" data-rendition-name="original" width="1074" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Nepali textbook social studies NT"> <figcaption>Social Studies textbook for grade 9.</figcaption> </figure>  Similarly, a section titled ‘Nepal’s Friends and Agencies’ talks about Nepal being a landlocked country situated between India and China, &nbsp;without indicating that these two neighbours of Nepal are global economic heavyweights. Whatever the text book may say about the dangers of an open border, all <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/barbwire-borders">national frontiers should be as open as the one between India and Nepal</a>. Nepal has had a similar open border with Tibet for centuries.&nbsp; Officially, a country’s relation with its neighbour is marked by when diplomatic relations were established. But there is no such date with which we can pinpoint how long Nepal’s relations with India and Tibet (now an autonomous region of China) has existed. Nepal’s school textbooks fail to impart on students the importance of the country’s relations with these two vast and powerful neighbours. Instead of establishing a narrative that an open border is the ultimate symbol of strong and close ties between countries, Nepali textbooks give it an unhelpful negative connotation. By contract, Nepal’s trans-Himalayan border with China is limited and controlled. Citizens of both countries need passports and visas to enter the other. From time to time, some Tibetans do enter Nepal bypassing official checkpoints.&nbsp; The Nepal-India border on the other hand is open because of mutual agreement, friendship, good neighbourliness, religious and cultural diversity, social cohesion, family relations, and common geographical features on both sides.&nbsp; These economic, cultural, political and historical aspects of the open border should have been incorporated into Nepal’s text books. On the other hand, the books should also have explained the reason why the Nepal-China border has not been open since the annexation of Tibet 65 years ago. The content of the Social Studies text book reflects state neglect. A border is not the result of the wishes of a country on one side, it is the common meeting point of nations. Because the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/lessons-not-learnt-homework-not-done">examination system </a>requires students to memorise and regurgitate content of textbooks, a teacher cannot deviate from what it says even if it is incorrect. A secondary school teacher regards the textbook as the curriculum. A text book’s content therefore does not just impact the point of view of students, but also teachers. More than disinformation on social media, it is the half-truths and false notions in text books that are more dangerous. In fact, textbooks read like the declaration of the political party in power. This is a result of the curriculum drafters not being inclusive and representative of Nepal’s diversity.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-exceptional-buhari">The Exceptional Buhari</a>, Sudeshna Thapa This can bring about a tectonic shift in the thought process of young Nepalis, evoke a sense of animosity towards neighbours and ‘others’. In a country where political polarisation, ideological divide is already wide, such assertiveness by the dominant community can be sensitive.&nbsp; Textbooks cannot be propaganda, they cannot be a vehicle to establish a political narrative. They should heal and unite. Students need to learn and understand <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-love-triangle-with-china-and-india-impacts-investment">Nepal’s fragile geopolitical circumstance</a>, and not be exhorted to rock the boat. There is a common socio-cultural milieu that is transboundary because of our shared history and politics. Nepal’s youth need to have a moderate and balanced view of the history, geography and cultural links of the borderlands so they can contribute to cooperation and coexistence.&nbsp; Chandra Kishore is a Birganj-based media commentator and writes this monthly column Borderlines for Nepali Times. @kishore_chandra

Textbook case of bad textbooks

The marathon Indian election race and its nail-biting finish was watched with great interest in Nepal, and nowhere more so than here in the borderlands of the Tarai. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/modi-fever-in-motihari">Next door in the Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh</a>, the BJP faced a dramatic upset — even in Ayodhya, where Narendra Modi had inaugurated a Hindu temple complex built on the ruins of a mosque earlier this year.&nbsp; Kathmandu-based India ‘experts’ spread many conspiracy theories ahead of the elections mainly about how <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/southerly-winds">Modi’s Hindutva political ideology</a> would spread to the Tarai. They were unable to distinguish between political Hindutva and faith-based Hindu activities. Even though the BJP is expected to form the next government, it is behaving as if it lost the election because it set the bar too high for itself. Despite all the parties uniting in the I.N.D.I.A. alliance led by Rahul Gandhi of the Congress party, it still got less votes than the BJP. Yet the alliance is celebrating a victory.&nbsp; The main message of the Indian election result that should have relevance for Nepal is that voters in the world’s largest democracy refused to whole-heartedly support the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/volatile-mix-of-politics-and-religion">BJP’s divisive religious extremism</a>, and have given a nod to inclusion, tolerance and equality.&nbsp; Populism, the cult of personality, faux-nationalism, the muzzling of media and civil society, as well as religious and socio-cultural polarisation will ultimately be rejected at the grassroots. It was India’s Dalits, indigenous people, and the marginalised who punctured the BJP’s saffron balloon.&nbsp; But the Indian electorate also put the BJP back in power to reward Modi for <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/india-s-election-and-its-economic-future">the visible progress in infrastructure</a>, and making many Indians feel good about themselves. The BJP party is facing internal tension as it analyses why the party did not do as well as expected. The ill-concealed rivalry between the RSS and the BJP, the alienation of India’s sizeable Muslim and Dalit population strengthened the hand of the Congress. It is said that the road to power in New Delhi is via Uttar Pradesh, because of the state’s sheer population size. The BJP Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath, who is also the high priest of the Gorakhnath Temple with strong ties to the Nepal monarchy, is expected to now have less clout in New Delhi.&nbsp; This means the political forces in Nepal who were <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/india-s-hindutva-politics-influencing-nepal">trying to roll back secularism and restore the monarchy with moral support from the South</a>, will also face a setback. The border states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh both largely rejected the politics of religious extremism.&nbsp; The election has also boosted Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of the Janata Dal, who has been supportive of Nepal’s democratic path. The fact that he and the Congress are now stronger in Delhi will reassure Nepal’s democratic forces, however, the leaders in Kathmandu will have to face the fact that their future political careers depend more on domestic performance rather than who rules in Delhi. The other two Indian states bordering Nepal are Sikkim and Uttaranchal. Prem Tamang of the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha won a landslide, while in Uttaranchal the BJP won with its strident call to make the state an exclusive Hindu Holy Land. One often overlooked fact is that India’s relations with Nepal are determined more by bureaucracy in the south Block of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs than politicians. But India’s fraught relationships with several regional nations and growing competition over regional influence with China means that Nepal is very much on Modi’s radar.&nbsp; The BJP was in power when Nepal suffered a five-month blockade, and it could be that an insecure Modi in 2024 will try to assert dominance again to signal detractors back home that he is still in charge.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024060702064_5cce435fbad4f3dc0e9cd84ad3664071d9bd007e58c1b0c83927cde9400cb39f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="2024060702064_5cce435fbad4f3dc0e9cd84ad3664071d9bd007e58c1b0c83927cde9400cb39f" data-rendition-name="original" width="2480" height="1491" loading="lazy" alt="Indian election results NT"> <figcaption>GLORY TO THE PARTY: The mood at the Friends of BJP party at the Radisson Hotel in Kathmandu on 4 June was subdued since the expected landslide victory of Narendra Modi's BJP did not materialise. Guests included Nepali politicians, Indian expats, and the media. Photo: BIKAS RAUNIYAR(c)BR</figcaption> </figure>  One pollster broke down in tears on tv as the final results were coming in on Tuesday. The NDA that includes the BJP won 293 seats in the federal parliament, while I.N.D.I.A. led by the Indian National Congress won 234 seats. A party or coalition needs to win at least 272 out of 543 seats to form a majority.&nbsp; To say India's election results were unpredictable would be an understatement. Exit polls had predicted a massive <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/new-year-same-difference">win for the BJP and Modi</a>.&nbsp; The BJP by itself won 240 seats falling wildly short of its election promise of 400. Unlike in 2014, and 2016, the BJP will need to depend on its allies to form a government. Modi’s key allies in the NDA coalition, Janata Dal United’s Nitish Kumar and the Telugu Desam Party’s Chandrababu Naidu who are said to have aspirations of their own to become Prime Minister, are now kingmakers. &nbsp; During his last two terms, that very majority gave PM Modi the power to control his Cabinet at whim, but he no longer has that luxury. The BJP’s underwhelming performance was due to a growing void between the BJP and its Hindu ideological guru the RSS, animosity between Modi and influential BJP leaders like Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, and the Indian general public’s heightening discontent towards Modi and the BJP’s Hindutva politics. In Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP had won 62 out of 80 seats in 2019, this time it won only 33 and the Samajwadi Party of I.N.D.I.A. alliance won 37 out of 80 seats. Modi’s decade-long rule over India has been characterised by his monopolistic control over the political mechanism and state institutions, a media sector full of lapdogs, a silenced civil society and persecuted opposition, as well as increasing socio-cultural polarisation.&nbsp; Over the years, Modi’s former f<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/the-south-wind-blows">ringe Hindutva ideology spread like wildfire</a> to the mainstream, and the struggles faced by Dalits, Muslims, and other minorities were swept under the rug. But democratic and political movements across the world have shown us that the relentless targeting of marginalised communities eventually leads to resistance against the injustices brought upon them by the dominant groups. The results of the election are a reflection of the growing intolerance to the suffering of everyday Indian citizens and have served as a safety valve of India’s democracy. Modi is infamous for his long memory. He systematically silenced critics and dissenters and developed a God complex. Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi and his INC won 99 seats, and seems to have keyed into the pulse of India, forgoing the politics of polarisation to focus on pressing issues including a massive unemployment problem, inflation, social security, and farmers’ rights. The INC did not win overall, but its election strategy gained traction.&nbsp; Overall, Modi seems more relieved about I.N.D.I.A.’s failure to collectively win as many parliament seats as the BJP did on its own than about being prime minister for the third time.&nbsp; Chandra Kishore is a Birganj-based media commentator and writes this monthly column Borderlines for Nepali Times. @kishore_chandra

Demodification of India

It is fitting that Kathmandu Valley’s living heritage is getting so much international exposure, and the restitution of its stolen artefacts has become a part of Nepal’s national agenda. Nowhere else in Nepal is there so much cultural heritage crammed into such a small space. Yet, there are some equally important archaeological and heritage areas in the Tarai and the trans-Himalayan regions of Mustang and Dolpo. Kathmandu Valley’s kingdoms had strong cultural and historical ties with the Mithila Kingdom to the south. It was that <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/nation-bhaktapur,597">Malla-Mithila alliance</a> that helped Kathmandu Valley avoid even worse destruction from the Tughlaq ruler of Delhi who razed the Milithla capital of Simraungad in 1326 established by the Karnatak king Nanya Deva three centuries previously.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240604140624_7645bc82d9d4449fb329b4465ab96c4e17d6e832b864b1a58fdba2c08046633c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20240604140624_7645bc82d9d4449fb329b4465ab96c4e17d6e832b864b1a58fdba2c08046633c" data-rendition-name="original" width="800" height="1200" loading="lazy" alt="Tarai heritage NT"> <figcaption>One of the few relics left in Simraungadh of an empire that stretched across present day North India and Nepal. </figcaption> </figure>  Simraungad today is located in Bara district on the borderland between India and Nepal. The art and culture of Simraungad was enriched by Kathmandu and Tibet to the north and the Buddhist holy sites to the south. As the Moghuls arrived at the gates, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/nation-bhaktapur,597">King Harisingh Deva fled north</a> to Kathmandu Valley along with his most precious possessions. But much of his palace, its elaborate sculptures and artefacts lie scattered about and buried underground. Today the region is an open museum. Simraungad itself stretches across a dozen ancient villages, ruins of which lie half-buried in the plains. These relics are more than 1,000 years old, and if it was to be excavated by Nepal’s Archaeology Department could have been as important as Nalanda in India as a centre of learning. But at the rate of its destruction, it will soon only remain in history books. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240604140624_b830d553c941d98d3500cdb82828650f204afb07797a51461a83438853a7a47f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240604140624_b830d553c941d98d3500cdb82828650f204afb07797a51461a83438853a7a47f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1048" height="948" loading="lazy" alt="Tarai heritage NT"> </figure>  Instead of protecting what is there, the Madhes Province government has declared Simraungad a ‘Fish Zone’ and helped locals construct ponds. Every dig unearths millenium-old statues, terracotta utensils, and other priceless artefacts all hints at aspects of the history and culture of this lost kingdom. Aside from the ponds, there are concrete buildings going up, their foundations cutting through what should be an archaeological site destroying heritage that had a direct bearing on the later enrichment of the Kathmandu Valley civilisation. While all the attention is on the stolen artefacts of the capital valley, Simraungad is suffering a second plunder of what remains of its heritage, this time by thieves and traffickers. The attention now needs to focus on protecting the hidden past of historic sites like <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/nation-bhaktapur,597">Simraungad</a>, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/buddha-s-birthday-in-his-birthplace">Kapilvastu</a>, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/unholy-developments-at-holy-sites">Ramgram</a>, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/where-siddhartha-gautam-walked">Tilaurakot</a>, <a href="https://medium.com/@iflytonepal/kakrebihar-is-a-shikhara-hindu-and-buddhist-temple-in-birendranagar-surkhet-karnali-province-46af9dfe0822#:~:text=Jan%205,%202024-,Kakrebihar%20is%20a%20Shikhara%20Hindu%20and%20Buddhist%20temple%20in%20Birendranagar,over%20180%20hectares%20of%20land.">Kakrevihar in Surkhet</a> and other places we may not even have heard about.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240604140624_9c3b83a1d6b3e8825dad9ba7e533e60e8fd22ccb757b1db68329fd5e323281a3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20240604140624_9c3b83a1d6b3e8825dad9ba7e533e60e8fd22ccb757b1db68329fd5e323281a3" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1050" loading="lazy" alt="Tarai heritage"> </figure>  A silver lining could be that local governments may be more interested in preserving their identities than Kathmandu, and we can see some evidence of that.&nbsp; In Rautahat recently the Maulapur Municipality excavated the Pataura site to unearth a thousand- year -old Mahadev temple. Archaeologists restored it, and locals now worship at the ancient shrine. Stolen religious items have been returned to Kathmandu where they are once more consecrated and venerated, but this is possibly the first time an entire temple has been unearthed from 5 metres below to be revered once more. It is not just temples, there are ponds, rivers, forest groves cobblestone streets that have cultural importance that are also being preserved and restored. Just in Madhes, there are campaigns to revive the historically important Kamala, Jalad, Dudhmati, Lakhandeyi rivers. But sometimes, although local officials have the right intentions, there are wrong outcomes. The Janaki Devi Temple in Janakpur, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-sita-ram-corridor">the birthplace of Sita</a>, is a case in point. In a misguided effort to beautify the historical monument, thousands of holes have been drilled into its stucco facade to fix multicoloured LED lights just as efforts are afoot to include the temple in the UNESCO World Heritage List.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240604140624_fef3874f29b3c7ad81c8b3079a86131defea826baf94ed1f0ff155dafec18b5c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20240604140624_fef3874f29b3c7ad81c8b3079a86131defea826baf94ed1f0ff155dafec18b5c" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="721" loading="lazy" alt="Tarai heritage"> </figure>  Making a temple look like a casino cannot preserve a living faith, nor will it help get the site into the UNESCO listing. As they say, if you want to know about a country, read its history but you want to truly understand it, visit its heritage sites.&nbsp; There is a need to work across the border with archaeologists in India, since Simraungad Kingdom predates the two nation states and a large part of it lies in what is now northern Bihar. Since archaeology does not respect modern political boundaries, relying on governments is not enough. Cultural preservation does not just need money, it needs willpower which is now being shown by local communities. Nepal’s soft power is its heritage, what unites the plains and the mountains is our shared history as exemplified by Simraungad-Kathmandu Valley and the mingling of Mithila and Malla histories. Chandra Kishore is a Birganj-based media commentator and writes this monthly column Borderlines for Nepali Times. @kishore_chandra

Nepal’s soft power is its heritage

The natural world does not respect manmade boundaries. We demarcate rivers as the frontiers between nation states, but they change their course in open defiance of cartographers and politicians. Air pollution also <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/one-atmosphere">travels across national boundaries</a> with impunity. Industrial and vehicular emissions from the Gangetic plains are carried by prevailing winds to Nepal and the Himalaya. In November, north India and the Nepal Tarai is shrouded in a thick blanket of smoke from crop-residue burning on both sides of Punjab and other Indian states. These past weeks, the sky over Nepal has been thick with haze from <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/nepal-is-going-up-in-smoke">wildfires fanned by winds</a>, burning out of control on mountain slopes and along the East-West Highway. But travelling along that highway this week, we saw another source of smoke, acres upon acres of wheat stalks set on fire after harvest in the fields. Those fires we photographed in Simraungad on Monday correspond to red dots at that exact spot in the NASA infrared satellite image taken from space that very morning. There is another very large patch of red in Uttar Pradesh across the border in India.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240417090412_82b61db932d186206e9eacd57bdb277a22a9182e41e0b5b54bbffc6e0790751c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20240417090412_82b61db932d186206e9eacd57bdb277a22a9182e41e0b5b54bbffc6e0790751c" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="902" loading="lazy" alt="Wildfires in Nepal"> <figcaption>FLAME THROWERS: Groundview of stubble burning in Simraungad near Birganj on Tuesday. Photo: CHANDRA KISHORE</figcaption> </figure>  Nepal is vulnerable to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/unthinkable-in-the-current-climate">climate breakdown</a>, and a part of the reason for the wildfires is the long winter drought and deficient rainfall this month that failed to moisten the soil enough. No major rainfall is forecast for the coming week, and the temperature in the Tarai is reaching the upper 30s Celsius. With an average per capita carbon footprint of 0.03 tons per year, whatever energy Nepalis use will not reduce the global impact of the climate crisis. However, there are some things governments on both sides of the border can act on — <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/epicentre-of-pollution">air pollution</a>. It poisons the air we breathe and affects everyone: rich and poor, with the elderly and young most at risk. In the past three weeks, the AQI that measures the concentration of hazardous suspended particles in the air in the Nepal Tarai has remained above 200 µg/m3. The WHO’s threshold for air safe to breathe is 10 micrograms per cubic metre. All across the fertile Tarai plains of Nepal, farmers have just finished harvesting the winter wheat crop. Many farms are now mechanised with threshers, but while reducing the drudgery for farmers these machines have created another problem. The stalks of the wheat that emerge from the threshers remain in the fields. Because most young men have migrated, farmers find it easier to just burn the stubble. This is a widespread practice in northern India, and now <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/how-transboundary-haze-affects-nepal">stubble burning</a> has become common on the Nepal side as well.&nbsp; Instead of feeding the straw to livestock or burning it to cook, farmers set fire to their fields because the population of livestock has also decreased with the rise in migration.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240417090416_c81606760ddf50dcc7c3d176bbee986319d0910acda1c93de310e70e740550d1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20240417090416_c81606760ddf50dcc7c3d176bbee986319d0910acda1c93de310e70e740550d1" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1047" loading="lazy" alt="Wildfires in Nepal"> <figcaption>A NASA FIRMS infrared satellite image of Nepal and adjoining parts of India on 16 April. Each red dot is a wildfire, or farms burning stubble after wheat harvest.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240417090416_719866206a264a7a6e9600e470d13d2912b35b6d02c7656e61535fbed7283ba8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20240417090416_719866206a264a7a6e9600e470d13d2912b35b6d02c7656e61535fbed7283ba8" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1163" loading="lazy" alt="Wildfires in Nepal"> <figcaption>The whole of Nepal was covered in thick smoke on 16 April up to an elevation of 2,500m.</figcaption> </figure>  Another reason Nepal’s farmers started burning the stubble is because of stricter border controls which has made it difficult for Indian traders to come over to buy straw from Nepali farmers, who now have no other option but to burn what is left in the fields hoping the ash fertilises the soil for the paddy season. “We are no longer burning straw and dung for domestic fuel, we have fewer livestock, so we do not really need the straw and that is why the farmers are burning them in the fields,” explains Rameswar Mehta of Simraungad Municpality.&nbsp; Contrary to some who think the ash is a fertiliser, farmers say the fires actually blacken and destroy the soil by killing nutrients and beneficial microorganisms, reducing harvests. A Facebook post this week shows a wheatfield ready of harvest on fire after sparks from nearby stubble burning ignited the field. It is obvious that unless farmers see alternative uses for their crop residue, like in industrial-scale composting or <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/more-bullshit">biogas generation</a>, they will keep burning stubble.&nbsp; Manual harvesting used to leave only a few inches of stubble off the ground which the cattle fed on, now with the threshers there is just stubble lying around, which is too much trouble to pick.&nbsp; Madhes Province government has no record of the area of wheat fields that are being put to the torch. It must come up with a strategy to make farmers aware of the impact from crop residue burning on public health through pollution and the fall in productivity due to decline in fertility of the soil. There needs to be more intense public debate about the harmful effects of stubble burning and its trans-boundary impact. Chandra Kishore is a Birganj-based commentator who writes this monthly column Borderlines for Nepali Times.

Going up in smoke

Across the world, borders are being increasingly fenced. The US-Mexico border wall is being elongated to 1,200km to keep migrants out. Israel has walled itself from Palestine. The floodlit India-Pakistan iron curtain can be seen from space at night. Bangladesh is almost completely fenced off from India.&nbsp;
Now, India’s Home Minister Amit Shah has announced that a barbed wire fence is going up along India’s 1,643km border with Burma. The announcement has raised fears that it will disrupt age-old cultural and family ties that predate British rule.
Ethnic violence in Manipur, as well as anti-government insurgencies on both sides have made the border a flashpoint. Even so, the barbed wire proposal has spread despair among residents of the Indian states of Arunachal, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram that border Burma.&nbsp;
Most of the India-Burma border is dense mountain forest, and the scene of epic battles between the Japanese and British forces in which many Nepali soldiers died. A barbed wire fence is not just difficult to build in this terrain, it will be hard and expensive to maintain.&nbsp;
New Delhi has security concerns, but here in the Burmese borderlands there is worry that families and communities will be torn apart. This boundary is similar to the Nepal-India border, where there are marriage ties, families own property on both sides.&nbsp;
There is some debate about the need for a border fence in India, but in Burma’s controlled society there is not even a murmur. A fence will likely block supply lines for rebels fighting the repression of the Burmese military junta.&nbsp;
Hard borders separate the territories of nation states, and in doing so they also divide people that were once one. Over time, borders tend to slowly erase these historical bonds and a collective cultural lived experience.
A national boundary is already an artificial construct, barbed wire makes it even more artificial. Politicians fanning populist nationalism are obsessed with border security, and want to build walls to barricade historical people-to-people ties.
Nations and their rulers, even if they are world powers, are ultra possessive about territory and take umbrage at maps that do not accurately represent their claim. There is something almost primordial about this mindset, like wild animals marking and defending the perimeters of their domain.&nbsp;
Ever since I <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/caste-vote">started writing this column from Birganj</a> in Nepali Times last year, I have been trying to find a Nepali word that describes the cultural, social, economic, ecological ties that bind the peoples of the borderlands.&nbsp;
The best word I have come up with is सीमांचल (Simanchal) which by coincidence is almost an exact translation of this column series: Borderlines. The word has the connotation of a political demarcation, it denotes citizenship, but it does not allude to any barbed wire fence, it means being able to crisscross a national boundary without any fear or hindrance.&nbsp;
Such a borderless world now exists between Schengen member countries, but then Fortress Europe is now building a dozen new ‘berlin Walls’ to keep outsiders out, while giving its own citizens complete, but one-sided, freedom of movement in and out.&nbsp;
There may be an international border running between them, but Nepalis and Indians of &nbsp;the सीमांचल speak the same language, observe the same festivals, and marry each other. Border people have an identity different from the centre. A border may have been defined by a treaty (usually after war) to separate people, but people of the borderlands keep transboundary ties strong.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/nepal-india-trans-boundary-bonds">Nepal-India trans-boundary bonds</a>, Chandra Kishore
A barbed wire fence arouses fear and suspicion, but the people of Simanchal spread hope and trust. The capital sees the border as the line where its jurisdiction ends, borderland people see it as the place where sovereignty begins. The Simanchal melds political and cultural identity into one.
When the nation state is weak, and the centre cannot hold, it is the periphery that defends the border. They are the true writers of history.
In 2018, India and Burma agreed on free movement for people living up to 16km on either side. This made it convenient for Burmese border dwellers to come to India for trade, education, medical service. But there was also inflated security concern about refugees, human traffickers, weapons, and drugs coming across.&nbsp;
Former Nepal-based Indian diplomat and expert on the Northeast, John S Shilshi who is himself from Manipur, told me recently: “As long as local sentiments are not addressed, this barb wire border fence will not work. It could also go against India’s own ‘Look East’ policy.”&nbsp;
Although the Nepal-India border is seen as a model for openness, there are new challenges. The Vajpayee government stationed SSB border police along the Nepal border, and now with elections approaching, another BJP government has further tightened security. Meanwhile, extremism and religious intolerance is seeping across. &nbsp;
Bilateral nation-to-nation ties between India and Nepal are always tangled, there is a move to build local initiatives. While we wait for Kathmandu and New Delhi to sort things out border cities on both sides are getting together on their own: Biratnagar-Jogbani, Birganj-Raxaul, Nepaganj-Rupedia, Bhairawa-Sonauli.
<a href="https://twitter.com/Kishore_chandra">Chandra Kishore</a> is a Birganj-based commentator who writes this monthly column Borderlines for Nepali Times.

Barbwire borders

We all knew that the populist surge in India would impact on Nepali politics at some point, especially as the great neighbour across the open border to the south nears elections this year.&nbsp;
But the saffron that has begun to pigment the Nepal Tarai is different from India’s saffron wave. Events in India do colour Nepali politics, but it is important to make a distinction between India’s Hindu-tva and Nepal’s Hindu-ism.
India and Nepal both have Constitutions that guarantee the separation of politics and religion. However, at least in India, that has become a relic of the dim past. The lines between faith and ideology are becoming blurred.
Is the attraction to faith-based politics in Nepal affected by religio-cultural needs, or is it the political agenda of some political parties? There are different strands of Hindu right politics in Nepal, and we have to see the distinction.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/crimson-saffron-and-green">Crimson, saffron and green</a>, Chandra Kishore
The Shah dynasty that was removed after the abolition of monarchy in 2008 is attempting to ride India’s saffron wave. The irony is that it was a Centre-Left government in India at the time that pushed for Nepal to adopt a federal republican structure.
But at the people’s level, Hinduism transcends religion--it is a way of life and its concepts of tolerance (बसुधैव कुटुम्बकम ) or equity (सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिन) touch the everyday lives of communities on both sides of the border.
Hindutva politics in India is not new; it has a long history that goes back to the independence struggle against the British. But today, it has become a part of mainstream politics. It has latched on to many contradictions and regressive ideas, but has become a political ideology of the ruling party, sidelining other secular and regional parties.
However, in Nepal, Hindutva as a political ideology is still nascent. Its seeds have been planted on a soil fertilised by democratic decay. There was an attempt to push the Hindutva agenda during the 2006 People’s Movement, but it did not take root in the desiccated post-war polity. &nbsp;
Read also:<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/faith-in-tolerance"> Faith in tolerance</a>, Editorial
But today, mainstream parties (even avowed Communist ones) are competing with each other to cloak themselves in saffron. Old, new, democratic, communist, reactionary--all kinds of parties are on the bandwagon.
Even though Nepal was till recently a Hindu monarchy, religion was never overtly the basis for politics in democratic Nepal. But because the political parties post-2006 have failed so miserably to address the people’s basic needs, they wave the saffron flag to maintain their base.
To the south, Hindutva ideologues have already identified who the ‘Others’ are. India’s minorities feel they are being targeted, and those who believe in secularism have been declared enemies of the state.
Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/india-s-hindutva-politics-influencing-nepal">India’s Hindutva politics influencing Nepal</a>, Santa Gaha Magar
Some of Nepal’s parties want to use faith-based politics to turn the clock back on republicanism and inclusion while others just want to delete secularism from the Constitution. Others want federalism scrapped. It is not just domestic disillusionment that is driving this--the wind is also blowing from the south. &nbsp;&nbsp;
India’s Hindutva forces have been involved in a decades-long strategy to influence literature, Bollywood, think tanks, the mass media, and other sectors of national life. However, in Nepal, the parties that espouse Hindutva have borrowed it for political expediency, not because they actually believe in its relevance or have a clear plan. &nbsp;
Simmering discontent with secularism was fanned by India’s Hindutva forces over time to turn it into a raging blaze. The Indian Congress and regional parties appear powerless to challenge this juggernaut at the national level. Some of them have gone soft, while others have also fallen into the trap of communalism.
In Nepal, reactionaries are using faith-based politics to jumpstart their failed careers. They do not understand that this can lead to a fluid situation with unintended consequences as we have seen with recent communal tension along the Tarai.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/religiously-following-politics">Religiously following politics</a>, Chandra Kishore
The same social media symbols and tropes that are being pushed in India are also being spread in Nepal. In India, there is just the BJP that is the locomotive of Hindutva, but in Nepal it is every opportunistic party either in the fringes or mainstream. And they are all competing with each other to be more saffron.
Even the RPP and king Gyanendra have not been able to prove themselves as the main driving force. Which is why the secular parties are sanguine that Hindutva ideology does not have widespread support. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
But it is essential to sort out whether Hindutva is just using Nepal’s open and pluralistic politics, or if it really has a larger following. There is an attempt at historical revisionism, and to a certain extent it is impacted by regional political alignments in India. &nbsp;
Whatever happens during India’s election year, Nepal’s politics has its own dynamics even if it may echo slogans heard from across the border. But this is a train they are climbing on to without knowing which way it is headed. &nbsp;&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/long-leave-the-king">Long leave the King</a>, Alisha Sijapati
Chandra Kishore is a Birganj-based media commentator and writes this monthly column Borderlines for Nepali Times.
@kishore_chandra

The south wind blows

It is when travelling beyond our borders that we Nepalis realise how much we take for granted the political and media freedoms we enjoy here at present. A recent trip to northern Thailand offered an opportunity to hear from Burmese exiles about their country’s tragic descent into conflict and suppression.&nbsp; Johnny Adhikary is a Nepali-speaking Burmese social activist who has been helping fellow Burmese of Nepali origin as well as Nepali tech workers trapped inside Burma, connecting them to the authorities through voice messages and even handwritten notes.&nbsp; Adhikary has never been to Nepal, the land of his ancestors. He is among the 300,000 Burmese of Nepali descent and has been forced into self-exile because of the suppression by the military junta which staged a coup in 2021, and has been fighting pro-democracy activists since.&nbsp; In the past month, the Burmese Army has been losing ground to ethno-separatists, having to retreat from the only two checkpoints on the Burma-China border.&nbsp; Adhikary has also been involved in the rescue of Nepali ’cyber slaves’ who were trafficked by Chinese organised crime groups luring them with high-paying IT jobs. The Chinese-owned call centres in Burma are involved in internet financial fraud and online scams and are known to physically torture workers and hold them captive without pay.&nbsp; After a crackdown in China itself, the mafia moved to Burma, Cambodia and Laos, recruiting IT professionals from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, India and Nepal. The Nepal Embassy in Bangkok says 25 Nepalis have been rescued so far, and sent home. This week it sent embassy personnel to rescue two more Nepali IT workers stranded in Burma. Borders demarcate national jurisdiction, but for these international crime syndicates in the age of global communications physical frontiers do not matter. This is the end of geography. And the instability in Burma makes it an ideal base for their operations. The Burmese of Nepali ancestry, on the other hand, have been living in the country since the first wave arrived here during British rule. Others are descendants of Gurkha soldiers in the British Army who stayed behind after fighting the Japanese at the end of World War II.&nbsp; Most Burmese Nepali have preserved their language and culture, however, the younger generation have gradually assimilated into mainstream Burmese society. Some Nepali families have returned to Nepal in various phases over the past decades, including when people of Indian origin were driven out.&nbsp; Thailand has been the country of refuge for Burmese pro-democracy fighters, dissidents, journalists as well as some Burmese of Nepali origin. In many ways, this is like Nepalis who fled to India during the Maoist conflict, or Indians who have escaped unrest to Nepal.&nbsp; But unlike the Nepal-India open border, the Thai-Burma frontier is heavily monitored by the Burmese military and it is not easy to cross over. “We had to leave our country Nepal, and now Burma, does this mean we have also lost our right to be citizens?” asked one Nepali Burmese in Chiangmai. “We are stateless refugees, where is a country we can call our own?”&nbsp; These words reminded me of the citizenship debate in Nepal as well. Of the hundreds of thousands of Madhesi Nepalis who do not have citizenship, and the perception in the Madhes is that the Nepali state resettled Nepalis from Burma in the Tarai.&nbsp; Although the Nepali-speaking population in Burma has largely kept out of politics, they are affected by the pro-democracy movement as well as the violent crackdowns by the Burmese military. A group of Burmese Nepalis have formed the Gurkha Defence Force to fight the government.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231219071212_530894ff84fe5f5eff1677c0704f6e504f3b29f481f2f7e399eb192b9d208b07.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20231219071212_530894ff84fe5f5eff1677c0704f6e504f3b29f481f2f7e399eb192b9d208b07" data-rendition-name="original" width="1036" height="547" loading="lazy" alt="Gurkha defence force"> <figcaption>Gurkha Defence Force made up of Burmese of Nepali descent fighting the Burmese military in Burma.</figcaption> </figure>  One Nepali-speaking descendant of a Gurkha soldier who is a commander in the force was visiting Chiang Mai clandestinely, and told me: “We are fighting with fellow Burmese for democracy and end to military rule, we hope this is the last time we will have to take up arms.”&nbsp; Like other Nepali-Burmese, he wants the land of his ancestors to galvanise international support for the pro-democracy cause in Burma. He says Kathmandu could help by providing travel documents for Nepali-origin exiles in Thailand.&nbsp; Nepali soldiers in the British Army were instrumental in the defeat of the Japanese in the Burma front in 1943-44. In fact, the Japanese were so impressed with the loyalty and bravery of the Gurkhas that they even recruited some Nepali Burmese into their own military to fight against the British, and in effect against fellow Nepalis.&nbsp; <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepalis-show-solidarity-with-burma-protesters">Nepal and Burma have a shared history</a> of democratic struggle. Burma’s freedom fighter and first leader Gen Aung San and Nepal’s first elected prime minister B P Koirala both fought for freedom in their countries the 1950s and 60s. Aung San designated the mountainous Kachin State as the homeland for Nepali Burmese.&nbsp; But after Gen Ne Win seized power in 1962, more than 200,000 Nepali-speakers were evicted and settled down in Mizoram, Nagaland in India and in Nepal. The Nepali refugees from Burma were mostly settled along the Tarai by King Mahendra, who had a strategic campaign for the trans-migration of mountain people to the plains bordering India. Many Tarai towns have neighbourhoods that are still called ‘Burma Tole’.&nbsp; Although the Burmese refer to Nepalis as Gurkhas, not all the families are descendants of soldiers. After the 1988 uprising, many Burmese Nepalis fled Burma and in 1995 even opened a liaison office for the imprisoned <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17820#.YBuCwDEzbIU">Aung San Suu Kyi</a>’s National League for Democracy in Kathmandu. Suu Kyi herself wrote a book about Nepal and has <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/kathmandu-remembers-aung-san-suu-kyi">close connections to a Buddhist monastery in Kathmandu.</a> And there are thousands of other Burmese Nepalis who fled to Thailand in 1964 and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lost-village-of-nepalis-in-thailand">they and their descendants have been there</a> ever since. China has historically supported the Burmese military for geopolitical reasons, and the two countries share a 1,300km border. Chiang Mai’s own location close to the Burma border makes it a strategically important listening post, which is why the Americans, Japanese, Chinese and Indians all have consulates here. Mae Sot is the Thai town on the border, with Myawaddy on the Burmese side of the border. Beyond is the war zone, and also where Nepali-origin Burmese and ‘cyber slaves’ are trapped.&nbsp; The Nepal Embassy in Bangkok may need to open a liaison office in Mae Sot and keep in close touch with Thai security forces, foreign ministry, civil society and media. But the embassy suffers from a lack of resources and personnel.&nbsp; It is not just in Burma that Nepali IT personnel are held captive by the Chinese mafia, there are reports of them also in call centres in Laos and Cambodia. Six of them have been rescued from Cambodia and one from Laos, but others remain.&nbsp; The Nepali diaspora is now spread so far and wide that wherever there is a conflict in there world, be it <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/6-nepali-kia-and-4-pows-in-ukraine">Russia, Ukraine</a> or <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/hamas-releases-thais-but-where-is-bipin">Israel</a>, there are Nepalis caught up in it. Nepal’s government and foreign ministry must keep a better record of where its nationals are, and in case they are in war zones, must have contingency plans for their rescue in an emergency.&nbsp; In the case of Burma, it is not just Nepali call centre workers who to be rescued, but Nepal also needs to support the democratic aspirations of the Burmese people and those of Nepali origin.&nbsp; <a href="https://twitter.com/Kishore_chandra">Chandra Kishore</a> is a Birganj-based commentator who writes this monthly column <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/the-outcasts">Borderlines</a> for Nepali Times. @kishore_chandra <h2>“Please rescue us”</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023121907128_15a7ca4382abf0b5b1dd8a7b1fd6fed19c5bec65539e31a07732a4745126253c.png" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="2023121907128_15a7ca4382abf0b5b1dd8a7b1fd6fed19c5bec65539e31a07732a4745126253c" data-rendition-name="original" width="1212" height="726" loading="lazy" alt="letter to the embassy"> </figure>  A Nepali from Rupendehi has written a letter to the Nepal Embassy in Bangkok asking that he and 11 other Nepalis be rescued from the Thai-Burma border where they have been held captive for the past four months by a Chinese call centre. Most of the Nepalis were said to have been recruited in Dubai by a Chinese woman identified as Ms Johana and promised a customer service job in an IT company. However, they were beaten, tortured and made to work without pay in an internet scam to cheat users around the world. ‘We asked to be released but they ignore us, instead they put us in prison and handcuffed us for 7 days and they are asking us for ransom money to release us,’ says the letter signed by a Nepali whose name we are not disclosing for his safety. “if it goes on like this we will take our life one day.” The letter also accuses the Chinese organised criminals of applying electric shocks to them. ‘Please save our life as we have no any option what to do now in that situation,’ the letter says, and includes the names of the other Nepalis who are from Lamjung, Kathmandu, Makwanpur, Jhapa, Arghakhanchi, Sarlahi.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231219071216_61a555fd721ecbac52f043483cfd34016d5283f19aed837b680799019532b61e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20231219071216_61a555fd721ecbac52f043483cfd34016d5283f19aed837b680799019532b61e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1024" height="768" loading="lazy" alt="Rescued Nepali workers"> <figcaption>Two Nepali call centre workers managed to escape by paying a ransom of $10,000 each to the Chinese in Chiang Mai.</figcaption> </figure>  Two Nepali call centre workers who managed to escape by paying $10,000 each ransom money to the Chinese are in Chiang Mai, and the Nepal Embassy is trying to fly them to Kathmandu this week.&nbsp;

Burmese of Nepali descent flee to Thailand

It looks like the whole country is demonstrating on the streets. Ex-king Gyanendra has been attending rallies for the restoration of a Hindu monarchy in Kathmandu, teachers are on the warpath against federal control, striking doctors are protesting gang attacks on hospitals, activist Iih stood for 11 days outside Kathmandu City Hall protesting the mayor’s high-handedness. Meanwhile, on Monday in Birganj there was a different kind of street demonstration – for tolerance and harmony.&nbsp; The municipality took out the rally to douse communal clashes that flared up in Malangwa of Sarlahi district for four days this week, serious enough for a curfew &nbsp;to be clamped. &nbsp; In Birganj, businesses, intellectuals and politicians including Mayor Rajeshman Singh and Deputy Mayor Imtiaz Alam rallied for religious coexistence. Instead of saffron or green, they waved Nepal’s crimson double triangle. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/religiously-following-politics">Religiously following politics</a>, Chandra Kishore Madhes Province borders the Indian state of Bihar, and bonds of kinship, language, culture and trade bind communities in the two countries together. As India prepares for general elections next year, growing persecution of minorities there is starting to infect Nepal as well. Hindus and Muslims in Nepal have lived peacefully for centuries. My own ancestral home is in the village of Balara near Malangwa. My 80-year-old mother still lives there and remembers the Muslim woman who sold her glass bangles.&nbsp; Despite untouchability at the time, she was allowed right inside the house to fit bangles and give blessings to the family.&nbsp; Malangwa itself derives its name from Malang Baba, revered by both Hindus and Muslims. The frontier town is therefore a symbol of the age-old solidarity between the two communities. Its message: do not spread division and strife.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/secularism-and-sectarianism/">Secularism and sectarianism</a>, Indra Adhikari  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230929050940_e60a2fe1d15bd66a7181c733b2d10c42ad8a420a6e27a04301bfaac1418f6e1a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20230929050940_e60a2fe1d15bd66a7181c733b2d10c42ad8a420a6e27a04301bfaac1418f6e1a" data-rendition-name="original" width="3000" height="2000" loading="lazy" alt="Page 1"> <figcaption>A rally in Bhaktapur on 24 September was attended by a flag-waving crowd, but in contrast, was for restoring Nepal's Hindu monarchy. Ex-king Gyanendra attended the event. Photo: SULAV SHRESTHA/DESH SANCHAR </figcaption> </figure>  I have just returned from Malangwa which is limping back to normal. But the clashes have opened new fears that the attempt to ignite religious tension could spread to other border districts.&nbsp; We know from other sectarian conflagrations that the initial spark is from rubbing religion and politics together to create friction. This is a volatile mixture, and can be fanned by exclusionary populism -- especially in the age of social media. Sadly, no religion has a monopoly on extremism, even ones that preach compassion. &nbsp; The strategy of religious zealots is to propel themselves to power by neutralising symbols of tolerance, and discredit those who stand for togetherness. The tactic is to weaponise social networking sites to drive a wedge, and divide society into ‘us’ and ‘them’.&nbsp; Economic problems, joblessness and disillusionment with politicians is prompting new forces to stoke religious animosity.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/india-s-hindutva-politics-influencing-nepal">India’s Hindutva politics influencing Nepal</a>, Santa Gaha Magar The wind is blowing from the south this monsoon, and it is infusing ideas of majoritarian communalism. Let those who are fanning these flames be warned that they may well reap the whirlwind.&nbsp; The press should be playing a moderating check-and-balance role, but local media is itself spreading hate speech and extremism. In every crisis, there will be some brave souls who will act on their conscience. But we did not hear those voices amidst the extremist din in Malangwa.&nbsp; An ideological vacuum is turning Madhes Province into fertile ground for the religious right, and a laboratory against federalism and secularism. Nepal with its diversity cannot be a theocracy-- the state has to be a protector of all peoples and faiths. Secularism means the freedom of each Nepali to practice their religion.&nbsp; Such acceptance is anathema to those who want to mix religion and politics: they want us to distrust and hate each other. There is a lot of flag-waving going on, but at least the rally in Birganj showed that crimson is the new saffron and green. &nbsp; Read also:<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/faith-in-tolerance"> Faith in tolerance</a>, Editorial Chandra Kishore is a Birganj-based journalist who writes this monthly column Borderlines in Nepali Times. @kishore_chandra

Crimson, saffron and green

Nepal’s only international aviation gateway, at Kathmandu airport, will cut night-time operation hours to allow construction of taxiways, and airlines have been told to curtail flights. This is expected to lead to more than normal chaos during the height of peak autumn and spring tourist seasons at an airport that is congested even at the best of times. The airport will close from 10PM to 8AM from 8 November-31 March 2025. The taxiways will now connect to the thresholds at both ends of the runway, making the airport more efficient in handling higher frequencies of landings and takeoffs. The parallel taxiway extension will allow international flights to land every 4 minutes instead of the current every 7 minutes. At present planes have to wait to land until a plane taking off backtracks along the runway.&nbsp; Kathmandu is Nepal’s only airport with international operations, and it has only one runway that is only one way in from the south over the mountains. With the taxiway improvement, the airport will be able to handle 42 aircraft landings and takeoffs per hour — double the current capacity.&nbsp; The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has been trying to entice international airlines to also start flying to and from the other two international airports at Pokhara and Bhairawa (Lumbini) by slashing landing and handling charges. But so far only Nepal Airlines operates a weekly flight to Bhairawa from Kuala Lumpur.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241018161016_046569e53d1d66cd445cc66c697c0ef724810aec9f54bdf827481e3cd6b80c32.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20241018161016_046569e53d1d66cd445cc66c697c0ef724810aec9f54bdf827481e3cd6b80c32" data-rendition-name="original" width="2356" height="1134" loading="lazy" alt="Kathmandu airport expansion"> <figcaption>Kathmandu Airport Expansion plan with extension of taxiways to the thresholds of runways 02 and 20 that will limit airport operations from 8 November 2024 - 31 March 2025. Areas in blue are existing structures, including the international terminal which in future will be the domestic airport, and the new international terminal near the north end of the runway,</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241018121028_6e17cc2ee87c1b02d78cb54905825b7aa15299b7a00f5eddb01a59579ab85c1a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241018121028_6e17cc2ee87c1b02d78cb54905825b7aa15299b7a00f5eddb01a59579ab85c1a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1353" height="1328" loading="lazy" alt="Kathmandu airport NT"> </figure>  CAAN has reportedly told international airlines to cut their flight frequency to Kathmandu citing the shorter operation hours and has told budget airlines to shift some of their flights to Pokhara or Bhairawa, or face cuts. Many airlines currently operate regular flights to and from Kathmandu between 10PM and 8AM: Air Arabia to Sharjah, Fly Dubai to Dubai, Jazeera Airways to Kuwait, Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong, Singapore Airlines, several Nepal Airlines flights, and one of four daily flights by Qatar Airways to Doha. Jazeera Airways, FlyDubai, and Thai AirAsia have applied and got permission from CAAN to begin regular flights to Bhairawa’s Gautam Buddha International Airport. Starting 9 November, FlyDubai will start making a stopover in Bhairawa before flying on to Kathmandu. Immigration, customs and security are all fully functional in Bhairawa. In Kathmandu, the next phase of the airport upgrade includes converting the current international terminal for domestic operations, the construction of a new international terminal where the domestic departure area is now, as well as moving the hangars and the Nepal Army Air Wing to the eastern side of the runway. The apron area will also double its parking space for widebody jets. This is part of a Airport Capacity Enhancement Project that was initially funded through a $80 million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the entire masterplan is expected to cost $800 million. This project is the latest upgrade to Nepal’s only international airport since it saw its first flight in 1949. The current international and domestic terminals are too small to handle the current annual traffic volume of 8.5 million passengers a year that is growing at 20% a year.

Kathmandu airport to cut flight hours

As Kathmandu becomes more congested and polluted, and with remote online work becoming the norm, many professional Nepalis are planning to retire in Pokhara, or move there.&nbsp; With its stunning mountain panorama, balmy winters and proximity to a profusion of wilderness areas, builders are responding to this demand with new townhouses, housing development and apartments. One such block of flats is the 10-storey <a href="https://sungavaapartment.com/">Sungava Apartment</a> located at Phulbari above the Seti River, near the point where it flows into and under Pokhara. The imposing structure near Manipal Hospital is almost complete, and on a recent visit the site was strewn with huge boulders unearthed while digging the foundation.&nbsp; The Seti brought down these boulders during a gigantic flood that geologists estimate happened 800 years ago when a chunk of Annapurna IV broke off and ploughed into the glacier below. Today, Sungava (means ‘orchid’) sits safely on a high terrace, 100m above the blue-green Seti and commands a view of Dhaulagiri, Annapurna South, Machapuchre, Annapurna III and IV.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024102411104_5f8fc736c86ea3c08d7bef43bb727081d3cc1a2caa55ae2b441717e6044de7e9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2024102411104_5f8fc736c86ea3c08d7bef43bb727081d3cc1a2caa55ae2b441717e6044de7e9" data-rendition-name="original" width="2016" height="1512" loading="lazy" alt="High living below the Himalaya NT"> </figure>  The soil here is conglomerate that has solidified like concrete, and the boulders were extracted by heavy earthmovers. It is intriguing to think that these metamorphic rocks as big as cars, rounded by glacial grinding, were once a part of a much higher Annapurna IV. Even for those with little interest in geology, Sungava is an ideal place to contemplate the tectonic forces that pushed these peaks into the sky to be sculpted into delicate shapes by wind, snow, earthquake and avalanche over millions of years. The view of the Himalayan panorama from Sungava’s many balconies are breathtaking when not obscured by clouds, or the haze that drifts in from across the southern border. On most days, just watching the towering pyramid of Machapuchre (Tamu name: कतासुँ क्लिको) play hide and seek with the clouds is mesmerising. There are rocks aplenty at Phulbari, and it is probably the flowers that grew along the flat terraces e that gave the place its flowery name. The boulders will hopefully be turned into a rock garden while landscaping. An nearby restaurant complex is making the best use of the stones in its design, using flat rocks as outdoor benches and tables. Sungava was designed by the husband-wife architect team of Deepak Sherchan and Jyoti Joshi of <a href="https://thedarkmermaidamarbshrestha.blogspot.com/2013/12/creative-builders-collaborative-cbc.html">Creative Builders Collaborative (CBC)</a>, which also built Heritage Plaza, Indreni Apartment and numerous other projects in Nepal. Sadbhavana retains CBC’s trademark Newari-style masonry and here it borrows from the orange brickwork of the old town of Pokhara, integrating it with modern design elements. A few of those heritage houses are still standing in Ganesh Tole and Ram Krishna Tole in Pokhara’s old quarter.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024102411108_5eb64a4885961b6d30781cefeb1e8a313da313ac5227c7a66b60f0c7d48d6fab.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2024102411108_5eb64a4885961b6d30781cefeb1e8a313da313ac5227c7a66b60f0c7d48d6fab" data-rendition-name="original" width="1362" height="595" loading="lazy" alt="High living below the Himalaya NT"> </figure>  About 400m from the apartment past a bend on the river, and down below three tiers of terraces in the canyon is a suspension bridge. Below it, the Seti is still swollen with post-monsoon flow as it tumbles away in a hurry to head down south.&nbsp; Back at the apartment, it is quiet, far away from the hubbub of Lakeside a 15 minute drive away, and in the lap of greenery. There are 52 units at Sungava and it already has a close-knit prospective community of professionals, including doctors, publishers, engineers, and businesspeople from the renewable energy and IT sectors.&nbsp; Some residents say they opted for a second home in Pokhara to make it a ‘base camp’ to explore the Annapurnas with its many hiking trails made newly accessible with new roads. With the NRN citizenship law, overseas Nepalis can now also buy the flats. &nbsp; The floor plans include options for north and south-facing 3-bedroom apartments with verandas, and the facility has underground parking has EV charging, heated pool, sauna and gym. There are still some unsold apartments with panoramic views of the mountains and one can imagine oneself at the kitchen with its huge window, humming a ditty while preparing breakfast: “खाना पकाउँ हिमाल हेरेर...”

High living below the Himalaya

When the United Nations held its Summit of the Future at its headquarters in New York in September, many world leaders, including Nepal’s Prime Minister K P Oli, highlighted the effect of climate breakdown in increasing the frequency and intensity of natural disasters. What did not get as much attention was the long term impact of the climate crisis on food production. In fact, heat stress, weather extremes and the consequences on rain-fed agriculture is already being felt worldwide, undermining the chances of the <a href="https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/">UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)</a> being met by 2030.&nbsp; The SDG’s 17 targets commit countries like Nepal to reduce poverty and inequality, end malnutrition, protect the natural environment, and ensure that citizens all enjoy health, justice and prosperity without leaving anyone behind.&nbsp; However, besides the impact of climate breakdown on agricultural production, in Nepal the area under cultivation is impacted by urban expansion, falling productivity and the need for expensive inputs like fertiliser and pesticides.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241019041052_626413c5baf4dae407ac9579231b41daeb51510aa636b75aeb7489d94cca6a62.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241019041052_626413c5baf4dae407ac9579231b41daeb51510aa636b75aeb7489d94cca6a62" data-rendition-name="original" width="999" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>Kathmandu's urban sprawl is eating into its fertile cultivable lands. Photo: TAYLOR MASON</figcaption> </figure>  Now, a new study led by Nepali researcher Prajal Pradhan at the University of Groningen in The Netherlands looks at how urban agriculture may offer a solution to falling food production and meeting SDG targets. The researchers evaluated 1,450 publications exploring the contributions of urban agriculture with both positive and negative effects, and published their findings in the journal Cells Report Sustainability. Urban agriculture can help achieve 17 SDGs, positively influencing 81 targets. However, it could also undermine 51 goals.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-vanishing-land">The vanishing land</a>, Taylor Mason “Urban agriculture offers immense potential for sustainable development, but realising this potential depends crucially on adopting practices that minimise its adverse effects while maximising its benefits,” Pradhan explains. Urban agriculture can substantially enhance urban food security, provide employment to the urban poor, serve as ground water recharge in built-up areas, and preserve open spaces that can serve as safe havens during disasters like earthquakes. However, it also presents problems like the potential health risks from contamination and the need for expensive inputs. &nbsp; “Urban agriculture plays a definitive role in advancing the SDGs, but achieving this requires tailored, context-specific solutions that address the unique challenges of different regions,” says Yuanchao Hu of Wuhan University in China and who is a researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. “But it needs equitable access and rigorous management of environmental risks.”&nbsp; Rapid urbanisation is eating into Nepal’s most fertile agricultural land, which means farming in remaining open spaces inside cities can be a viable alternative, especially as food prices rise.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241019041052_7b7c9413086226fbdc630d45acf772cfa1ced77a8970b9056ec5ec7e5226fdf8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20241019041052_7b7c9413086226fbdc630d45acf772cfa1ced77a8970b9056ec5ec7e5226fdf8" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="999" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>A vegetable patch in between new houses in Thimi. Photo: TAYLOR MASON</figcaption> </figure>  “The conversion of Nepal’s most fertile land into cities is a severe problem,” Pradhan told Nepali Times. “Crop cultivation, horticulture, agroforestry, beekeeping, livestock rearing, or aquaculture can all be farming activities within and around cities.”&nbsp; The study makes recommendations for sustainable practices that build on the positive aspects of urban agriculture while mitigating the downsides, thereby promoting more resilient cities in future. Research shows that urban agriculture has been helping many countries attain SDG targets by enhancing food security and biodiversity while helping education and preservation of open spaces.&nbsp; Indeed, many farmers from the hinterland who have settled in Kathmandu Valley or other urban areas of the country have been practicing urban agriculture, leasing neighbourhood patches or cultivating roof gardens both out of necessity because of inflation and falling income to grow their own food, and also as a fulfilling hobby. Saurav Dhakal, a sustainability advocate with Story Cycle and now research fellow at the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand, says there are socio-economic and environmental benefits of urban agriculture. “It provides benefits to all urban dwellers, regardless of their income status,” says Dhakal, “families get fresh food, and there are many other benefits like water retention, heat regulation and biodiversity. These are all public goods, so special government incentives may be needed.” It is not unusual to see vegetable patches and even paddy fields within inner city Kathmandu where an older generation of farmers are using available fertile land and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/rooftop-gardens-kathmandu,1415">roof gardens to produce fresh, nutritious food </a>to reduce their dependence on food items that have to be bought after being trucked in from large distances.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024101905100_1291ce98dbbb8caed8702ac4b1d469b3e13016d7ecaaf3bfd5f91c974d3c0c77.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="2024101905100_1291ce98dbbb8caed8702ac4b1d469b3e13016d7ecaaf3bfd5f91c974d3c0c77" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="999" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>An older generation of farmers are using any available fertile land to continue farming but it is getting more and more difficult. Photo: TAYLOR MASON </figcaption> </figure>  Nepal’s urban population grew rapidly from only 3.6% in 1991 to 25% today. There is large outmigration from the mountains to peri-urban areas of the Tarai, to Kathmandu Valley and Pokhara, with many young men then moving abroad for work. Kathmandu Valley’s population has swelled to nearly 3 million, and is growing at 6.5% a year. Dilip Shrestha, 71, used to work for Nepal Food Corporation, so he knew firsthand about inflation, shortages and vegetables with pesticide residue. So, when he designed his new house in Kathmandu, he built a spacious roof where he grows cucumber, ginger, garlic, coriander, onions, tomatoes, chili, beans, okra, pumpkin and lettuce. His family eats healthier, and he has reduced dependence on the market.&nbsp; The co-author of the Cell Reports Sustainability journal article, Daya Raj Subedi who is a PhD candidate at Beijing Forestry University, says urban agriculture also promotes inclusion and psycho-social wellbeing.&nbsp; He says, “A crucial finding of the study is the identification of opportunities and challenges associated with urban agriculture, it can promote sustainable transformation of society.” In Banepa, 55-year-old Bijaya Manandhar in her lifetime has watched the fertile farms of her neighbourhood that used to supply vegetables to Kathmandu, now completely built up with no open space left. The pandemic lockdown prompted her to turn to the family’s <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/rooftop-agriculture-on-the-roof-of-the-world">ancestral livelihood by growing food</a> not on terrace farms, but on the roof terrace. Manandhar is now a part of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/rooftop-agriculture-on-the-roof-of-the-world%5C%5C">कौसी खेती र करेसाबारी क्रान्ती</a> (Rooftop Farming and Garden Revolution) which has an online membership of 52,000, and awards annual prizes to women who excel in urban agriculture.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241019041052_7257f5def8f823f35a799fa6f6825e153f2ffa406ac11325d4fe74049b79e96d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20241019041052_7257f5def8f823f35a799fa6f6825e153f2ffa406ac11325d4fe74049b79e96d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="736" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>Rooftop farming is gaining popularity as a form of urban agriculture. </figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241019041052_beff1a4494ce896dd8fd383ee1f518e5448bcf7ea8bb138255391c7bcb9769ed.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20241019041052_beff1a4494ce896dd8fd383ee1f518e5448bcf7ea8bb138255391c7bcb9769ed" data-rendition-name="original" width="4000" height="3000" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> </figure>  Pradhan says the challenge now is to upscale such examples of successful urban agricultural practices so they support Neal’s efforts to meet SDG targets. He adds, “Crop cultivation around cities can be protected by land use plans and regulations. Promoting community-based agriculture, including rooftop gardens, requires community engagement and public-private partnerships across the food value chain.”&nbsp; Such support would accelerate the popularity of existing rooftop farming and community gardens in Kathmandu Valley, or kitchen garden initiatives in Pokhara, and building on traditional farming practices that are preserved and integrated into urban settings like in Bhaktapur and Banepa. In Lalitpur, the Women Entrepreneurship Facilitation Center promotes urban farming enhancing both sustainability and empowerment.&nbsp; Another co-author of the report, Yuanchao Hu from China says followup research of the team will aim to identify good practices in local urban agriculture practices. He adds, “There are examples of urban agriculture that optimise sustainability, ensuring that it remains a viable solution for cities globally while countries try to meet SDG targets.” Prajal Pradhan, Daya Raj Subedi, Kshitij Dahal, Yuanchao Hu, Prakriti Gurung, Sijal Pokharel, Sagar Kafle, Biplav Khatri, Sudeeksha Basyal, Monika Gurung, and Aruna Joshi. Urban Agriculture matters for sustainable development. Cell Reports Sustainability, 1:100217, 2024. [DOI: 10.1016/j.crsus.2024.100217] Prajal Pradhan (<a href="mailto:p.pradhan@rug.nl">p.pradhan@rug.nl</a>) This article is brought to you by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/" target="_blank">Nepali Times</a>, in collaboration with <a href="https://inpsjapan.com/en/" target="_blank">INPS Japan</a> and <a href="https://sgi-peace.org/" target="_blank">Soka Gakkai International</a>, in consultative status with UN ECOSOC.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240630110640_30c3782f9c09219bf1c249b51483a3cfb7a53a06d117d2aebd23ca7080d12758.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="20240630110640_30c3782f9c09219bf1c249b51483a3cfb7a53a06d117d2aebd23ca7080d12758" data-rendition-name="original" width="680" height="103" loading="lazy" alt="SDG logo"> </figure>

Back to the land in the cities

The 700-year-old Lakshmi Narasingha temple in Bhaktapur houses a rare half-lion and half-human incarnation of Lord Vishnu carrying the Goddess Lakshmi. The temple was destroyed in the 1934 mega earthquake that killed 10,000 people and destroyed many monuments in Kathmandu Valley. It was rebuilt by a German project in the 1980s, but as a single-storey structure instead of its original two-tier pagoda design.&nbsp; With new findings from in-depth research, Bhaktapur municipality began re-restoring the temple in 2021, preserving its original architecture.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241017131016_2fae38cce543ad7b1f6de632feb3e212e08ed1acedd747830e949d7b8e878f18.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20241017131016_2fae38cce543ad7b1f6de632feb3e212e08ed1acedd747830e949d7b8e878f18" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="In with the old in Nepal NT"> </figure>  “Our temples and heritage sites hold deep meaning. It is disheartening to witness how often they lose their original elements, whether by design or accident,” explains Kumar Chawal of the Consumer Committee of Bhaktapur. “There is a need to preserve our architecture and protect its historical value for future generations. Otherwise, we risk losing a vital part of our identity.” The Laksmi Narsingha restoration is similar to the Bhai Dega temple in Patan Darbar Square which also collapsed in 1934, but was rebuilt with a Moghul-style dome by the Rana government at the time. Only two months before the 2015 earthquake, heritage conservationists had started to rebuild Bhai Dega as the original three-tier based on early photographs. But priorities shifted when four other temples in the square were brought down by the 7.8M earthquake on 25 April 2015.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241017131016_697ea707d9ad163be5de5f2efbf5b70d3cab771adcc22f0fae6bf937c6cb0130.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241017131016_697ea707d9ad163be5de5f2efbf5b70d3cab771adcc22f0fae6bf937c6cb0130" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="In with the old in Nepal NT"> </figure>  This showed how damage to monuments in Kathmandu Valley spanned from one earthquake to the next. Bhai Dega restoration remains half-complete to this day because money for its restoration ran out.&nbsp; Whereas Bhai Dega restoration was done by the Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust with grants from western embassies and international foundations, in Bhaktapur it is the municipality itself that allocated the Rs30.7 million needed to restore the Lakshmi Narasingha temple. The expected date of completion is early 2025. The municipality and local communities are focusing on two main aspects: preserving the past and promoting localisation. The restoration team has designed a blueprint for the temple by using historical photographs and insights from older generations.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241017131016_182882fdc393c99e70d1d0490319e415229563666c4934e3a582426ebf00ca30.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20241017131016_182882fdc393c99e70d1d0490319e415229563666c4934e3a582426ebf00ca30" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="560" loading="lazy" alt="In with the old in Nepal NT"> </figure>  “At first, the Lakshmi Narasingha temple had only one entrance, but during the demolition process, we uncovered the foundations of four doors. Now, we are restoring all of them. This is an example of how our ancient structures have changed over time, often without our knowledge,” says Chawal. “Constructing temples is not like building houses. They carry historical and spiritual values, which is why they hold a special place in our hearts,” he adds. By replicating ancient design elements and rebuilding the temple as accurately as possible to its original form, the team has stayed true to Bhaktapur’s soul. But the restoration also revived ancient techniques that were in danger of being forgotten, generating employment for woodcarvers, masons, and contractors. The community of Bhaktapur’s Gahiti neighbourhood near the famous Nyatapola Temple has also set aside specific days for locals to volunteer in the reconstruction work. This has encouraged young people to take pride in ownership of their heritage. Families have also supported the effort by donating funds for bells, the temple pinnacle, and other structural features to the temple.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241017131016_db850ec0c084cdbe54f65bee92dad2ad8122d20fd60ec87ec086fbb9d2f72bd6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20241017131016_db850ec0c084cdbe54f65bee92dad2ad8122d20fd60ec87ec086fbb9d2f72bd6" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="In with the old in Nepal NT"> </figure>  “I feel at peace knowing I have contributed my sweat to restoring this temple,” said one volunteer. “It is our duty to preserve our temples and heritage. The Nyatapola area will look magical once this temple is completed.” Community mobilisation is a long-standing tradition in Bhaktapur. In the past, locals have actively participated in the restoration of other temples in the city, such as Bhairav and Nyatapola fostering a strong sense of ownership. This collective engagement has not only been crucial in preserving the city's historical monuments but also in strengthening the bond between local communities and their heritage, says officials at the municipality. While securing funding is essential, and the municipality showed it values heritage conservation, the Lakshmi Narasingha restoration is proof that active involvement and sense of responsibility of the local community is as important, if not more. Local involvement also means that the monuments will be cared for into the future, When locals take ownership of these efforts, the restored monuments are not only protected in the present but are also cared for in the future.