<figure><img width="1316" height="640" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141132/636bac929c7e80680e077f3djpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Nepali workers stranded by the COVID-19 flight ban returning from the UAE last week. Photo: GOVINDA REGMI</figcaption></figure>There should be a simple rule of thumb to decide whether interventions in Nepal’s migration sector are useful: does it help the worker?
However, the gap between policies and the ground reality is so wide that the most vulnerable migrants often fall between the cracks. Nepal announced free-visa-free-ticket policy, but workers still pay exorbitant amounts to get jobs. Domestic work was banned, but workers bypass it.
The consequences of these policy failures are felt especially strongly by migrants during the crisis. Nepali migrant workers like <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/long-and-winding-road-home-to-nepal/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/long-and-winding-road-home-to-nepal/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1594271742551000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE1og5ZgWpyN7fiJCWxplYvz2XZ_A">Miya</a> paid $3,450 for a job in the UAE. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/one-way-ticket-home-for-overseas-nepali-workers/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/one-way-ticket-home-for-overseas-nepali-workers/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1594271742552000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG-fDKwam_zzCcE2bKV4k5t3wVnKA">Laxmi</a> travelled overland through India to Kuwait to circumvent the ban on domestic work.
The lapses in the repatriation of workers have been well-documented. There are many players engaged in promoting worker welfare, and it is when there is a crisis like COVID-19 that society needs to step up to help fellow-Nepalis in need.  
If a repatriated worker is <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-high-cost-of-returning-to-nepal/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-high-cost-of-returning-to-nepal/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1594271742552000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFJ6ycwNpV7IVLI6eNvoWbd5S1O5w">thrown out of a bus</a> taking female returnees from Kuwait home from a quarantine centre because she had no money, then it means the system is not working, and there are too many lapses.
A recent project initiated by the <a href="https://www.ilo.org/kathmandu/lang--en/index.htm" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ilo.org/kathmandu/lang--en/index.htm&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1594271742552000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHw5X-XSThGnZ3B_w5Ki8U5QvIGMQ">International Labour Organization (ILO)</a> has taken a more practical approach towards addressing problems of repatriation. It has involved  destination countries where migrants are stranded and embassies are overwhelmed, and in their management upon arrival. It engages unconventional partners like Nepal’s embassies abroad and the Non-Resident Nepalese Associations (NRNA).
The project supports Nepal’s embassies by adding volunteer staff, extending their reach outside the capital by setting up outreach camps in major migrant hotspots, providing paralegal support by adding legal staff to facilitate mediation with employers or providing short-term shelter support to those displaced.
At the Nepal end, the project provides transfer and transportation to ensure more humane reception of returnees at the holding centres and their transportation to home districts. The initiative pushes more unconventional interventions at ground level among Nepali workers stranded in the major destination countries, and can be replicated elsewhere as well. 
<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-struggles-to-make-repatriation-easier/">Nepal struggles to make repatriation easier</a>, Nepali Times
The ILO’s Nepal Country Director <a href="https://twitter.com/richardhilo" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/richardhilo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1594271742552000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHIiBZHyPN8E2j-8rqpUyTGUQbM9A">Richard Howard</a> spoke to Upasana Khadka at Nepali Times about the overall situation of migrant workers during the pandemic. 
Nepali Times: What is so unique about this project? 
Richard Howard: This is not a new project, but the key thing about our approach with support from the Swiss government was to help Nepali missions abroad provide for migrant workers during normal times. There are lessons to learn from countries like Sri Lanka and Philippines on their one-country-team approach to support migrants in the destination country. And the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, even before the pandemic, has been keen on moving in that direction to strengthen Nepal’s missions abroad. It takes time to bring such changes, especially in countries where the volume of workers is high. When COVID-19 came about, it showed more than ever the need to have services in place. We often realise what we don’t have during a crisis, and this pushed us to think about what we could do this year to help the missions respond better to the needs of the large share of vulnerable migrants.
What about countries where Nepal does not have embassies? 
We had to start where the numbers are the biggest and we may have to make adjustments as we go along such as add countries, but we need to move quickly. There are also other countries with stranded migrants even if the numbers are smaller and without missions where you can tweak the model in response to the context and work with different types of partners there.
Some migrants cannot afford tickets, and even if the Foreign Employer Welfare Fund (FEWF) was mobilised it would exclude those without valid labour approvals who are the most vulnerable. Should we think beyond the Fund? 
The government has an obligation to support all workers regardless of their legal status. Many left irregularly because of the bans in place and they did not have alternate options domestically, and now they are stuck. FEWF might be a tough sell because it is based on contributions by workers that have paid into it.  All of us have an obligation to help all workers, both the government and the big international donors. The latter would also be willing to support if the government moved in that direction. It also points to the need to reconsider policies like the ban that have made workers more vulnerable even if they were imposed to protect them.
What about the role of the private sector? Their business is impacted negatively, but they also have a history of fleecing workers. 
First and foremost, foreign employers have an obligation to workers and destination countries need to ensure that employers are held responsible to play their part. But those industries are also suffering, so it has to be a sharing of the burden between the government and private sector in the destination countries and in Nepal. As for recruiters, we need to recognise that they are a mixed bag, and it is not fair to characterise them in a singular way. They play a vital role and are needed for foreign employment. Even before COVID-19, they were already facing a crunch as outflow was declining. COVID-19 has reduced their revenue virtually to nothing so at this point, we do need to be realistic about what we can get from them. But this is a good time to think about reform of the industry in a way that allows them to stay in business, but also holds them accountable. And they have to be on the table as we come up with solutions.  
What about redeployment programs in the destination country for migrants who are displaced but want to stay on?
In countries with a surplus of labour and a demand for workers, they could look at redeployment programs in a large way to channel migrants to opportunities, and that is the strategic thing to do by the labour ministry and the technical/vocational industries in the country. But the skill-sets of migrants needs to be considered, and transitions are easily possible in some cases and maybe not in others. Even if workers come to Nepal, it is also the obligation of the government here to help train workers to meet the demands of the global market as well because migration is not going to go away. Creating 0.5-1 million jobs domestically takes long term structural changes that will take years, so migration should continue to be a part of the strategy. We should not inhibit migration, but it has to be done in industries considered safe with the right kind of protection and we need to be creative in identifying new opportunities. The adjustments that need to be made in the recruitment process such as pre-departure training  and medical tests are nominal changes. But it has to be done on a case by case basis depending on the situation of the destination country. We are all in unknown territory now, and it is hard to know what is coming. But the larger lesson is that social protection needs to be provided to migrant workers, both while working overseas and after their return- this should be built into BLAs and really implemented.
Bilateral, regional and global platforms exist on migration but what has their role been in the context of the pandemic? Do we need to rethink them? 
Bilateral, regional and global in terms of practical implementation on what it means for migrants are distant from their realities. They are necessary, but they are very much just at the starting point, and if we cannot deliver on the practical protection, we need to be more critical. Among the three, bilateral labour agreements are supposed to be the most practical, but they are not being implemented. We have to draw on lessons from countries like Philippines that have focused on the implementation of the agreements. It is possible, but it takes a lot of communication and follow up from governments and other related institutions. Regional frameworks have been a little disappointing during the crisis but we also need to look inwards to our own organisations including ILO and ask if we are practical enough. All international standards, frameworks and forums mean nothing if we cannot protect workers in a crisis. And we need to do better at being quick, practical and responsive -- not just during the crisis, but every day after this. If we look at the history of ILO and history of standards over the decades and question whether the standards we set are making an impact, we see progress and impact because there are minimum wages in most countries, and workers are benefiting from measures like pensions and maternity insurance that are necessary, but we also need an adaptive side to us that is also more responsive and practical. 
Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/returnees-need-help-to-get-back-to-farming/">Returnees need help to go back to farming</a>, Rastraraj Bhandari and Sangam Paudel

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Helping hands for Nepali migrants in distress

The monsoon has got bad press because Nepal’s tourism operators actively told visitors to avoid <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/managing-the-monsoon?%2F">the rainy season</a>. It is time to change that. The reason can be found right here in the vast alpine meadows of Central Nepal where this time of year you can walk on velvet grass of pastures abloom with delicate pink, red and yellow flowers as the mist rolls up the valley. There is no sound except the hum of bumble bees. &nbsp;&nbsp; There are dozens of places across high Nepal called Chaurikharka, which means yak pasture. But this particular Chaurikharka in Rukum East located at an altitude of 4,000m stands out for its serene beauty, rustic charm and bucolic setting. There is just the occasional chime of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/when-yaks-go-so-does-culture">yak bells</a> in the distance, and the sharp whistle of herders corralling sheep. &nbsp;&nbsp; The grass shoots are so fragile that one hesitates to step on them, the rounded ridges appear and quickly vanish in waves of mist. With the<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/before-the-next-monsoon"> arrival of monsoon</a>, these meadows are a soothing shade of green dotted with millions of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/the-anatomy-of-a-flower?%2F=">multi-coloured flowers</a>. Until very recently, it took a week or so to hike up to places like Chaurikharka, but with the expansion of the road network even to these far-flung mountains in the lap of Dhaulagiri, they are much more accessible. It is just a three-hour uphill from the Mid-Hill Highway on the border between Baglung and Rukum East.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250802130828_a0b06b494d751b2144ffbbf10894ea64b29e8aed844bc8c66171783abfaf4e16.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20250802130828_a0b06b494d751b2144ffbbf10894ea64b29e8aed844bc8c66171783abfaf4e16" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="Visit Nepal in the monsoon"> </figure>  Purists would say that such easy access devalues the sanctity of these remote high meadows, but it also means more people will be moved to treasure the experience, appreciate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/natures-fragile-gift-to-nepal">the value of nature </a>so they can take steps to protect it.&nbsp; To be sure, the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/deadly-monsoon-in-nepal-turns-deadlier">monsoon season can be challenging for road travel</a>. The roads are rough even at the best of times, and in the monsoon they become muddy and treacherous, often blocked by<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/monsoon-deluge-in-nepal"> landslides</a>. But that could be precisely the kind of adventure that the more intrepid visitors crave. Improved road connectivity has already made Chaurikharka and places like Badimallika &nbsp;and other sacred lakes in the mountains of western Nepal popular with domestic tourists. What is driving this traffic is the urge to go to exotic new places and share videos and selfies on social media. Several of Nepal’s travel vloggers have visited Chaurikharka and popularised the place, enticing followers on TikTok or YouTube to retrace their footsteps. But even as they become more popular, these fragile and once-remote places should be protected from over-tourism.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250731110736_f97110b7cdc3e7f80d5877690948fc9f4c95a09c583deb23b07355491e6c5446.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20250731110736_f97110b7cdc3e7f80d5877690948fc9f4c95a09c583deb23b07355491e6c5446" data-rendition-name="original" width="1083" height="699" loading="lazy" alt="Visit Nepal in the monsoon NT"> </figure>  <h2>INCREASING FOOTFALL</h2> Chaurikharka is located in Bhume Rural Municipality of East Rukum, near the scenic valley of Dhorpatan in Baglung district. Even in the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/monsoon-culture">middle of the monsoon</a>, there is a steady stream of Nepali hikers trooping to these high pastures – especially during festival days like Saune Sankranti which this year was on 17 July and actually marks the auspicious beginning of the monsoon here. “This year the rains have not been as heavy and there have been some clear mornings when we could see everything from Dhaulagiri to Machapuchre,” says Khageswar Bhandari, who trekked up here from the road. “The flowers, the greenery and the snowy mountain views make this an incredibly unique place.”&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250802130824_1b9e26f2e9853fdfe69154bb42a7c9ea6da4bf4940efc1da99b304dcfbd7d3d9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20250802130824_1b9e26f2e9853fdfe69154bb42a7c9ea6da4bf4940efc1da99b304dcfbd7d3d9" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1152" loading="lazy" alt="Visit Nepal in the monsoon"> </figure>  Chaurikharka is worthwhile to get to in any season, but it has a different charm during the monsoon. Word has spread and because it is now easy to get to from Baglung or even Pokhara, people have been flocking here.&nbsp; “Holidays and Saturdays see the largest crowds, with up to 500 visitors every day,” says ward chair Mankaji Pun of Bhume.&nbsp; There was a time not too long ago when local herders brought sheep, goats, cows, buffaloes, horses, and mules to graze here during the monsoon. Although there are still livestock around, animals have been replaced by visitors taking selfies. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-monsoon-and-nature-s-arithmetic">The monsoon, and nature’s arithmetic</a>, Tom Robertson Ward Chair Pun says infrastructure development is his main priority. A foot trail to Chaurikharka was built last year by the Tourism Division Office in Kohalpur, but access via the Raniwas-Koipa road section still remains challenging.&nbsp; “If we get more budget, we can improve the road and facilities to make Chaurikharka the main tourist attraction of this region,” says Bhume Municipality Chair Hom Prakash Shrestha. “After that, we hope to promote Chaurikharka as a top tourist spot.”&nbsp; Economic activity is also picking up with the arrival of visitors, but there seems to be a need to manage the makeshift sheds made of corrugated sheets that spoil the beauty of the place. Tea shops and lodges are also available but facilities are basic. Kuldeep Neupane took a three-day trip from Ghorahi in Dang to visit Chaurikharka recently, and says: “This is an ideal trip to make a quick getaway and let nature recharge your mind and body. And it is much more fun with a tent, to watch the sunrise over the Himalaya or the mist blowing in.”

Visit Nepal in the monsoon

Two weeks ago, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli announced jubilantly on social media that Nepal had achieved a historic annual growth of 81.8% in exports. He was right. Nepal’s trade did take a great leap forward compared to last year. But the dramatic rise was mainly due to processed soya bean oil.&nbsp; However, Nepal does not produce the edible oil it exports. In fact, the soya and palm oil that make up 44% of total exports are imported from Southeast Asia and South America, and simply re-exported, mostly to India.&nbsp; Under the SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Area) Agreement, Nepal can export products to India duty-free if it has at least 30% value-added. Nepal’s traders have taken advantage of SAFTA even though the edible oils they export do not reach that value addition threshold. “The 30% value addition requirement is often only on paper,” says former commerce secretary Purushottam Ojha. “It is clear that simply packaging edible oils in Nepal does not fulfil the terms of the trade agreement.” Prime Minister Oli is aware of this, and even called Nepal’s export figures “fake” at an earlier event. The government is relying on other iffy figures to suggest that Nepal’s economy is strong and getting stronger. For example, the value of imports rose by 13.25% in 2024-25 compared to the previous fiscal year.&nbsp; Some of it was due to a jump in electric vehicle imports worth Rs 31.76 billion, but mostly it was because more wholesale soya oil was imported to be re-packaged and sold in India. The very fact that the government boasts about increased imports is an indication of how much it relies on taxing them for revenue. Touting such trade figures cannot be the basis to claim an economic rebound.&nbsp; “A jump in the value of imports can be interpreted as an increase in purchasing power, but it is not evidence of a stronger economy,” says economist Keshav Acharya. “Even though imports have increased, Nepal's domestic production and productive capacity have not improved.” Nepal Rastra Bank's semi-annual economic activity study report shows that industrial production was down in the first six months of the last fiscal year. This despite an increase in the number of new industries registered and investment commitments. Out of the Rs70.2 billion proposed foreign investment, Nepal received only Rs17.9 billion last year.&nbsp; Meanwhile, the rate of capital formation was limited to 24% last year, which is lower than the year before, suggesting that new investment, job creation and economic expansion all declined. If domestic production does not improve in relation to this year’s inflated trade figures, the outflow will put pressure on foreign exchange reserves like it did three years ago. At that time, Nepal borrowed from the IMF under its Extended Credit Facility Program to kickstart the economy.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025080710084_2cdaaa5795828c4a7de93a0604ba884ef0a8b8f24cccd939f6c24e279ab6058f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2025080710084_2cdaaa5795828c4a7de93a0604ba884ef0a8b8f24cccd939f6c24e279ab6058f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1633" height="723" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal's bubble economy NT"> <figcaption>Source: NEPAL RASTRA BANK</figcaption> </figure>  The macroeconomy is on firm footing with foreign exchange reserves at a comfortable Rs2,520 billion in May, up 23% from last year. This was largely due to remittances, and partly due to a falling NPR exchange rate. Real estate transactions and the stock market index have also been climbing as a result of government policies to revive the sector.&nbsp; However, former executive director of Nepal Rastra Bank Nar Bahadur Thapa cautions: “This is not organic growth, it is the result of deliberate policy decisions to relax rules on real estate and stock markets transactions.” In reality, the sharp rise in land prices have increased the cost of production, and excessive monetisation of the real estate has become the main source of Nepal’s economic woes. The central bank has announced a slew of new policies, shifting the terms of loan repayment for industrialists and entrepreneurs, reducing interest rates, and injecting more working capital — all designed to inject adrenaline into the real estate and stock market sectors.&nbsp; When he was governor, Mahaprasad Adhikari made several financial reforms during the latter half of his tenure to stimulate the economy, including tightening credit flow.&nbsp; By the last fiscal year, additional financial reforms had resulted in a credit expansion rate of around 8%. As the pace of credit expansion slows, real estate prices have started to fall. This is actually beneficial to the economy, because it lays the foundation for improvements in land-related entrepreneurship, production, and the construction sector. Just because real estate and the stock market transactions increase, it does not indicate an economic turnaround — especially when manufacturing and productive sector continues to languish.&nbsp; “It is foolish to believe that real estate and the stock market have magically revived our economy. Agriculture employs more than half of the population, but it is in decline. Investment in the productive sector has not increased, and job creation has not increased.” Two years ago, Nepal’s industrialists, business leaders, and political leadership predicted a recession amidst a sluggish business, declining market demand, large-scale job loss, and a shrinking real estate and share market.&nbsp; Still, the economy grew by 3.36% in fiscal year 2023/24. In fact, Nepal’s economy has grown nominally over the last two decades even when all sectors of the economy are in decline.&nbsp; Says Keshav Acharya: “The growth in trade, real estate, and the stock market are bubbles. The real economy remains stagnant.”

Nepal’s bubble economy

The final investigation report on the crash of a Saurya Airlines jet on 24 July 2024 at Kathmandu airport has revealed flaws in the carrier’s technical operation procedures, poor monitoring by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) and gaps in the airport’s emergency response. Eighteen people including a child were killed, and only the captain survived as the plane plunged seconds after takeoff, crashing within the airport perimeter. This was the latest in a series of aircraft accidents in previous years, and further tarnished Nepal’s already poor aviation safety record and contributed to the country being retained in the EU’s air safety list. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The circumstances in the Saurya crash were different from the Yeti Airlines crash in Pokhara in January 2022 that killed all 72 on board, and two Tara Air crashes in February 2016 and May 2022 on approach to Jomsom that together claimed 45 lives. However, all four tragedies were a result of negligence of carriers and crew, failure to follow procedures, regulatory slackness, and overconfidence. The Saurya crash, especially, was a glaring example of how an ailing airline broke its own rules to allow passengers, including non-employees, a joy ride to Pokhara on a maintenance ferry flight. CRASH REPORT The Final Investigation Report prepared by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission and released on the first anniversary of the crash last week carried a long list of rules that were ignored or broken, and of regulatory failure. The first mistake was to cram spares, tools and inflammable chemicals needed for the aircraft’s C-Check in Pokhara into the cargo hold flouting its own ground handling procedures.&nbsp; There was no check-in of passengers, some of whom were not even employees – even though regulations say only flight and maintenance crew should be on board a maintenance positioning flight. Many brought their own luggage into the plane and stored it unsecured in the cabin. There was no flight attendant to give a safety briefing to passengers. The load and trim charts given to the flight crew were rough estimates, and the total takeoff weight of the plane was 18,300kg plus or minus 200 kg. That would still have been all right, but there was a glaring mistake in the speedchart Saurya pilots were using to calculate the minimum takeoff speed (known as VR), and it had been wrong ever since the 21-year-old aircraft entered service with the airline in 2017. FAULTY DATA&nbsp; The Commission probed Flight Data Recorder inputs from previous takeoffs of the Canadian-built CRJ200-LR in 2023-2024 and found that the undetected error in the speedchart had caused the plane to pitch up at an abnormal rotation rate at least 18 times on previous takeoffs.&nbsp; Any rotation rate more than 3°/sec is regarded as unusual. But on at least two occasions, this aircraft with tail number 9N-AME had rotation rates of 5.8°/sec and 5.5°/sec, the second one was when the pilot who survived was flying in March 2024.&nbsp; On this particular day, the plane’s rotation rate was 6.5°/sec, causing it to go into a deep stall soon after takeoff, the Commission report said. Essentially, the plane was not flying fast enough down the runway to take off safely.&nbsp; It is not yet clear whether excess weight, unsecured luggage, wrong centre of gravity were also factors, but relying on a faulty speedchart for the given takeoff weight, the captain flying pulled back on the yoke before the plane had reached takeoff speed and at a pitch angle that was too steep. The investigation report says the plane then went into a deep stall and started banking right with the stick shaking. At this point, the flight officer on the right hand seat is heard on the cockpit voice recorder saying: “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Sir, Sir, Sir…” It then banked left before the pilot flying turned the plane sharply to the right again in an evasive action to avoid the parking aprons of the international and domestic terminals. Had he not done so, there would have been a disaster of a much greater magnitude at Kathmandu airport that day. The plane scraped the runway with its right wingtip, collided with a container having helicopter spare parts, and plunged into a gully east of the runway, exploding in a fireball. The investigation also noted that the impact forces seemed to be survivable for some occupants. The fire trucks took unnecessarily long to reach the site even though it was inside the airport perimeter. The absence of an ICAO-standard runway strip, inadequate rescue drills, lack of training, and a blocked emergency service gate leading to the crash site were cited as other factors. &nbsp;&nbsp; <h2>Timestamp of a Disaster</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250731110724_39cdd04693994ce6e55a5b302905c0fa4884fe85bed21ff0779bb1439f3a5725.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20250731110724_39cdd04693994ce6e55a5b302905c0fa4884fe85bed21ff0779bb1439f3a5725" data-rendition-name="original" width="778" height="826" loading="lazy" alt="Flouting rules caused Saurya tragedy NT"> </figure>  11:10:34 - The Saurya Airlines CRJ200 on the takeoff roll from runway 02. It had a takeoff weight of about 18,300kg, but the pilot’s speedcard had a previously undetected mistake about the minimum takeoff speed. 11:10:55 -The plane with tail number 9N-AME goes into deep stall soon after takeoff because it does not have enough speed to lift its weight. The plane also has an abnormally steep nose-up attitude.&nbsp; 11:11:03 - Without enough speed to generate lift, the plane banks right, then left and right again in CCTV photos taken from the domestic apron (below). If it had not banked right, it could have hit the aprons and terminal buildings. Seen parked is Saurya’s other CRJ200 with tail number 9N-ANM.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250731110732_608132f7225c649125cca2691dd6a6bf930984c5b359e888d7ad9e5eacce3afd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250731110732_608132f7225c649125cca2691dd6a6bf930984c5b359e888d7ad9e5eacce3afd" data-rendition-name="original" width="770" height="555" loading="lazy" alt="Flouting rules caused Saurya tragedy NT"> </figure>  11:11:08 - The plane scrapes the runway with its right wingtip, and falls into the gully. The captain is thrown off the left side of the cockpit and survives. 11:11:15: Plane explodes in a fireball inside the airport perimeter. Firefighters take time to reach the site because of lack of access road and a blocked gate. Read the full investigation report <a href="https://www.tourism.gov.np/files/9N-AME%20AIC%20Final%20Report.pdf">here</a>.

Flouting rules caused Saurya tragedy

American artist Peter Makela was in Nepal in 2022 on a Fulbright scholarship when he experienced the Matya festival in Patan in which devotees made the rounds of the city’s shrines.&nbsp;
He joined the procession, walking through 2,600 stupa and 140 bahal of the town. That immersion left a lasting impression.
As part of Gallery Mcube’s international residency program in Patan, he put his inspiration to canvas in the exhibition Yala Yatra: Walking, Working, Worshipping. The exhibition also coincides with this month’s Matya festival.&nbsp;
Makela has visited Nepal often in the past 11 years but he mostly stayed in and spent his time around Boudha. “This time I stayed in Patan, put the sites I wanted to visit on my map, and off I went,” he tells us. “Each of my artwork is inspired by the stupas and shrines in Patan that I visited.”
The stupa and Ganesh are recurring motifs in his watercolours, and the elephant gods are located in chaityas — reflecting the interplay and blending of the Hindu and Buddhist faiths in Kathmandu Valley.&nbsp;
The stupas and Ganesh are painted in vivid red, yellow, blue and green against abstract backgrounds meant to represent the sky.
“I use the sky as a backdrop because the sky has no border,” says Makela. “The four colours represent the four elements, the different Buddha families and also lights bouncing off of a rainbow.”
The use of just four colours for all the artwork stands out, and combined with the absence of heavy canvases, frames or stands render Makela’s art striking in its simplicity.&nbsp;
The Ganesh is always holding something and the art also portrays the elephant god’s sacred vehicle, the mouse.
While his vibrant stupas and Ganesh reflect the tangibility of Patan’s tradition and heritage, it is as if the backdrops with their shades of grey and red and yellow capture the soul of the city’s shrines.
“If you look closely, there is a sense of form and formlessness at the same time,” he says.&nbsp;
Makela walked 108 kora around the shrines during his exploration of the town, and in the process developed a spiritual connection with Patan’s heritage and traditions.&nbsp;
The exhibition connects with visitors on a deeper, more spiritual, level as well. And with it, they feel a sense of pride as well as the need to urgently preserve Patan’s heritage for future generations.
“Peter’s inclination and approach towards Nepali art and culture is fascinating, and it reflects in his work,” says Mcube curator Manish Lal Shrestha, whose international artist residency program promotes Nepal’s cultural heritage. &nbsp;&nbsp;
Yala Yatra: Walking, Working, Worshipping
1-5 August&nbsp;
10AM-7PM
Gallery Mcube, Patan

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Walking, working, worshipping in Patan