By sacking the person that many Nepalis credit for ending<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/power-cuts-are-back-in-nepal"> prolonged daily power cuts</a>, the coalition led by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-government-changes-again">Prime Minister KP Oli </a>has added fuel to the fire as anti-government forces plan protests in the coming weeks. A Cabinet meeting on Monday decided to replace the Executive Director of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA)<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/transformer-man"> Kulman Ghising</a> with Hitendra Dev Shakya. There is a sense of deja vu since both men led <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=9409">the NEA</a> in previous stints. &nbsp;Ghising had been NEA chief in 2016 and again in 2021, when he had replaced Shakya. Ghising is backed by Pushpa Kamal Dahal of the Maoist Centre, which is now in the opposition, and Shakya is regarded as being close to Oli’s UML. Relations between Ghising and Energy Minister Dipak Khadka have been strained for the past year after the NEA cut off <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-electricity-demand-soars">electricity supply</a> to industries for failing to pay dues dating back to 2016. At the time, factories were provided uninterrupted power from dedicated lines, while the rest of the country suffered power cuts sometimes lasting 18 hours a day.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250326070312_593aa13f73deedb75404e18be27a97c718c3486d67ba3bdcc6a9c7aa0405a4d7.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20250326070312_593aa13f73deedb75404e18be27a97c718c3486d67ba3bdcc6a9c7aa0405a4d7" data-rendition-name="original" width="1204" height="390" loading="lazy" alt="NEA"> </figure>  Industrialists cried foul and appealed to Minister Khadka and Prime Minister Oli, contesting the NEA’s overdue bill. Khadka, who is from the Nepali Congress (NC), is himself a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/missing-pieces-of-the-hydropower-jigsaw">hydropower </a>entrepreneur and his appointment as energy Minister was seen as conflict of interest. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/latest/kulman-ghising-to-stay-on?fb_comment_id=3199622240152768_3199919450123047">Ghising is largely credited </a>for having ‘ended loadshedding’ because he redirected electricity from industry to households -- even though imports from India and increase in installed capacity worked in his favour. Following Ghising’s dismissal, there were protests at Kathmandu’s Mandala intersection on Tuesday with demonstrators holding placards that read: ‘Kulman Ghising: Architect of a Bright Nepal’. Even members of the coalition government opposed Ghising’s sacking. Information Minister and government spokesperson Prithvi Subba Gurung on Monday said pointedly that he had no knowledge of Ghising’s removal. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/kulman-ghising-s-tenure-at-nea-in-doubt">Kulman Ghising’s tenure at NEA in doubt</a>, Ramesh Kumar Energy Minister Khadka has sought clarification several times from Ghising, accusing him of ‘insubordination’, and his main gripe was that the NEA chief worked ‘arbitrarily’ on back-pay tariffs from industrialists and making <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-india-power-play">energy agreements with India</a> on his own.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250325100352_3b03eec43ea6d58b854939cb3bccdec627c381d03abc58f3aba333b2c577add2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20250325100352_3b03eec43ea6d58b854939cb3bccdec627c381d03abc58f3aba333b2c577add2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1347" height="923" loading="lazy" alt="Sacking of NEA chief exposes cronyism"> </figure>  He did not like Ghising going off to India to talk about <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/blueprint-for-nepal-india-electricity-trade">power trade</a>, and questioned his authority to make deals bypassing the ministry. The minister even gave Ghising a performance ‘report card’ in which he was given zero out of 100. Speaking in Parliament on Sunday, Khadka warned that Nepalis would <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/power-cuts-nepal-here-to-stay,1701">once more have to suffer load shedding </a>because of Ghising. “We are in a situation where households may soon face power cuts. So Kulman isn’t really the hero bringer of light,” said Khadka, in remarks that were lampooned on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-social-media-contagion">social media </a>and newspaper cartoons.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250325100356_8b8eceb3a1d39f694ba38aba750ada91e648ca0a8451b2071169951d1833f732.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="20250325100356_8b8eceb3a1d39f694ba38aba750ada91e648ca0a8451b2071169951d1833f732" data-rendition-name="original" width="600" height="514" loading="lazy" alt="Cartoon in Kantipur by Abin Shrestha"> <figcaption>Cartoon in Kantipur by Abin Shrestha.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250325100356_dc19b92815359a91c6daa23d28f89a017af9aca6d97491a276e7d5d19d6fd9b0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="20250325100356_dc19b92815359a91c6daa23d28f89a017af9aca6d97491a276e7d5d19d6fd9b0" data-rendition-name="original" width="514" height="600" loading="lazy" alt="Front page of Naya Patrika "> <figcaption>Front page of Naya Patrika newspaper on Monday morning with coverage sympathetic to Kulman Ghising.</figcaption> </figure>  <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-suffers-another-winter-drought">A prolonged winter drought </a>and below-normal precipitation in March means <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/geopolitics-of-nepal-s-rivers">Nepal’s rivers </a>are running low, reducing the installed capacity of the mainly run-of-river <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-1st-hydroelectric-plant-is-a-museum-piece">hydropower plants</a> by one-third. In addition some of the bigger plants like the 456MW Tama Kosi were damaged in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/when-it-rains-it-pours-ksqprbu3">last September’s floods</a>. The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/spring-returns-to-nepal-s-mountaineering">spring season</a> shortfall coincided with India announcing it could not export electricity to Nepal during peak hours because of its own domestic demand. Ghising and Khadka appeared to be negotiating separately with India on increasing<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/balance-of-power"> power export to Nepal</a>, and often seemed to work at cross purposes. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/more-than-half-of-nepal-s-electricity-imported-from-india">More than half of Nepal’s electricity imported from India</a> The NEA under Ghising had been making up for the power deficit by cutting electricity to industries to maintain household supply. This month, industrial corridors in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-tarai-s-shrinking-forests">the Tarai </a>have been suffering power cuts from 6pm to 6am, forcing them to use diesel generators. These cuts have added to the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/pokhara-s-tourism-woes">woes of powerful businesses</a> which NEA had been pursuing to pay their back dues. Industrialists had been putting pressure on the government to rein in Ghising. Two industries did play part of the sums they owed to NEA last week, just before Ghising got the sack. &nbsp; Ghising had wide support in<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepalis-not-so-unhappy"> Nepal’s public sphere</a>, with some speculating that he may have political ambitions. Which could be another reason that the UML and NC are wary of him, since he could be a Maoist candidate in the next elections. Ghising has said he will contest his dismissal in court.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250325100356_1ab203b400602f8780bbffd35970df35f927d2c66fc3c68be67f443f7dcd327b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_26" data-image-id="20250325100356_1ab203b400602f8780bbffd35970df35f927d2c66fc3c68be67f443f7dcd327b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1069" loading="lazy" alt="Sacking of NEA chief exposes cronyism"> </figure>  It was during Ghising’s 2016 stint that he solved, seemingly overnight, debilitating power cuts. No doubt, he had some luck in timing, but being an electrical engineer himself also invested in upgrading transmission and distribution. “Some things were in place when Kulman Ghising came in, but what he did first was to free up 400MW from the dedicated line to <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=9511">industrialists,</a>” recalls energy expert Kumar Pandey. Ghising also benefited from the completion of the 140km transmission line from Dhalkebar to Muzaffarpur in India, which meant Indian exports could make up for the shortfall, allowing NEA to end power cuts to households. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/how-they-kept-nepal-in-the-dark-ages">How they kept Nepal in the dark ages</a> “He also arranged power cables to reroute energy distribution within the country, which was huge,” says Pandey. All of these actions freed up to 700MW in the evening, which Ghising was able to redistribute to the public. Ghising is also credited with effective negotiations with India to increase the export of 1000MW of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-precious-electricity-going-waste">Nepal’s surplus electricity</a> in the monsoon – despite India refusing to buy power from plants with Chinese investment or contractors. Electricity exports allowed NEA to go from being a loss-making entity to earning a profit of Rs11.36 billion over Rs53.18 billion in sales. “Bad infrastructure was causing localised power cuts. A transformer in Kohalpur would burn up and wouldn’t be fixed for a month, and we had no spares,” Ghising told a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy-yWmi4wCc">YouTube interview</a> two days before his removal. “<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=11138">Loadshedding </a>was also causing more loadshedding because consumption would soar when electricity was restored.” Ultimately, his dismissal reeks of politics, the business interest cronies and clashing egos. The only silver lining seems to be that Ghising’s replacement Hitendra Dev Shakya is also a grid development and power sector expert, and knows the sector well.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250325100356_836599bd3bcdb4d3d8f91d3f74dabe3c2976eb359690920377b7385904946ca7.jpg" data-media-id="editor_32" data-image-id="20250325100356_836599bd3bcdb4d3d8f91d3f74dabe3c2976eb359690920377b7385904946ca7" data-rendition-name="original" width="1419" height="946" loading="lazy" alt="Sacking of NEA chief exposes cronyism"> </figure>  Asking Ghising to ‘explain why he shouldn’t be removed from his position for insubordination’ essentially proved that this was a power play, and the NEA chief had to be removed because he was a ‘Maoist man’. However, the removal of a popular technocrat from the NEA could further anger Nepalis who are already disillusioned with established political parties and their cronyism. &nbsp;One barometer of public frustration is the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-ghost-of-monarchy-returns-to-haunt-nepal">growing support on the streets even for pro-monarchist forces</a> led by the RPP and RPP-N who are planning further nationwide rallies next month.

Vishad Raj Onta

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Sacking of NEA chief exposes cronyism

A cabinet meeting last week appointed former journalist Sharad Ojha as the chair of the Nepal Insurance Authority, the regulator of the sector. Ojha has no qualifications for the post as required by Nepal’s Insurance Act.&nbsp;
His family ties to Nepali Congress president <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/deuba-5-qh371fm4">Sher Bahadur Deuba</a> has been cited as the reason he got to bypass appointment criteria.
This is just the latest example. Bending the law to appoint <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-crony-communism-exposed">cronies</a> and special interest groups to leadership positions in regulatory bodies has <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/crony-communism">become the norm in Nepal</a>.
Ojha’s predecessor was former Home Secretary Surya Prasad Silwal, who was suspended two months before the end of his term in December after the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/ciaa-traps-small-fish-lets-big-ones-go">Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA)</a> filed a corruption case against him in the Special Court. Days after Ojha’s appointment, the court cleared Silwal of corruption charges.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/search?q=corruption+case">Nepal’s corruption carousel</a>
Before Silwal, the Nepal Insurance Authority was led by Chiranjivi Chapagain, a relative of Chandra Dhakal of the IME Group. Chapagain is accused of granting approval to 10 insurance companies under dubious circumstances and favouring <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/business/ime-insurance">IME Life Insurance’</a>s approval.
Meanwhile, intense lobbying by interest groups with ties to both <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-government-changes-again">Prime Minister Oli</a> and PM-in-waiting Deuba allowed Santosh Narayan Shrestha’s appointment as the chair of the Securities and Exchange Board of Nepal (SEBON) in December. Shrestha promptly paid his dues to the groups that put him in office by making preparations to grant them permission to operate stock exchange.
Shrestha was preceded by hotelier Ramesh Kumar Hamal, the recommendation procedure and committee for whom were changed to ensure his appointment.
During his tenure, Hamal hastily amended a law that allowed specific companies to sell premium stocks amid ongoing debates, &nbsp;and another one allowing the operation of stock exchanges with private sector investment instead of public companies. None of this raised eyebrows.
Hamal’s predecessor Bhishma Raj Dhungana, a former Nepal Rastra Bank official, was dismissed as SEBON chair following allegations of irregularities.&nbsp;
Most of these recent individuals were appointed heads of regulatory bodies under PM Oli and Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel and probably at their behest.
The appointments at the Nepal Insurance Authority and SEBON reflect a blatant disregard for the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/federalism-rule-of-law-and-the-judiciary">rule of law</a>. Such practice is also rampant in the cooperatives and real estate sectors, where <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-risks-being-blacklisted-on-money-laundering">illegal financial dealings</a> and bad faith business is modus operandi.
Meanwhile, Energy Minister Deepak Khadka, also a hydropower entrepreneur, is set on ousting <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/more-than-half-of-nepal-s-electricity-imported-from-india">Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA)</a> managing director <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/latest/kulman-ghising-to-stay-on">Kulman Ghising</a>. He previously ordered the removal of Dudhkoshi Hydropower Project CEO Bimal Gurung for criticising him on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/no-comment">social media</a>.&nbsp;
The minister has a major conflict of interest because of his involvement in private energy sector, and is pressuring parliamentary committees and regulatory bodies to amend the law to allow the sale of 50% of the shares of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/missing-pieces-of-the-hydropower-jigsaw">hydropower projects </a>during the so-called 'lock-in period', which prevents the sale of promoter shares.
Now, lobbyists have set their sights on the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). Maha Prasad Adhikari’s tenure ends in April, and the same groups behind the appointment of the chiefs of regulatory bodies like SEBON and Nepal Insurance Authority are going door to door of governing coalition leaders to have their candidate appointed.&nbsp;
The book Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson—co-winners of last year’s Nobel Prize for Economics with economist Simon Johnson—describes how public institutions are misused, weakened, and pushed toward failure by those with access to power.
Regulatory bodies are crucial to maintaining fair competition and ethical market practices. They exist to serve Nepal’s public. However, they are being deliberately undermined by special interest groups paying off authorities for plum positions that will enrich them and their political patrons. &nbsp;
The government ordered the Department of Money Laundering to ‘wait’ as the body sought permission to take action against Ajeya Sumargi for illicit dealing.
It was thus unsurprising that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) placed Nepal on its grey list in February for failing to take effective and result-oriented action to prevent money laundering.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/black-white-and-grey">Black, white and grey</a>, Ramesh Kumar
The international community has raised a red flag against malgovernance, political interference, conflicts of interest, and impunity. The world is watching, but Nepal’s politico-corporate interests are too deep in greed to care.
Ramesh Kumar

Public-Private Collusion

‘Do you want people to have access to telephony or do you want to fight corruption? If you want to fight corruption, these people will be completely cut off from information highway for the rest of their lives, okay, full stop. Make up your mind.’ British businessman and self-proclaimed ‘thought leader’ Mohamed Amersi sits across from The Guardian journalist Tom Burgis at his lawyer’s offices in London as he makes this matter-of-fact statement.&nbsp; Amersi was referring to the dealings of Nepali businessman and fixer<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=776#google_vignette"> Ajeya Sumargi</a>, one of the many subjects of his 2024 book Cuckooland: Where the Rich Own the Truth. This is Burgis’ third book, and he weaves a fast-paced tale with investigative reporting to chart the deal-making career of Amersi in the global telecommunication industry. The investigation traces Amersi’s backroom deals with associates of Russian president Vladimir Putin to Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of an Uzbek dictator. Inevitably, Burgis follows the trail to Nepal where a former Maoist commander turned prime minister wants to strike a deal with Lars Nyberg of the Swedish-Finnish firm TeliaSonera to break into the emerging market. Burgis' account of Amersi’s dealings in Nepal begins with the<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/if-birendra-was-alive-nepal-could-still-be-a-monarchy"> royal massacre</a> in 2001 and Gyanendra’s ascension to power. The new king stages a coup in 2005 and reimposes absolute monarchy, and on this new stage enters Ajeya Sumargi.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-richest-man-in-the-pandora-papers">Nepal’s richest man in the Pandora Papers&nbsp;</a> Sumargi starts out a smalltime businessman in Hetauda but soon climbs into the circle of movers and shakers in Kathmandu. He is self-made and has made a vocation out of knowing the right people in right places.&nbsp; And the right person to know in Nepal’s new political landscape was Gyanendra’s son-in-law, for whom Sumargi becomes a fixer, ensuring he becomes indispensable. Eventually this leads into his foray into telecoms just as mobile telephony was making inroads in Nepal. But Nepalis are sick of the conflict that had claimed 17,000 lives and of an authoritarian king. A people’s movement in April 2006 <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/lost-decade-of-post-conflict-transition,2139">forced Gyanendra out</a>, and the Maoists were subsequently elected to a Constituent Assembly.&nbsp; By then Sumargi had switched sides and sidled up to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal (aka Prachanda, the Fierce One) Both are pictured, above. He is soon cleaning up illicit funds the Maoists allegedly purloined from stipends meant for former guerrillas in UN-supervised demobilisation camps.&nbsp; Sumargi arranges luxury lodgings in Lazimpat for Dahal in a house purchased in the name of his sister-in-law. Sumargi’s proximity to power earns him a license for Hello Nepal.&nbsp; Enter: TeliaSonera, which at the time also owns and operates Kcell in Kazakhstan and Ucell in Uzbekistan, and Ncell which it acquired in 2008 in Nepal. At a meeting with TeliaSonera boss Lars Nyberg, Prime Minister Dahal suggests purchasing Hello Nepal to make the pesky issue of license renewal go away. Sumargi opens the doors. Telia Sonera opens its wallet. And Sumargi, says the book, coolly pockets $74 million from TeliaSonera’s acquisition of Hello Nepal. He greases the right palms, makes TeliaSonera’s problems go away, and prepares to become an additional $200 million richer.&nbsp; TeliaSonera’s operations in Uzbekistan unravelled after Swedish investigators found it had negotiated with the Uzbek president’s daughter Karimova to obtain licenses and frequencies in return for millions in bribes. Nyberg resigned, and the new management debated whether to pull out of Nepal too.&nbsp; Amersi is unhappy, Sumargi is livid and threatens to sue. Burgis writes that in the end ‘friendship prevails’-- Sumargi is compensated and TeliaSonera’s new directors bury the findings of the investigation into their Nepal operation. After the scandal, TeliaSonera rebranded itself as Telia and divested from Ncell, selling its majority stake to Malaysian conglomerate Axiata for $1.36 billion in 2016.&nbsp; Was Sumargi able to channel the ill-gotten wealth of Maoist leaders through his dealings with Amersi and Co, and if so, how much? Burgis is not able to tell: ‘Whether any of the riches Mohamed Amersi helped to guide towards Sumargi were shared with the Fierce One and the other Maoist leaders, I cannot definitively say.’ In any case, Sumargi offloaded the millions he made from the TeliaSonera deal to his offshore accounts, adding to his considerable wealth, as documented in a 2019 investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and Centre for Investigative Journalists Nepal (CIJ-N). Amersi, meanwhile, went on to speak at a University of Oxford event about tackling <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepal-s-corruption-carousel">corruption</a>. The irony is not lost. He is now among the major donors to the British Conservative Party, and rubs shoulders with the likes of Boris Johnson and King Charles. Much of the book is based on the author’s conversation with Amersi in 2023 at his lawyer’s offices, where he was invited by Amersi himself in order to ‘set the record straight’ after an ex-Conservative Party MP questioned his iffy financial dealings. In words that would prove to be more relevant than ever, Burgis writes . ‘Everywhere, the powerful are making a renewed claim to the greatest prize of all: to own the truth. The power to choose what you want reality to be and impose that reality on the world.’&nbsp; The footnotes in Cuckooland contain Burgis’ often derisive, wry commentary on Amersi’s indignant, expletive-laden interjections during his interviews. The footnotes are as interesting as the book’s revelations about Nepal’s crony communism. &nbsp; ‘Your agenda is biased against me, and so you are looking for skeletons,’ Amersi insists to Burgis during one of his tirades. ‘Write your book and you’ll see what happens to it,’ he says during another. The underworld that Burgis has shined his light on is bleak. The lines between <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/Kleptocracy-kills,3161">kleptocracy</a> and democracy are blurred, corruption runs rampant, and accountability and truth are lost to the wheeling-dealings that enrich oligarchs.&nbsp; Given the apathy and silence that has greeted the explosive revelations in Cuckooland, perhaps Nepalis would rather have access to telephony than fight corruption. &nbsp;&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241220121232_6b15740b65e4feddfc0afc9972cbfcee1852b8442338be2d2d697dc2357c7727.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20241220121232_6b15740b65e4feddfc0afc9972cbfcee1852b8442338be2d2d697dc2357c7727" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Cuckooland"> </figure>  &nbsp;

Shristi Karki

Nepal’s crony-Communism exposed

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141124/636cfc189c7e80680e0a0b6ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="620" height="364"/><figcaption>Illustration: NEPALI TIMES ARCHIVE</figcaption></figure>The cause of prolonged political paralysis in Nepal is cronyism, and the only way to uproot it is by tackling its source: vote-buying and campaigns funded by big business.The criminalisation of politics and the politicisation of crime means that it is becoming more and more difficult to separate business and politics. None of the parties are free of this cronyism which fuels corruption, and the business of politics.Those being investigated or convicted by the courts and criminals on the wanted list walk freely in and out of the prime minister’s residence. Lawbreakers become lawmakers. Gangsters become ministers.Post-1990, there have been many ways to get into politics: student union leaders and dropouts become whole-timers, retired bureaucrats try their second innings by joining parties, and the really smart ones take the short-cut to become legislators and ministers without even standing for elections. They buy their way to the top.Idealism has become a fairy tale. Politics without principle is possible, but politics without money is unimaginable. Political integrity has become an oxymoron. No matter how popular or honest politicians may be, they cannot win elections without financial backing. And the cash comes from businesses seeking a healthy return on investment.There are two ways to seek ROI from politics. Firstly, by offering a straightforward donation (a bribe in polite parlance) to a politician standing for elections and demanding a pound of flesh later. The second is to offer an even heftier ‘campaign contribution’ to directly become a nominated MP from that party without ever contesting an election.The constitutional provision to ensure proportional representation for marginalised communities has become the backdoor for tycoons to enter the House chambers.Education entrepreneur Umesh Shrestha became an MP through proportional representation, and he is now state minister for health.This was one of Sher Bahadur Deuba’s first ministerial appointments after assuming office two weeks ago, and one he took without consulting his party or coalition members, and it has understandably been met with much flak.Shrestha is a self-made but wealthy man, and has announced he will not take a salary as minister. Unlike politicians, he may be less tempted by petty payoffs. However, appointing someone who is setting up a chain of private hospitals to the Health Ministry is akin to putting a fox in charge of the chicken coop. The conflict of interest has sent a clear message to the public: anything goes in Nepal’s crony capitalism.Deuba had earlier appointed Shrestha as MP from the Nepali Congress reserve quota after the second Constituent Assembly election in 2013, and the private school operator sat in the Education Committee of the legislature.The prime minister has not been able to give a clear rationale for appointing Shrestha, and after widespread criticism of the move, he said rather ambiguously: “It won’t happen again.” It is clear that Shrestha is being rewarded for being a major party donor.This week, the Ministry of Health under the new businessman-turned-state minister announced that the private sector can import Covid-19 vaccines. How does this make sense when there are G2G agreements in place, COVAX doses are in the pipeline, and private importers will be competing with the government for vaccines from the same global supply chain?We can give Shrestha the benefit of doubt, and argue that the boy who came from Bhojpur to Kathmandu in his flip-flops to build a business empire, may be better at managing healthcare delivery than clueless and corrupt politicians who have been ministers before.In fact, if there is blame to be placed on anyone, it should be on an expensive system that allows greedy political actors to elevate their cronies to important positions in government.Who is next, Nepal’s richest man <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binod_Chaudhary" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binod_Chaudhary&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1628230509987000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHy8AJanSbKIsOE1kgjHV6i5VpGaQ">Binod Chaudhary</a> who is also a NC donor and MP?All this is nothing new, of course. Prime Minister K P Oli also promoted his favourite cronies, and appointed industrialist Moti Dugad minister. Cronyism was also in full display in the Gandaki Province drama last month: Dobate Biswakarma was all set to become the only Dalit minister in the provincial government, but he was suddenly supplanted by Bindu Thapa, a Deuba loyalist rewarded for his generous contributions to the party.When Nepal’s development is driven by sand mining magnates, quarry tycoons, and infrastructure contractors, it is no surprise that politics is also contracted out. This is why for politicians, ‘prosperity’ is measured by highways, bridges, view tower contracts, and not by quality schools, accessible health care and meaningful jobs for young Nepalis.<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/from-nepali-press/Elected-contractors,4182" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/from-nepali-press/Elected-contractors,4182&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1628230509987000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFjiW9tcKmZX0bJuBB7Bmhx_i7SCA">An investigation in this paper</a> after the 2017 elections showed that up to 40% of elected local government representatives were contractors who now rent out their own excavators and tipper trucks to themselves. This is behind the recent spurt of destructive road-building and unregulated natural resource exploitation.The way to address this rot is to stop allowing Nepal’s richest businessmen from using the quota for indigenous and ethnic minorities to become unelected ministers. The ballot box is not a cash box, and for Nepal’s equitable progress, the next election must stop votes being bought with notes.Transliteration of Shekhar Kharel’s <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/125267" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/125267&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1628230509987000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFdMPoAPlyZ3H5OCibSylDZy-9_mA">original op-ed in Himal Khabar</a> by Aryan Sitaula.

The business of politics in Nepal

Besides multiple <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/republicans-and-royalists-on-nepal-s-streets">street demonstrations </a>that gridlocked Kathmandu’s traffic for the past weeks, public discourse in Nepal has also been dominated by dangerously <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/air-pollution-is-more-dangerous-than-smoking">high air pollution levels</a>. Caused mostly by hundreds of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/wildfire-season-starts-early-in-nepal">forest fires </a>raging across the country, the smoke contains suspended soot particles that harms <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/playing-with-poison">human health</a>. Thursday’s rain have cleared the air somewhat, and many people will soon forget how bad the air quality was. But the time to address the roots of next summer’s fire season is now.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250411060440_d1a119716a9031aadfdd611d299348d436842d376a03e664b8d773957a237524.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20250411060440_d1a119716a9031aadfdd611d299348d436842d376a03e664b8d773957a237524" data-rendition-name="original" width="502" height="540" loading="lazy" alt="Wildfires"> <figcaption>EXTINGUISHED: Forest fires raging all over Nepal in the week after 3 March (above) reduced air quality, creating a public health hazard in Kathmandu and across the country. Each red dot is a fire detected by infrared sensors on the NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) satellite. But the rain on Thursday doused most of the fires (below) with more rain forecast over the weekend.</figcaption> </figure>  The reason everyone was talking about air pollution was because the<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-is-going-up-in-smoke"> smoke from wildfires</a> was visible. But much more toxic are the invisible and odourless <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-doubles-its-carbon-footprint">gases from vehicular and industrial emissions </a>which have always been there. The theme of World Health Day on 7 April this week was ‘Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures’ dedicated to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/saving-more-mothers-and-babies">preventing maternal and newborn deaths</a>. It is estimated that in Nepal, 30% of neonatal mortality can be blamed on air pollution. But that is only part of the story. Harmful as fine particulate matter is to human health, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ground-level ozone and other gases in vehicular emissions are more hazardous to health. While the concentration of suspended particulate matter tinier than 1.5 microns (PM2.5) is closely monitored, these toxic gases are invisible, not measured much, and the public is not aware about the dangers they pose. Surface ozone is produced by the interaction of various gases found when <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/fossil-fuels-poison-air">burning fossil fuels</a>. Besides being poisonous, ground level ozone contributes up to 0.23°C to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-mountains-are-melting">global warming</a> because it is also a greenhouse gas. A new policy brief by the Clean Air Fund titled The Case for Action on Tropospheric Ozone blames surface ozone for a half a million premature deaths every year, 54.8% of which are in South Asia. Ozone also stunts plant growth and reduces crop yields by 26% globally, and 11% loss in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/economic-benefits-of-saving-the-ecology">forest productivity</a>, the report adds.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250411060456_aa02a923f8b27544ae54d0220162678f5bbb5eeb8fc3c466173c22c49b3e9a85.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20250411060456_aa02a923f8b27544ae54d0220162678f5bbb5eeb8fc3c466173c22c49b3e9a85" data-rendition-name="original" width="998" height="724" loading="lazy" alt="Gas Chambers"> </figure>  Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/bad-air-and-polluted-politics">Bad air and polluted politics</a>, Sonia Awale Ground-level ozone is not emitted directly into the air like other gases, but is formed when oxides of nitrogen (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released from automobile tailpipes or industry smokestacks react chemically with each other in the presence of sunlight. The main source of carbon monoxide in Kathmandu Valley are its 1.2 million two-wheelers. “Usually the concentration of carbon monoxide is 200-500 parts per billion (ppb), this has increased up to 3,000 in Kathmandu. Meanwhile, ground-level ozone has gone from 70-80 ppb to 150 ppb,” says Ravi Sahu, regional air quality specialist with the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).&nbsp; Sahu says <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/no-smoke-without-fire-p7vb9dcj">rampant forest fires of the past weeks</a> have also added to carbon monoxide and ozone in the air, not just the fine particles that make up the visible smoke. He adds, “There isn’t much awareness about <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/poisoning-the-air-we-breathe">ground-level ozone and carbon monoxide</a>, we need to urgently look into it.” A distinction must be made between good and bad ozone. Stratospheric ozone protects living beings from harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun.&nbsp; Tropospheric ozone can again be separated into two types: ozone in the free atmosphere which is a greenhouse gas much more potent than carbon dioxide, and ground-level ozone which has adverse impacts on health and agriculture. ‘Cutting tropospheric ozone presents a unique challenge as it requires smart and fast action across multiple greenhouse gases and air pollutants, as well as multiple economic sectors,’ notes the Clean Air Fund's policy briefing. ‘It is a growing and neglected problem that needs an integrated approach on both a local and global level to tackle climate change and air pollution together.’ Dying young There was a time when Nepal made it to international news bulletins only if there were fatalities on Mt Everest. Now, Kathmandu’s bad air frequently makes headlines all over the world. This past week, the concentration of PM2.5 that harms human health was up to 40 times the WHO recommended guideline — adding to the poisonous gases already present from vehicle emissions. The Department of Environment says 40% of the pollution in the past weeks was from wildfires sparked by nearly 6 months without substantial rain over central Nepal. Most of the rest is from vehicular and industrial emissions from Kathmandu itself and across the southern border. NASA’s Fire Information and Resource Management System (FIRMS) which issues daily maps of fires, showed hundreds of blazes raging across Nepal on Wednesday, mainly in Chitwan, Parsa and along the East-West Highway.&nbsp; “If we look at the figures for the last few years, it is clear that wildfires have become the biggest source of air pollution, they are seasonal but have overtaken vehicular emissions,” says urban planner and environmentalist Bhushan Tuladhar. “Forest fires, stubble burning, and open burning of garbage are the bigger problems now. Nepal, India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan are at risk every year, we shouldn’t further delay in finding solutions,” warned air quality expert Bhupendra Das during an event on air pollution organised on 7 March by the Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists (NEFEJ).&nbsp; Indeed, studies have shown that in winter 60% of the air pollution over Kathmandu is transboundary from the south, and in November it is compounded by smoke from crop residue burning by farmers in India and Pakistan blown in by prevailing winds. Forest fires are a regular pre-monsoon occurrence in Nepal, often intentionally set by farmers and herders to stimulate new grass growth for livestock. Winter rains have failed for eight of the past ten years, and this means the fires often spread out of control. The other reason for the increase in wildfires is the doubling of forest fires to 46% of the country’s area in the past 25 years. But this has happened simultaneously with outmigration, with some mountain districts losing 30% of their population between 2011-2021. With less pressure on forests for fodder and firewood, the undergrowth of community forests is loaded with dry fuel just waiting for a spark. The bowl-shaped topography of Kathmandu, Pokhara and other valleys further concentrates pollutants as they are trapped by surrounding mountains. But a year with a high number of wildfires is usually followed by a year or two with fewer incidents. For example: there were 6,537 fires in 2021 but the following year the number was down to 1,528. There were 5,216 fires last year, this year the number has already reached 1,800, and the trend is likely to be broken. Heavy rains forecast for the coming days are expected to douse some of the fires and clean up the air. But the damage has been done: Kathmandu residents of all age groups this week crowded clinics and hospitals with burning eyes, itchy throats, difficulty breathing, headaches, and dizziness. But in the longer term, soot particles that are tiny enough to jump the blood-air divide in lung capillaries do not just cause Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), asthma, but also cancers, heart attacks, strokes, birth defects and other chronic diseases. The latest Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) report by the University of Chicago shows that the annual concentration of PM2.5 in Kathmandu’s air rose from 17.87µg/m3 in 1998 to 31.33µg/m3 in 2022. Air pollution has got worse by 75% in Kathmandu in 25 years. During this time, air pollution has reduced the average life expectancy of Kathmandu’s residents by 3.5 years. According to the Health Effects Institute in Boston, dirty air is among the biggest public health concerns in Nepal killing over 42,100 a year. The adverse impact of high levels of air pollution is not limited to public health, it is seriously affecting tourism. Operators in Pokhara this week said that there were many negative online posts by visitors unable to see the famous panorama of Machapuchre and the Annapurnas even from Sarangkot. Aviation is also affected, as planes have to circle sometimes for hours burning a lot of fuel because of runway visibility being below minima at Kathmandu airport. The higher fuel cost is just passed down to customers, making air tickets in and out of Kathmandu some of the highest in the world. Kathmandu, with a population of four million, has not implemented a concrete policy to curb toxic air despite having formulated various action plans and repeated commitments by the government to protect the environment and control air pollution. The Department of Environment’s 2017 Air Quality Management Action Plan for Kathmandu put forward a policy to reduce air pollution caused by vehicles which was approved by the Cabinet, but has yet to be put to practice. The action included the immediate implementation of the Euro 5 emission standard to reduce pollution emitted by vehicles. However, Nepal has not even been able to implement Euro 4 standards so far. India, meanwhile, has already moved forward with the implementation of the Euro 6 standards. Says Ravi Sahu: “Air pollution in Nepal is not just about air pollution, it has ties to tourism, aviation, the economy so we must be prepared for annual conditions like forest fires, and this requires urgent interdisciplinary collaboration.” &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250411050452_821d09e283d8a590f1369bfb71b9b7fc6d950726e0651ea86c6488d04deb1742.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="20250411050452_821d09e283d8a590f1369bfb71b9b7fc6d950726e0651ea86c6488d04deb1742" data-rendition-name="original" width="839" height="784" loading="lazy" alt="Silent Killers"> </figure>  &nbsp;

What is invisible is more dangerous

On Tuesday, leader of the monarchist RPP once again gathered on Kathmandu’s streets to deliver fiery speeches, but this time there was no arson and looting and no need for riot police to fire live rounds or tear gas.
RPP leaders demanded the release of their members including vice-president Rabindra Mishra and MP Dhawal Shamsher Rana were arrested during the violent <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/republicans-and-royalists-on-nepal-s-streets">28 March protests at Tinkune </a>which left two dead. 
They denounced the current leadership of the main parties, demanding the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepal-party-reincarnating-hindu-monarchy">restitution of Nepal as a Hindu kingdom</a>. They also said the government was responsible for the fatalities on 28 March because it provoked its rally with a tear gas attack even before it started.
It has now been revealed that the police fired at least 100 live rounds from high powered assault rifles at the crowd. Twenty-one of the 120 injured received bullet wounds, and most of them were bystanders and people trying to reach home. 
Tuesday protest on the Ring Road in Balkhu was much more subdued, and comparatively fewer RPP supporters showed up. The arson and vandalism in the previous protest appears to have cost some support for <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-ghost-of-monarchy-returns-to-haunt-nepal">former king Gyanendra </a>especially for the anointment of medical tycoon and bank defaulter <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/street-politics">Durga Prasai </a>as ‘commander’ of the Tinkune rally.
Some monarchists acknowledge Gyanendra’s mistakes when was king 2001-2008, but say he has had a lot of time to reflect on his shortcomings and seems more disciplined and committed. His supporters have tried to build on nostalgia among some Nepalis for<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/why-invest-in-nepal"> domestic stability </a>and international respect that <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/if-birendra-was-alive-nepal-could-still-be-a-monarchy">the monarchy</a> commanded. 
“Nepalis were promised better service delivery, opportunities for the underserved, as well as better, more honest use of state resources, but the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16992">people in leadership </a>have not been able to deliver on their commitments,” says RPP leader Prakash Chandra Lohani. “The gap between their rhetoric and reality has widened, the people feel betrayed, and the respect Nepali people had previously had for them has changed to revulsion.” 
Indeed, many commentators have warned the three main parties and their <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/politics-as-usual">serial prime ministers</a> who have ruled Nepal for much of the past 30 years should address rising public anger with them, and see the writing on the wall.
‘<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-government-changes-again">The UML, NC and Maoists</a> must introspect about their conduct,” warns Gunaraj Luitel, editor of Nagarik, in an op-ed this week. ‘These leaders for life may save themselves from simmering public anger, but they will not be able to save the system. The monarchist wave can only be dispelled when citizens are assured of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-local-election-gives-power-back-to-people">better governance</a> through <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/latest/real-world-training-for-youth-leaders">younger leaders</a>, and reforms.’ 
Rifts between radical royals who are gunning for a return to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/mob-movement-and-mayhem">Panchayat-style absolutism </a>and moderate monarchists who favour a constitutional king have also weakened the movement somewhat. The split between the RPP and RPP-Nepal cost the royalists numbers in Parliament in 2022, and both parties denounced the violence last month, albeit shifting the blame on the government.
The irony is that the same royalists who want to scrap the republican Constitution had formed electoral alliances with the UML during the 2022 elections. RPP-Nepal chair Kamal Thapa contested the 2022 election with the UML. Thapa has not taken part in the last two rallies, saying he will only be a part of a movement under a national flag, and not a RPP party banner.
For his part, the RPP’s Rajendra Lingden is said to be hesitant to censure some of his party’s more radical royalists for fear of fissure within his ranks, despite his aversion to Durga Prasai’s role. 
Analysts have questioned why <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/old-is-still-gold-in-nepali-politics">supporters of the monarchy </a>have decided to reestablish an institution that would not ultimately have executive decision-making power. There are doubts about whether authoritarian-minded Gyanendra will be satisfied being a <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=13957">ceremonial king</a>. 
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-deja-vu-on-black-friday">Nepal’s déjà vu on Black Friday</a>, Sonia Awale
"The Nepali people will not accept <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/forgotten-woman-who-sheltered-communist-activists">an absolute monarchy </a>at this point of time, and both the public as well as <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8371">king Gyanendra</a> are fully aware that there is no other possibility beyond a constitutional monarchy," asserts the RPP’s Lohani. “The traditional monarchy’s institutional capacity might have been enough to meet the needs of feudal Nepal, but an absolute monarchy is impossible both in concept and practice in the context of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/Economic-Class/waiting-for-an-industrial-revolution,784">modern day Nepal</a>.”

New year revolutions

Every earthquake, even a minor one, shakes <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/clash-of-cultures-in-bhaktapur">Bhaktapur</a> more severely than other parts of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/time-capsule-of-kathmandu">Kathmandu Valley</a>, and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-traditional-seismic-resistant-designs">seismologists</a> attribute this to its soil structure. It was no different<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lessons-not-learned-from-2015-o2etq6zu"> in 2015 when a 7.8M earthquake rocked central Nepal</a>. Brown dust from collapsed buildings blanketed the town like a sand storm. Even 10 years later, the scars of that disaster are all around, even though most of the monuments have been rebuilt.&nbsp; At the entrance to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/clash-of-cultures-in-bhaktapur">Bhaktapur Darbar Square</a> is the Rameswar temple, where workers are lifting bricks to repair the damage. The Vatsala Durga temple inside the palace complex collapsed, but the all-stone structure has been masterfully restored.&nbsp; The Yaksheswar Mahadev temple is encased in a bamboo scaffold. Piles of bricks and tiles &nbsp;are stacked below it. Some workers are on top of the temple, while others work on the ground mixing mortar. To the north of the Darbar Square is the Fasi Dega temple which has been rebuilt. The 55-window palace and the art museum which were damaged have also been repaired.&nbsp; The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nyatapola-alight">five-storey Nyatapola</a>, which survived both the 1934 and 2015 earthquakes, just underwent a $6.3 million renovation. In Taumadhi Square below, the Biska Jatra chariot is under construction for upcoming festivities. Some tourists are on it, posing for pictures.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250407090432_8da447f3cf32a67ba22eedda74af74a6636cd001b544a303eb8e5f8adf3115e3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250407090432_8da447f3cf32a67ba22eedda74af74a6636cd001b544a303eb8e5f8adf3115e3" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1284" loading="lazy" alt="Bhaktabur rebuilt 10 years after Nepal earthquake NT 1"> <figcaption>All photos: AJAY HAKAJU</figcaption> </figure>  Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Monumental-loss,2215">Monumental loss</a> At Pottery Square, three workers sit atop an under-construction structure whittling away with chisels. Nearby houses are still supported by wooden beams. Dattatreya Square was also damaged during the earthquake, but has been renovated.&nbsp; <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/born-again-after-the-earthquake">After the earthquake</a>, the international community rushed in with offers of help. Kathmandu’s Hanuman Dhoka was restored by the Chinese, Gaddi Baithak by the Americans and various countries ‘adopted’ other monuments. But Bhaktapur declined assistance. UNESCO wanted to be involved since Bhaktapur had been a World Heritage Site since 1979. Germany wanted to help with a €10 million grant, since it had spearheaded the Bhaktapur Development Project 40 years ago.&nbsp; “We believed that we should be able to reconstruct our monuments ourselves,” says Ram Govinda Shrestha, an architect with the municipality. Indeed, Kathmandu Valley has historically rebuilt after every major earthquake with its own resources. Architect and conservationist Rabindra Puri says, “It is shameful to let someone else come in and do the reconstruction for us, especially since the manpower and material would be ours anyway. Why use money from elsewhere?”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250407090436_7f19bc8a185c9f71404db44fba086438d6c29a3acb63a63d027cbdd4053e1b4f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20250407090436_7f19bc8a185c9f71404db44fba086438d6c29a3acb63a63d027cbdd4053e1b4f" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1123" loading="lazy" alt="Bhaktabur rebuilt 10 years after Nepal earthquake NT 1"> </figure>  The budget for reconstruction came from the government, town entry fees, taxes, and donations. That was the easy part. But this was followed by multiple discussions between the municipality, the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), the Department of Archaeology, and multiple stages of proposals, designs, estimations, and building. New committees had to be formed at every step. “Part of the reason why there were so many steps is because we have to let the government know that we were working as frugally as possible,” recalls Shrestha. It cost more than $200 million to rebuild the 116 heritage structures that were destroyed and damaged.&nbsp; Nevertheless, Bhaktapur stands as a model of locally sourced reconstruction in every way. Community people themselves got their hands dirty along with domestic workers and learned various aspects of reconstruction. “We showed what is possible when locals feel a strong sense of responsibility,” adds Shrestha. Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/tourists-trickle-back-to-Bhaktapur">Bhaktapur is waiting for you</a>, Peregrine Frissell But while the monuments were rebuilt, it was not the same with residential buildings. Many of them still have cracks running down their brick façades, and some neighbourhoods are still in ruins with small trees and bushes growing from the rubble.&nbsp; More than 300 people were killed and over 2,000 wounded in house collapses in Bhaktapur. There were some dramatic rescues, including of a baby Sonish Awal who was rescued by an APF team 24 hours after being buried under the rubble.&nbsp; Sonish is now 10 years old, and his house has been rebuilt. The government vowed to ‘Build Back Better’ as fast as possible, by removing bureaucratic hurdles and grant Rs300,000 in three instalments, as well as access to loans at low interest. But things did not go smoothly.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250407090436_d503e5c966f33978abf99a0fa8307369d81bcc6a6e5d768cf88b7dee273cb6cf.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20250407090436_d503e5c966f33978abf99a0fa8307369d81bcc6a6e5d768cf88b7dee273cb6cf" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1123" loading="lazy" alt="Bhaktabur rebuilt 10 years after Nepal earthquake NT 1"> </figure>  “Bhaktapur is very dense, so there was a lot of confusion about where property lines ended, and where walls were,” says Biswanath Sujakhu, a municipality engineer. There were also disputes in families with multiple sons who had stakes in the house, as the act treated them as a single household.&nbsp; Many of the disputes have not been resolved yet, which is why there are so many ruins. &nbsp;Homeowners who chose to remake their houses to look traditional were promised further subsidies of up to Rs300,000, but even that was not enough to pay for the Rs5 million or so needed to build a multi-storey cement structure.&nbsp; Banks weren’t giving loans easily, and multiple changes to the NRA chief meant the grants were not easy to access. Many residents took high-interest loans from local cooperatives. Or they were forced to undersell their land plots. “Bhaktapur also had restrictions about the styles and height of buildings, but many houses didn’t comply as people could only work with the money they had at the time,” adds Sujakhu. Nepal Vocational Academy, established by Rabindra Puri two years before the earthquake in 2013, played a crucial role. The academy produced enough masons, woodcarvers, and stone carvers so that there wasn’t a shortage. The students were also involved in <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/guest-editorial/guest-editorial-better-late-than-never,891">reconstruction efforts</a> across the country. Puri has just one gripe: “A lot of old houses that were perfectly fine were torn down for no reason. Those houses are 200-300 years old and could have been restored instead of being reconstructed.” &nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/in-with-the-old-in-nepal">In with the old in Nepal</a>, Shriluna Shrestha

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