Transportation globally accounts for 7 billion metric tons of CO2 every year, and 75% of that comes from vehicles on the road. Replacing gas-guzzling vehicles is the shortcut to reducing a country’s carbon footprint. Nepal’s per capita petroleum consumption is so low that nothing we do is going to help much to save the planet. But reducing petrol, diesel and LPG use can save the country’s economy, since petroleum products make up nearly 25% of our imports. Nepal is hardly responsible for the buildup in atmospheric carbon leading to global warming, but is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate breakdown. In the past year, 14% of all vehicles sold around the world were battery-powered – up from only 4% four years ago. China is the biggest EV manufacturer, accounting for 60% of all EVs sold worldwide. One of the most remarkable shifts has actually happened here in Nepal. Of the nearly 18,000 vehicles imported in the past year, official records show that 12,000 were battery-powered. One big reason was the zero excise duty and only 10% custom duty in 2022, and last year the taxes were even less on EVs below 50kW. This was drastically lower than the 30-80% taxes on petrol and diesel cars. Taxes are higher on more powerful (and expensive) battery-powered SUVs. The Finance Ministry has always been ambivalent about EVs, fearing rising sales will eat into revenue from car and gas station taxes, forgetting that in the longterm battery vehicles will reduce petroleum imports. In a classic case of one step forward, two steps back, the budget by the previous government in June reinstated hefty taxes on EVs, despite a national commitment to make 20% of all vehicles electric by 2025. EVs use domestically-generated hydroelectricity of which there is a surplus, yet are punished. Despite the rapid rise in EV sales worldwide, growth has slowed. Mainly, this is because of range anxiety and long charging times, as well as the comparatively low resale value of battery-powered vehicles. A recent survey in the US and India of EV owners had more than half of them saying they were switching back to petrol. EVs use lithium ion batteries, and there are questions about the environmental cost of mining lithium, the difficulty in recycling and disposal of the cells, and the delays in using substitutes like sodium. Lithium is also seen as a stepping stone to solid state batteries, and green hydrogen fuel. <h2>HYBRID FUTURE</h2> This is where hybrids come in, as a compromise between fully battery-powered cars and those with internal combustion engines. Hybrid technology has been around much longer than modern EVs, and do not have the disadvantages mentioned above. Hybrids use a mixture of fossil fuels and electricity to power the vehicle, providing almost unlimited range. Hybrids have batteries to store regenerated energy and different hybrids obtain power in different ways. ‘Plug-in’ hybrids can be charged like an electric vehicle, while a conventional hybrid can use the vehicle’s kinetic energy while braking, or route unused engine power to charge the battery. Most hybrids sold in Nepal are conventional. Worldwide, hybrids make up about 10-12% of all cars sold. They are especially popular in Japan, with manufacturers like Toyota and Honda which pioneered the technology refusing to join the EV bandwagon 20 years ago. Toyota has a 1:6:90 study in which its engineers calculated that the raw materials and energy used to make one fully-electric vehicle could make six plug-in hybrids, or 90 conventional ones -- leading to drastically less emissions in the whole manufacturing and operational cycle. Despite the growth in EV sales, hybrid cars are rare in Nepal. Even Toyota’s popular Prius model never made inroads. Of the over 12,000 EVs Nepal imported last year, only 36 were petrol-electric or diesel-electric hybrids – despite the fact that hybrids are actually cheaper than full electric cars elsewhere. The main reason for this is that successive Nepali finance ministers in the past decade have put hybrids in the same tax bracket as petrol cars, slapping an 80% tariff on them. Price tags of hybrid SUVs available in Nepal are already high, and the tax pushes them into the high end of the market. The other reason is that the manufacturers themselves have in the past not trusted after-sales service for hybrids in Nepal, and not pushed them as much. The Chinese company BYD has the largest market share among EVs in Nepal. However, in China and globally, half the cars BYD makes are hybrids. We asked BYD Nepal’s Yamuna Shrestha why she is not promoting hybrids here. She answered simply: “Taxes.” <h2>SUBARU (Crosstrek)</h2> Subaru recently launched its Crosstrek Hybrid, and most of those who have bought it are doctors, businessmen, politicians, generals and traders who need to drive down to the border a lot. “We frequently hear from customers that they simply do not get tired driving our vehicles,” says Annie Gardner Vaidya of Vijay Motors, which sells the Subaru Crosstrek at its showroom in Gyaneswor. “Subaru has the highest customer retention rates of any car brand with owners getting their second or third Subaru, even couples buying them for their marrying kids.” The main selling point of all Subaru models are its safety features, which makes it the preferred family car. The hybrid Subarus come with features present in its petrol models – with All Wheel Drive and ‘EyeSight’ technology that uses radar and cameras to alert drivers of possible hazards and collisions. “Our customers do their research well, and know what they want,” adds Vaidya, who has tales of Subarus that have climbed inclines where even tractors fear to tread. Tarun Onta was one of the first customers of the Crosstrek and was at the launch event to receive his keys. He wanted an eco-friendly vehicle because he was not fully satisfied with EVs. He says, “My top priority is safety. I have been driving the Crosstrek and other than a faint jolt when switching between electric and fuel, it has been a top-class car so far.” Despite all this, Subarus are so rare in Nepal that when two of them pass on the road, drivers wave at each other. It only sells three models, only one of them hybrid, and is too expen sive for most first-car buyers. Subaru Crosstrek hybrid  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240823070856_7dd4af1d741b3d69cc3708ce93f68a90eac9f82199676681b2460761ab945cc1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20240823070856_7dd4af1d741b3d69cc3708ce93f68a90eac9f82199676681b2460761ab945cc1" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="892" loading="lazy" alt="Subaru crosstrek NT"></figure>  Type of Hybrid : Conventional (not a plug-in) Mileage : 13.9km/L Fuel Tank : 63L Price : Rs14,000,000- Rs16,900,000 Other: All Wheel Drive system, Max speed 198 km/h, ground clearance: 220, Eyesight <h2>TOYOTA (Corolla, the Camry, the RAV4, and the Yaris)</h2> Toyota has been a pioneer in hybrid transmission, and decided early on not to bet on full-electric cars. In fact its Prius hybrid predated full-electric cars when it was launched back in 1997 as ‘a car for the 21st century’. In Nepal, Toyota sells four hybrid models: the Corolla, Camry, RAV4, and Yaris. Toyota Nepal’s Suryansh Vaidya is convinced that despite the surge in EV sales, Nepal is “not in a place financially and infrastructure wise where there would be mass market for EVs”. Essentially, it boils down to prices. If the taxes on hybrids were brought down, they could be competitive with full-electric vehicles, and definitely score over petrol cars. “Reducing the tax on hybrid cars would actually increase government revenue because hybrids would be more popular and more would be sold than presently,” Vaidya argues. Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid Electric  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024082308080_487f61d5903bf874ee98ffe97f2b130e8ce223cf787fccdaf20d926739149a66.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2024082308080_487f61d5903bf874ee98ffe97f2b130e8ce223cf787fccdaf20d926739149a66" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="883" loading="lazy" alt="Toyota Corolla NT"></figure>  Type of hybrid: Conventional Mileage:15-20km/L Fuel Tank Capacity: 36L Price: Rs18,100,000 Toyota Camry Hybrid Electric  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024082308080_9c481570468cb9b71e88f902f4f0100e2f34071f66192b9170495df7f76dbcbd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2024082308080_9c481570468cb9b71e88f902f4f0100e2f34071f66192b9170495df7f76dbcbd" data-rendition-name="original" width="2416" height="1100" loading="lazy" alt="Toyota Camry"></figure>  Type of hybrid: Conventional Mileage: 15-19km/L Fuel Tank Capacity: 50L Price: Approx Rs20,000,000 Toyota RAV4  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024082308080_21ef534c2bb4422fb41418483669562e9aa01798ea6e39be86967a8176dfe0d7.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2024082308080_21ef534c2bb4422fb41418483669562e9aa01798ea6e39be86967a8176dfe0d7" data-rendition-name="original" width="2250" height="1178" loading="lazy" alt="Toyota RAV4"></figure>  Type of hybrid: Conventional Mileage: 15-19km/L Fuel Tank Capacity: 55L Price: Rs19,500,000 Yaris Cross Hybrid  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024082308080_811968606c4931e5a543674f5c2b8e714ea870cba353fb9edbbc587bdceb5cc1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2024082308080_811968606c4931e5a543674f5c2b8e714ea870cba353fb9edbbc587bdceb5cc1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1391" height="699" loading="lazy" alt="Toyota Yaris"></figure>  Type of hybrid: Conventional Mileage: 20-25km/L Fuel Tank Capacity: 36L Price: Rs12,500,000

Vishad Raj Onta

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Rev your car (and charge it, too)

Nepal has had an impressive growth in hydropower development over the past decade from 734MW in 2014 to a combined capacity of 2,625MW from solar and hydropower stations, with 95% of households connected to the grid. Investment to the tune of $5 billion, predominantly in domestic NPR, is estimated to have gone into new generation projects in this time to complete construction and invest in some 8,000MW of new power plants that are at various stages of design and construction. It is certainly reassuring to a population still suffering PTSD from years of brutal load-shedding to realise that Nepal is headed for long term power surplus, with prospects in 2024 for the first time to export more power than import from India, if the monsoon cooperates. One important question in a lot of people’s minds, however, is how Nepal’s generation of clean energy compares with the fossil fuel Nepal continues to import at an annual cost of almost $3 billion, and growing. Are we anywhere close to generating the hydropower and solar energy needed to replace the petroleum fuel that Nepal imports? At first glance it looks like the gap is discouragingly large. NEA sold just over 10 billion kWh or 10 TWh of electricity in 2023. In the same year, all the petroleum-based fuels the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) imported had a total energy content of 40TWh. It would seem that NEA and Independent Power Producers (IPPs) would need to complete construction of the full pipeline of 8,000MW on top of what they are already generating to match even the petroleum fuel we use today. Fortunately, electricity can be used more efficiently than fossil fuels. An LPG stove has a thermal efficiency of around 50%, reflecting the percentage of heat from burning the mix of propane and butane that is transferred to the pot. The rest goes into heating the burner, the counter-top, and the rest of the kitchen. An induction cooker on the other hand is able to transfer around 90% of the energy directly to the pot since the cooking surface does not even get hot itself. So, cooking with electricity can be accomplished with 45% less energy compared to LPG with the use of an efficient appliance.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240802120856_d0349977d5fb14944e7897b9bd8bad605348f6d9351fcc70a2e6cc7a178bc8dc.webp" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20240802120856_d0349977d5fb14944e7897b9bd8bad605348f6d9351fcc70a2e6cc7a178bc8dc" data-rendition-name="original" width="992" height="1245" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal turns on the electric switch NT"> <figcaption>INDUCTION STOVES: 90% of the energy in induction stoves is transferred directly to the pot, so cooking with electricity uses 45% less energy compared to LPG. PHOTO: CLIMATE AND CLEAN AIR COALITION</figcaption> </figure>  The end-use efficiency advantage is even more impressive when it comes to transportation. A petrol burning internal combustion engine converts only 20% of the energy the fuel produces into motion. The remaining 80% of the energy content of the petrol is lost as heat in the engine, requiring a radiator to keep the engine from overheating. An electric vehicle on the other hand uses high efficiency motors that have conversion efficiencies in the range of 80-85%. Even with the 20% ‘round trip’ losses in charging and discharging the battery, an EV uses less than a third of the energy to drive a kilometre than an equivalent petroleum fuel vehicle does. Since close to 95% of the petroleum fuel imported into Nepal is used to meet either road transportation or cooking needs, it is very encouraging that appliances already exist in the market for Nepal to transition away from petroleum fuel. Similar efficiencies exist for switching away from diesel irrigation to electric pumps and for a range of industrial processes to switch from using different fossil fuels to electricity. For the consumer to switch over to electric cooking and electricity-fueled transportation, the relative prices of each energy type are important, along with the improved efficiency. Here too the news is promising: NEA’s applicable domestic electricity tariff for users wanting to cook with electricity for cooking or charging EVs at home is a maximum of Rs11 per kWh. This compares with Rs18.5 per kWh of petrol and Rs9.83 per kWh of LPG. Once the thermal efficiency is taken into account, however, the effective price of petrol and LPG go up to Rs55.50 and Rs17.87 respectively for driving the same distance or cooking the same volume of food as one kWh of electricity. Two final barriers must be removed before consumers will be able to make the switch to efficient electric vehicles and cooking appliances. First: NEA must invest in strengthening transmission and distribution networks. It is not enough for there to be sufficient hydropower and solar energy generated if the power lines and transformers are not sufficiently sized to distribute the additional electricity needed for switching to electricity. Second: end-users must be able to afford EVs and cooking appliances. The government and banks have an important role to play in making this transition happen. The government needs to appreciate the tradeoff: provide tax incentives for people to purchase EVs and high efficiency electric appliances that can replace petroleum. Banks need to provide financing for users to be able to purchase EVs and appliances and pay for them from the savings in fuel. The good news is Nepal is very close to generating enough electricity to replace petroleum imports. Making up for 40TWh of petroleum fuel will likely require less than 20TWh of electricity. Extrapolating from the rate of growth of hydropower and solar generation over the past decade, Nepal could have sufficient clean energy projects online to be generating 30TWh as early as 2028. &nbsp; Bikash Pandey is Director of Clean Energy and Circular Economy at Winrock International. People Power is his new regular column in Nepali Times on global energy issues relevant to Nepal.

Bikash Pandey

Nepal turns on the electric switch

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101140/63720d7f9c7e80680e0b78cbjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3019" height="2104"/><figcaption>Illustration: RABINDRA</figcaption></figure>On 8 March, international crude oil prices hit a record $139 per barrel due to the Ukraine crisis — nearly double the value last year.The longer the war drags on and sanctions tighten, the higher the prices are expected to go, with a domino effect on economies around the world, including Nepal.Being the world’s second largest producer of oil, Russia’s inability to export petroleum products has created a big gap in supply. Europe’s reliance on Russian gas has also made the Ukraine conflict a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/ukraine-climate-and-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">‘fossil fuel war’</a>.Nepalis are now paying Rs150 for every litre of petrol and Rs133 for diesel and kerosene at filling stations. And the graph is still going up.The state-owned Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) is losing Rs16 for every litre of petrol and Rs12 for diesel it sells, raking up losses of Rs5 billion every month, which means further price hikes are a certainty.What’s more, Nepal is yet to be hit with the full impact of increasing oil prices internationally. The Indian Oil Corporation, which sets a new price for petroleum every 15 days, adding processing, administrative and other charges, is yet to set a new price tag to NOC. India is expected to hike fuel prices after last week’s state elections.“Frankly, we are scared to even estimate our next month’s loss,” says Sushil Bhattarai of the NOC, which has already incurred Rs28 billion in losses in the past six months against last year’s import bill of Rs132 billion.The longer <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepalis-flee-ukraine-as-russians-advance/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Russo-Ukraine war</a> drags on, supply bottlenecks will remain leading to rising prices at the filling stations. At this rate, the NOC will be unable to pay its bills on its own, and will have no recourse but to further increase the price of petroleum.The government is already under pressure to manage funds for upcoming elections with limited revenue as a result of recent policies aimed at discouraging imports. The NOC is therefore unlikely to be able to dip into foreign exchange reserves to foot the bill.But the hike does not only apply to petroleum. Every hike in the price of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/from-a-fossil-past-to-an-electric-future/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">fossil fuel</a> has a knock on effect on the cost of production and transportation. This means consumers have to pay more for all goods from food to gold, and everything in between.Coal, which cost $67 a tonne until a year ago is now at $400. Iron ore was priced at less than $100 per tonne last November, but is now $160 a tonne. A tonne of soybean costs $1,800, up from $1,150. Wheat prices have gone up by 45% in the past month.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101140/63720d829c7e80680e0b78ccjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption>Photo: AMIT MACHAMASI</figcaption></figure>Petroleum products make up 13% of Nepal’s total imports. Next in the list of high imports are iron and iron products and food grain. In the first six months of this fiscal year, Nepal spent about Rs58 billion on iron and iron goods, Rs77 billion on vehicles and spare parts, Rs64 billion on soybean and palm oil, Rs23 billion on gold and Rs17 billion on coal.As the price of these commodities increase in the international market, Nepal has to dig into its <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-remittances-forex-reserves-drop/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">foreign currency reserves</a> to pay for imports.Another notable impact of the Ukraine conflict is on currency depreciation. The exchange rate of the Nepali rupee against a US dollar dropped to a new record depreciation of Rs123.44.Although this means remittance sent by Nepalis abroad will increase in rupee terms, as will the competitiveness of Nepali goods abroad, we are unlikely to benefit because Nepal does not have much to export.Alternatively, as the value of the dollar rises, so does the Nepal’s debt burden, putting additional burden on the state exchequer.To be sure, even before <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/trapped-in-ukraine/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Russia-Ukraine war</a>, inflation was at a record high. In fact, the prices of crude oil, metals, food grains and other intermediate commodities have increased sharply in recent years.Moreover, increased demand for goods in countries that had just recovered from Covid-induced recession is leading to supply chain disruptions and a further increase in prices.The war is just adding fuel to the fire, and as result the prices of all essential goods have skyrocketed. Traders and local businesses are also using the crisis to their full benefit."Our market is not competitive as it is and weak regulation means traders set new prices indiscriminately on the pretext of the international price hike," says economist Dadhi Adhikari.For example, soybean oil, which cost Rs120 per litre last year, is now priced at Rs255. Sunflower oil is Rs280 per litre, having seen an increase of Rs40 for a litre.“Prices of most consumer goods in the past month have gone up by 15-20%. When the international market has seen price hike of 30% on average, it is sure to affect our market too,” says Subodh Kumar Gupta of the Association of Nepalese Rice, Oil &amp; Pulses Industry.This price hike also applies to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/are-you-sick-of-chicken/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">poultry and eggs</a> even though Nepal is self-sufficient in both products because soybean, wheat and corn used in the feed are imported.“It cost Rs47 just to bring 1kg corn to Kathmandu this time, the highest so far, the price has doubled in a year,” says Rabin Puri of the Grain Producers' Association. Nepal has already imported maize worth over Rs12 billion in the last seven months.Even so, the real effect of the price hike in the international market is yet to be seen, warns the former president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Pashupati Murarka."The goods in the market currently are from stocks. So we are yet to experience a full-scale impact," he says, adding that the cost of construction materials like cement, iron road and plastics will also soon increase. Iron rod has already registered its highest ever price at Rs135 per kg.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101140/63720d859c7e80680e0b78cdjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="881" height="537">Nepal has been experiencing moderate inflation in the past six years. It rose to 7.11% in November but came down to 5.66%. However, the NRB estimates that the inflation rate could reach double digits this year. The monetary policy for the current fiscal year had set a target of limiting the inflation rate to 6.5%.Former Executive Director of NRB, Nara Bahadur Thapa, says that there is indeed a risk of double-digit inflation. "Consumers have been hit hard again by inflation, with the poorest and most vulnerable bearing the biggest burden," he adds.On the other hand, rising prices of petroleum products and raw materials in the international market will also increase the production cost of Nepali industries. This means a higher cost of development projects, which in turn will force the government to increase the budget allocation for such projects.This worsening war also has far-reaching consequences for Nepal’s balance of payments deficit which will widen in the coming months, putting more pressure on foreign exchange reserves.In recent months, Nepal’s foreign exchange reserves have been depleting fast with <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-living-beyond-its-mean/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">imports exceeding earnings</a>. Nepal has lost about 23% of its foreign exchange reserves in the last year.In January 2021, Nepal had enough foreign exchange reserves to import goods and services for 12 months and 18 days at $12.77 billion, primarily due to reduced consumption during the pandemic.But as the Covid-19 subsided and imports rose again, its <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/business/economic-downturn/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">foreign exchange reserves dwindled</a> to $9.88 billion by January this year, enough to pay for only six months and 18 days worth of imports.In the same period, Nepal's balance of payments deficit stood at Rs241 billion, which is a record high. Such a sharp decline in foreign exchange for a country like Nepal, which does not have a reliable and sustainable source of hard currency earnings, spells disaster.As commodity prices rise in the international market, Nepal will also have to pay more for the same amount of goods. As of February, the import volume of petrol has increased by only 24% as compared to the same period last year, but due to the increase in the price in the international market, Nepal has to pay 110% more.Likewise, the import volume of diesel has increased by 10%, yet the cost of its import increased by 84%. While the import volume of coal decreased by 3%, the amount to be paid increased by 38%.Even though the import volume of iron and steeel products remained the same as last year, the price to be paid by Nepal has increased by one-third.Nepal has already incurred Rs1 trillion in trade deficit in the first seven months of this fiscal year. While the country spent Rs11.47 trillion in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-less-and-less-able-to-feed-itself/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">importing goods</a>, it has exported products worth only Rs131 billion.In response, the NRB in recent months has been deploying various measures to discourage imports. But it is ineffective in the face of international price hikes for commodities. Even if Nepal drastically reduces imports, it will not be able to reduce the amount it is due.Another major impact of this will be felt in the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-precious-electricity-going-waste/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">power sector</a>. Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has been importing 600MW of electricity from India. But due to the increased price of coal and supply bottleneck, India has started cutting 200MW that it has been providing to Nepal at a concessional rate. Moreover, Rs3 per unit that Nepal has been paying India has now increased to Rs7.If India further cuts power export due to an energy crisis, Nepal risks going back to electricity rationing. Although the installed capacity of Nepal's electricity generation now exceeds 2,000MW, it falls to one-third during the dry winter months when river flows is low. The rest has to be augmented with imports from India.Translated by Sonia Awale from the <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/128766">Nepali original</a> at <a href="http://himalkhabar.com/">himalkhabar.com</a>

Ukraine crisis hits Nepal economy hard

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161156/636d1f909c7e80680e0af470jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="2625"/><figcaption>Photo: AMIT MACHAMASI</figcaption></figure>On Thursday morning, Nepali Times photographer Amit Machamasi was greeted with a shocking sight when he drove up to Nagarkot to take pictures of overnight snowfall. Below him, dozens of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=2498#.Yc5xVy2B2t8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">brick kilns</a> were spewing out smoke and steam into the city’s air (photo).The rain had washed down suspended particles, but the brick kilns were pumping more smoke into the air we breathe. There have been attempts to relocate brick kilns away from the densely-populated capital, but political patronage means owners are still fouling the air.After the 2015 earthquake damaged most of the Valley’s brick factories, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/brick-factories-still-using-old-polluting-technology,2078" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">some adopted cleaner technology</a> to reduce emissions. Public pressure and urban growth then pushed most brick factories to the city’s fringes, and they are now  concentrated around Bhaktapur – most of those in the photograph are traditional dirty chimneys.After two years of forced closure during the pandemic, the brick kilns are once more working overtime to fill a backlog of demand from builders. But with politicians bogged down in power struggles, local leaders are too distracted to address the pandemic and pollution crises – both of which affect the human respiratory system.In a public opinion poll in this newspaper just before the 2017 elections, most respondents said <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/dirty-politics-dirty-air/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">air pollution</a> topped their list of concerns. Pollution has gotten worse since then, but it is unlikely that dirty air will figure in election speeches in 2022.“We have cleaner options like <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/earth-bricks-for-cleaner-and-healthier-kathmandu,4161" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">interlocking earth bricks</a>, so we just need public pressure to make it an election issue,” says environmentalist Bhushan Tuladhar.A pre-pandemic research showed that 40% of suspended particulates in Kathmandu’s air was from brick kilns, 30% from vehicular emissions, and 20% from open burning of trash and biomass. With the exponential increase in cars and motorcycles, the concentration of vehicular pollution at street level is now 70%.“<a style="letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/breathing-is-hazardous-to-health/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hazardous pollution levels</a> in winter have become the norm, yet the government is not doing much to control it,” says Shilshila Acharya of the Avni Centre for Sustainability. “The public should demand action from our leaders.”Although public awareness about <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/how-weather-elevates-air-pollution-in-kathmandu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">air pollution</a> is at an all time high, it has not translated into action by municipalities or the federal government – even though in a democracy elections would be the way to force accountability from public officials.Says Tuladhar: “Campaigning in 2022 for elections, particularly for local government, will give us a platform to build political will to reduce air pollution. People have to be outraged, and the good news is that we have some young and educated leaders taking the lead.”In 2019, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-is-going-up-in-smoke/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">air pollution</a> resulted in the deaths of 42,100 Nepalis, according to one research. Many more were indirectly affected. Vehicular emission, garbage and agricultural residue burning and brick kilns were the main sources of toxic ambient air.Besides shifting to cleaner and greener brick-making technology, controlling garbage burning, and a rapid transition to electric vehicles with government investment in electric mass transit, would be steps that would quickly improve air quality in Kathmandu.Air pollution is leading to the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/double-whammy-air-pollution-and-covid-19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">premature death of Kathmandu’s citizens</a>. It has a huge impact on the economy. The solution is political, and elected officials need to respond to the crisis.Adds Shilshila Acharya: “Politicians as always are big on promises but we demand that they first protect our health by cleaning up the air we breathe. It is a basic right guaranteed by the Constitution. Don't talk about more grandiose plans, just clean up our air first.”

Sonia Awale

Happy New Air

<img width="1000" height="772" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141136/636cfe849c7e80680e0a0c42jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>Nepal’s economy has hit the iceberg, but you wouldn’t know it from the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-post-breakup-politics/">politicians fighting it out</a> on the deck.
A serial prime minister <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/what-is-delaying-nepal-cabinet-expansion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cannot form a functioning coalition government</a> even after 6 weeks of assuming office, his coalition partners are too faction-ridden to be a countervailing force, and the main opposition has just split.
All this is nothing new, of course. It has been the way things have been ever since the 1990 changes when democracy was supposed to unleash prosperity. Three decades of political infighting, neglect, conflict, a rent-seeking state and governance failure have left the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/instability-to-cost-nepal-dear-in-2021/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">economy in tatters</a>. And now <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/behind-the-masks/">we have the pandemic to contend with</a>. 
If the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/old-wine-in-old-bottle-in-nepal-politics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">political battles being played out</a> in the parlours of power were inter-generational or about ideology, something good might have come of it. But such personality driven one-upmanship means that the current crop of ageing politicos has neither the time nor competence to deal with the emergency at hand.
The malaise runs deep. Despite gains in literacy, the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/nepali-times-search/?q=lessons+notlearned" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">poor quality of education</a> drives young Nepalis to seek salaried jobs. The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/first-drought-then-downpour/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">yield from agriculture</a> is so low it does not make sense to farm. Government investment and market support for agriculture are ineffective. Every year, 700,000 youth join the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/mayday-mayday-mayday/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">labour market</a> but there are jobs in Nepal for only 15% of them. The rest seek their fortunes abroad by selling ancestral property, fallow farms, lower food production, increasing poverty, and completing the vicious cycle. 
Nepal’s trade deficit has averaged $10 billion a year for the last three years. It only went down in 2020-21 because lockdowns reduced fuel imports. Newly released Nepal Rastra Bank trade figures show that the country is, to put it bluntly, bankrupt. The only reason we have not gone completely belly-up is because of remittances, which pumped $8 billion into the economy this year. 
Nepal’s biggest import item by far is petroleum and in the past fiscal year it hit Rs175 billion — compared to Rs90 billion the country earned from all other exports combined.
You could say that we are buying oil with the sweat of Nepali <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/job-seekers-now-also-jab-seekers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">migrant workers</a>  With tourism receipts and fees from mountaineering and trekking nearly zero, the economy’s reliance on remittances is even greater than before.
This is obviously unsustainable: economically, politically and environmentally. Nepal needs to make good on its target to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/nepali-times-search/?q=lessons+notlearned" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">switch to renewable energy</a> for transportation by 2030 — not just to do our bit to save the planet, but to reduce our economic and political dependence on the outside.  
Other interesting things stick out of the NRB trade data. Curiously, Nepal’s biggest item of export is soybean oil when the country is not any major grower of soya. The answer can be seen in the graph for imports: the fifth largest item there is raw soyabean oil. So, we import soyabean oil in bulk from Argentina, Brazil and Malaysia and re-export it to India.Even more interesting is that the money Nepal earned from exporting refined soybean oil (Rs53.6 billion) is exactly what we spent on importing the stuff (Rs53.3 billion). Our entire foreign trade system seems to be based on a product that we do not even manufacture ourselves. There is almost no value addition, it does not create jobs, and only provides the government about Rs5 billion a year in tax revenue.The government’s neglect of agriculture means that imports of staple items, vegetables, and fruits have soared in the past decade. The country spent Rs130 billion on importing food items in 2010-11, but Rs323 billion this fiscal year. Of this one-third was spent on rice imports alone.Partly, this is due to agricultural productivity not being able to keep pace with <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/everybody-counts-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">population growth </a>and growing demands of the middle class. Two-thirds of Nepal’s 30 million people are theoretically engaged in agriculture, but they are not producing enough to even feed themselves.We are living way beyond our means, and the only reason we can do that is because of those remittances. The buck stops at Singha Durbar.

Blood, sweat, tears

<img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141128/636cfd179c7e80680e0a0bc6jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>In 1911, Nepal became the second country in Asia to install <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-1st-hydroelectric-plant-is-a-museum-piece/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-1st-hydroelectric-plant-is-a-museum-piece/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1628960160899000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGTfe_ElDUnDBA5y1fWiNeNMmj3iw">a hydroelectric plant</a>, and was a pioneer in  electric transportation with the opening in <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=1651#.YREMFtMzbRY" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D1651%23.YREMFtMzbRY&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1628960160899000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFCMXd7Cwgzp9Nvx_5uv6jjxw5VdA">1922</a> of a ropeway connecting Kathmandu to Dhorsing and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/business/ropeways-connecting-nepal,1749" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/business/ropeways-connecting-nepal,1749&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1628960160899000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFoAmTmRhO8F_jUynodP4VGdDGB2g">later to Hetauda</a>.  The Chinese gifted an <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kathmandu-bhaktapur-trolley-bus/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kathmandu-bhaktapur-trolley-bus/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1628960160899000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEJ0EZMCfEEa7kLPULhzZRB_DGcng">electric trolley bus line</a> from Kathmandu to Bhaktapur in 1975, which provided valuable commuter service for nearly 30 years. In 1995, the government replaced polluting diesel three-wheelers with electric ones, and 700 of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/12-full-opinion/how-to-get-things-done-in-nepal/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/12-full-opinion/how-to-get-things-done-in-nepal/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1628960160899000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHCvZcncwin-QX5AckUaljaRos77g">Safa Tempo</a> are still running on 28 routes, serving Kathmandu’s public transport needs. However, despite these milestones in electric transportation, Nepal has not taken the leaps it could have in powering mass transit with the country’s plentiful renewable energy potential.“We missed the bus on electric buses,” says environmental expert <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/cleaner-air-with-greener-buses/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/cleaner-air-with-greener-buses/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1628960160899000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEl_IlhZ7KVICnzsc-SRPKQHCTwSQ">Bhusan Tuladhar</a>. “We could have taken e-vehicles to the next level much earlier.”Indeed, the Safa Tempo now faces competition from diesel buses on trunk routes, and government policy on replacing larger diesel buses with electric ones has been erratic. Daily commuter volume in Kathmandu today now needs larger mass transit modes, but Safas are ideally suited for narrower streets of the inner city.“After the diesel three-wheelers were replaced by Safa Tempo, the government adopted a contradictory policy of promoting micro-buses,” explains Dharma Kumar Shrestha of NEVI (Nepal Electric Vehicle Industry).  <figure><img width="1435" height="1845" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141128/636cfd1b9c7e80680e0a0bc7jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Sadly, in the early 2000s, the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kathmandu-bhaktapur-trolley-bus/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kathmandu-bhaktapur-trolley-bus/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1628960160899000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEJ0EZMCfEEa7kLPULhzZRB_DGcng">trolley bus system</a> and another cargo ropeway to Hetauda were closed due to losses and mismanagement. Although private electric cable cars are coming into operation nationwide for tourism, there is still no strategic solution in sight for electrified public transportation, particularly electric buses.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-electric-transport-future-is-here/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-electric-transport-future-is-here/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1628960160899000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEluSwdpWldVQB8IdEn83UBiR6-RQ">Electric vehicles</a> still have problems with carbon emission during production and battery disposal, but they will help improve the air quality and reduce Nepal’s petroleum imports which have more than doubled in the past 10 years. Some <a href="http://www.mofe.gov.np/downloadfile/E-mobility%20Assmnt%20NDC%202020_1623998131.pdf" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.mofe.gov.np/downloadfile/E-mobility%2520Assmnt%2520NDC%25202020_1623998131.pdf&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1628960160899000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE2VntIF8kJ7PIXXcPqAHkOF4QTHQ">12%</a> percent of the greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector in Nepal comes from transportation, with heavy vehicles like fuel-run trucks and buses being the main polluters. There are now about 6,000 battery two-wheelers, over 27 thousand electric three-wheelers, and 1,000 electric vehicles in Nepal, but this is still only 1% of the total, according to a <a href="http://www.mofe.gov.np/downloadfile/E-mobility%20Assmnt%20NDC%202020_1623998131.pdf" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.mofe.gov.np/downloadfile/E-mobility%2520Assmnt%2520NDC%25202020_1623998131.pdf&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1628960160899000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE2VntIF8kJ7PIXXcPqAHkOF4QTHQ">Ministry of Forests and Environment report.</a> <figure><img width="1000" height="589" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141128/636cfd1e9c7e80680e0a0bc8jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“Since transportation contributes a significant amount of Nepal’s total greenhouse emissions, a shift to electric is essential to achieve the country’s goal of being carbon-neutral by 2050,” says Radha Wagle, Chief of the Climate Change Management Division under the Ministry of Forests and Environment. Electric Vehicles are initially more expensive, but in the long run not are not just less-polluting, but will also help improve Nepal’s balance of trade deficit with India. While production and battery cost of electric bus makes them more expensive than a new diesel bus of the same capacity, running costs, maintenance and repairs means that for every kilometer travelled, an electric bus will be <a href="https://www.nepjol.info/index.php/jiee/article/view/34321" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepjol.info/index.php/jiee/article/view/34321&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1628960160899000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHvg12N6jF8_nWl4dVJoCTHjzyUSQ">Rs14 cheaper to run.  </a> “The operational cost of a diesel bus is high,” says Tuladhar, who is also a board member of Sajha Yatayat, where 40% of the running cost is diesel. “If we switch to an all-electric fleet, we will have significantly lower costs that will let us provide better service. But because of the higher initial investment necessary, a government subsidy is necessary for the purchase of electric vehicles.” In this year’s budget, the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/new-nepal-budget-sparks-electric-comeback/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/new-nepal-budget-sparks-electric-comeback/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1628960160899000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGOdQbO8PkEMjBfZpNw847NLJ3Q-w">government reinstated tax rebates</a> on electric vehicles which now makes their cost comparable to 4- and 2-wheelers of the same capacity. However, the capital cost of electric buses is still more than double the cost of diesel-run buses, which is why further subsidies are needed. The government can easily recoup the lost tax revenue from reduced petroleum import bills, experts say.  NEVI’s Shrestha agrees that government subsidies would inventivise buyers for electric vehicles, and also setting up charging stations across the country.  Among all registered vehicles in Nepal, nearly 80% are privately owned two-wheelers, but they contribute only 8% to total emissions from transportation. Trucks and public buses emit 57% of CO2.  The demand for electric vehicles is highly sensitive to government policies. With the taxes imposed in 2020, the import of electric vehicles in the first 5 months of the fiscal year at the start of 2021, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/how-much-will-electric-cars-cost-now/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/how-much-will-electric-cars-cost-now/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1628960160899000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFvouUWmKFkrMCzKw9Z2vqYQ76y_g">declined by 88% compared to the previous year</a>. However, sales are expected to pick up again after the tax reversal. Electric rickshaws are gaining popularity in the Tarai, with over 26,000 registered  –- making up 0.82% of all vehicles in the country. <figure><img width="1588" height="946" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141128/636cfd219c7e80680e0a0bc9jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“A transition towards e-transport will reduce our trade deficit massively and further ensure green economic growth,” says Rajan Thapa, a climate change expert. Over the past decades, successive governments have taken pro-electric policies. The National Transport Policy in 2001 was developed to make the transportation sector environmentally friendly, and the Environmentally Friendly Vehicle and Transport Policy of 2014 calls for diversifying vehicles to run on electricity, hybrid, and gas. The government also is going to open 50 charging stations across the country and announced that it is buying 300 electric buses. The second Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) that Nepal submitted to the UN last year pledges a 200km electric railway network, increasing the total sale of private e-vehicles to cover 90% and public transport (besides three-wheelers) to 60% of imports by 2030. This is expected to reduce carbon emission by 28% and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/green-sticker-green-light-to-pollute/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/green-sticker-green-light-to-pollute/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1628960160899000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE3Q7u9yrExf3zy5U0L51alzQDptQ">lower pollution levels in cities</a>. “The government of Nepal is being more ambitious and committed to ensuring net-zero emissions ahead of 2050, " says Prem Kandel, secretary of the Ministry of Forests and Environment (MoFE). “We have made a long-term strategy that will provide us with evidence and policy choices to look at potential ways of reducing carbon emission. E-mobility is one of the means of achieving our ambitious target.”Diya Rijal is a communication consultant for the UK government-funded Policy and Institutions Facility.

The road to electric transportation in Nepal

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141112/636ba7a79c7e80680e073796jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/>It has become a cliché to say that every crisis comes with opportunities. But that does not mean it is not true. It is up to us to grab that chance.The 2015 earthquake gave Nepal the opening to build back better, and the reconstruction of monuments did revive traditional building practices. The five-month blockade forced Nepal to look for alternative trade routes, even though the trans-Himalayan corridor is mostly confined to rhetoric so far.The COVID-19 crisis is also an opportunity for a ‘new normal’ in agriculture, food self-reliance, more sustainable tourism, and reduction of urban air pollution. But the temptation is to go back to business as usual -- and we probably will. But this crisis is a wakeup call.As dark monsoon clouds gather over Kathmandu this week, we are reminded of another cliché – that behind them there is a silver lining.Nepal’s imports have fallen by 15.6% this year compared to the same period last year. The import bill went down to Rs1.12 trillion, saving the country some Rs120 billion. Most of this was because of a reduction in petroleum imports, which made up 15% of all imports last year.Nepal imported Rs160 billion worth of petroleum products in 2020, a Rs52 billion drop from the previous year. Imports of steel, textiles, machinery and other commodities have also dropped sharply.The lockdown has also resulted in 41% in savings for the treasury from Nepalis not travelling abroad, either for holidays or education. Nepalis spent Rs89 billion for travel abroad last year, and this year this figure has dropped to Rs53 billion. The amount of hard currency Nepalis exchanged to pay for school and university fees abroad also dropped from Rs46 billion last year to Rs26 billion in 2020 – a reduction of 44%.Earlier this year, amidst uncertainty about the pandemic, there were <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/high-risk-remittance/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/high-risk-remittance/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1598527146223000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHf0lFzIi_PySYU9UWCe8o3TsjhBg">dire predictions about a drastic drop in remittances</a> that Nepal gets from its workers in India and overseas. The World Bank projected a 14% decline in remittances this year, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) had a worst case scenario of a 28.7% drop, and Nepal’s own Nepal’s Central Bureau of Statistics forecast an 18% decline.There was indeed a drop in March and April when banks and money transfer agencies closed down. But there has been a rebound, and remittances so far this year have already hit Rs875 billion, which is only 0.5% less than the preceding year.The drop in outflow of hard currency and a rebound in remittances has had a positive impact on Nepal’s balance of payments which improved from minus Rs67 billion last year to plus Rs2.8 trillion this year. Nepal’s hard currency reserves now stand at $2.15 billion – enough to pay for 14 months of imports.To be sure, we have to wait and see if the remittances remain steady August onwards. The record high Rs101 billion for July was largely due to a backlog from previous months, workers bailing out families back home whose incomes had declined, as well as US dollar appreciation.The global economic downturn is expected to hit the economies of destination countries hard, and this will inevitably affect their <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/cash-flow-crisis-for-migrants-and-families/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/cash-flow-crisis-for-migrants-and-families/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1598527146223000&amp;usg=AFQjCNExCIbZRo4zeFdlYSyi0IOE22Uibg">migrant workers</a>. However, there are positive signs. China’s petroleum imports have almost hit pre-pandemic levels, and this will shore up the economies of oil and gas exports from the Gulf and Southeast Asia. In addition, employers hit by economic slowdown will want to also scrimp on salary costs by hiring cheaper essential workers from abroadEconomists like former finance secretary Rameshore Khanal are not so pessimistic. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/economic-cost-of-5-months-of-nepal-lockdown/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/economic-cost-of-5-months-of-nepal-lockdown/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1598527146223000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHU4tyv8beehTVc-SGjNiL7ZweFOQ">He says in our analysis</a> that Nepal may be shielded from the full impact of the crisis because ours is still largely a subsistence economy, and people have traditional coping mechanisms.All this is not to discount the seriousness of the health and economic emergencies we face. The most serious is the looming crisis in the banking sector, as lenders put up collateral assets of defaulters up for auction. What will happen if there are no buyers?About 500,000 young Nepalis enter the labour market every year, and nearly that number is expected to return to Nepal in the coming months from abroad. Where are the jobs for them? Even if the macro-economic indicators are good, there is a real socio-economic and political crisis on the horizon.

Some silver linings

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101132/636a22fd9c7e80680e0417c0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="730" height="348"/>Naya Patrika, 14 JanuaryNepal imported 653MW electricity from India on Friday, the biggest amount so far since the country ended powercuts three years ago. The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) had to import because the total demand for electricity reached 1,243MW last week because of winter peak load and falling production from run-of-river schemes due to low water volume in rivers.“The amount we import depends on the total demand, so it keeps going up or down,” explained Suresh Bhattarai of NEA. But on Saturday a full 58% of the total electricity demand in Nepal was met from Indian imports, and this was unprecedented and unexpected. NEA’s Managing Director Kulman Ghising had informed that Nepal would be importing up to 500MW electricity this winter, but the actual import exceeded his estimate by 153MW. Last year Nepal spent Rs20 billion importing electricity from India, on top of the Rs90 billion in petroleum imports.According to NEA, the import is necessary to fulfill immediate needs and to prevent the economic cost of resuming power cuts. “If we compare the cost of importing 500MW electricity to the loss that Nepal’s industries would incur without that electricity, then the loss is much higher,” said Ghising. “It will take many years for us to construct 500MW hydropower plants. But the power is immediately available for import, which is economically more beneficial for us.”NEA has not declared resumption of load-shedding, but many areas have been facing electricity cuts since mid-December. “The distribution systems and transmission lines are overloaded, and that has led to transformers exploding and feeders catching fire. These incidents have led to electricity service being interrupted, it cannot be called load-shedding,” says Bhattarai.A working committee has been formed to address the problems in Kosi Corridor Transmission line. The Committee has been tasked with identifying the problem and recommending solution, and presenting the report to province Chief Minister Sherdhan Rai.

More than half of Nepal’s electricity imported from India

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171132/636933419c7e80680e03df86jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1008"/><figcaption>PIPE DREAM: Part of a 69km petroleum pipeline connecting Amlekhganj in Nepal to an oil refinery in India, under construction in Patlaiya. The pipline is proof to many that the Nepal government has no intention of switching to renewable energy any time soon. Pic: Jiyalal sah</figcaption></figure>President Bidya Devi Bhandari will be leading the Nepali delegation at the Climate Summit (CoP24) in Poland next month, and environmental activists are lobbying with the Nepal government to get her to make a far-reaching policy statement on renewable energy.They say Nepal’s commitment of turning <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/20-electric-by-2020/">20% public vehicles into battery-operated ones by 2020</a> is not ambitious enough, and the President can announce in Katowice more meaningful steps towards electric mobility.In a symbolic move to end Nepal’s fossil fuel addiction, President Bhandari is already riding an electric  but activists say that is not enough. She needs to create political momentum by getting her government to announce a cut-off date for Nepal to turn all public vehicles into electric ones.Manjeet Dhakal, adviser to the Least Developed Countries (LDC) support group at the UN Framework Convention on <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/on-thin-ice-in-the-khumbu/">Climate Change</a> (UNFCCC), says: “Nepal can move towards electric mobility if its head of the state announces a goal to this effect at the international climate change conference in Poland.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/electri-city-cars/">Electri-City Cars</a>, Sikuma Rai<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171132/636933449c7e80680e03df87jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="327" height="327"><iframe id="datawrapper-chart-CZIOW" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important;" src="//datawrapper.dwcdn.net/CZIOW/4/" height="472" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><iframe id="datawrapper-chart-2DG41" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important;" src="//datawrapper.dwcdn.net/2DG41/3/" height="472" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>Last week, Prime Minister KP Oli flagged off Nepal’s first five electric buses in Kathmandu, and unveiled the country’s first National Plan of Action for Electric Mobility.Bhushan Tuladhar of Sajha Yatayat, the public transportation company that got the first lot of electric buses on loan from the Lumbini Development Trust for Kathmandu routes, says: “Public transport is directly related to public health, and it is also linked to Nepal’s economic well-being. This can be the beginning of a new era in clean transportation.”The National Plan of Action envisages a separate unit at the Ministry of Environment for the promotion of electric transport, but many are skeptical about it, given Nepal’s poor track record in implementing commitments.A recent <a href="http://www.cansouthasia.net/wp-content/uploads/N-CANSA-State-of-Climate-Action-in-Nepal-FINAL-7-October-2018.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0IOLO0TREa5UjbdMLsBnUyTRyeaRfP-iDMW-bI2-tFyddYbj5KstNKOCI">report by Nepal Climate Action Network South Asia (N-CANSA)</a> says Nepal is actually moving in a reverse, non-renewable direction despite many past policies, strategies and international obligations to lower its dependency on fossil fuels – the biggest source of CO2 emissions.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/climate-climax/">Climate Climax</a>, Editorial<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/decarbonise-now/">Decarbonise now</a>, Ajaya DixitNepal’s Climate Change Policy 2011 and the Environment-friendly Vehicle and Transport Policy 2014 aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by steadily reducing imports of petrol, diesel and LPG. In 2016, Nepal passed its National Determined Contributions (NDC) aiming to turn 20% public vehicles into battery-operated ones.But since then, the country’s addiction to fossil fuel has only deepened. All the policies and strategies did not make a dent on imports. In 1993/94, the year Nepal ratified the UNFCC, Nepal’s total import of petroleum products was worth only Rs5 billion. By 2008, it had grown to nearly Rs40 billion, and in the past ten years it has more than tripled to an annual Rs150 billion. (See graphs)The reason is the explosive growth in the number of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2018/01/24/electric-cars-shock-fossil-industry/">fos</a>sil fuel vehicles from only 84,000 ten years ago to 438,000 today. Most of the increase was during the tenure of Maoist finance minister Baburam Bhatttarai in 2008-9. Part of the reason for the growth in petroleum imports was also the corruption-driven artificial shortage of electricity which saw a proliferation of diesel generators. Import of diesel grew five times in the past ten years.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171132/636933469c7e80680e03df88jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="848"><iframe id="datawrapper-chart-hKFc3" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important;" src="//datawrapper.dwcdn.net/hKFc3/4/" height="390" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>For every Rs100 earned from its exports, Nepal spends Rs169 just to import petroleum from India. Nepal is now also importing half of its electricity need from coal-fired thermal plants in India. Although it went down slightly with monsoon supply and new hydro powerplants coming on stream, Nepal imported 424MW of electricity from India this summer, which was about 35% of peak demand.Says Durga Upadhyay, a co-author of the CANSA report: “If it was not for remittances, our foreign currency earnings from exports would not even pay for petroleum imports.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-cost-of-light/">The cost of light</a>, Om Astha RaiDespite policies and symbolic moves to reduce petroleum imports, Nepal’s consumption is growing as the road network spreads and vehicle imports increase. The government’s plans to build a 36km cross-border petroleum pipeline from India and storage stockpiles in each Province indicates that there is no end in sight to the country’s fossil fuel addiction.Manjeet Dhakal says these moves indicate that Nepal’s policymakers believe the cost of ending the dependence on petroleum is too high. “But that is an outdated concept,” he says, “it is now possible to drive a country’s economy without using fossil fuels. PM Oli should learn from Costa Rica, a country he visited recently.”<iframe id="datawrapper-chart-ny5IE" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important;" src="//datawrapper.dwcdn.net/ny5IE/5/" height="400" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171132/636933489c7e80680e03df89jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="351" height="555">Some argue that Nepal’s economy is so petroleum dependent that it cannot switch suddenly to renewable without assistance for the conversion of cars, and to add new hydropower plants. Nepal’s per capita <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/half-full/A-carbon-neutral-Nepal-is-possible-clean-Nepal,1064">carbon</a> footprint is negligible, they add, so whether or not Nepal goes for electric mobility is not going to save the planet.However, former energy minister Dipak Gyawali says: “The volume of carbon emitted by Nepal might be small, but the rate at which we are increasing it is even higher than the industrialised West.”Gyawali says Nepal should immediately declare a peak emission year, pass a policy to gradually replace all government vehicles with electric ones and impose a tax on fuel that can be used to subsidise electric vehicles.Nepal needs to do this more importantly to reduce its balance of payment deficit, save the country from bankruptcy, and reduce its political dependence on India, than to save the world from <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/melting-mountains-shake,3073">global warming</a>.

From a fossil past to an electric future

The newly-formed Himalayan Art Council is set to launch Nepal’s National Art Protection Platform that seeks to preserve <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-history-of-heritage">Nepal’s unique cultural heritage </a>using<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/artificial-censorship"> AI-powered tools</a>. The Council seeks to safeguard <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepali-art-going-places">Nepali art works</a> from neglect, theft and counterfeiting as well as preserve existing artwork and celebrate living masters by giving them a cultural space to continue the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/sacred-survival">sacred art traditions</a>. "We are introducing a new digital platform designed to preserve, verify and elevate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-new-generation-of-alternative-artists">Nepal’s art for generations to come,</a>” says a statement from the Council, adding that the digital platform will use AI told for authentication and blockchain to keep track of works of art. Artists can now be protected by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/ayo-ai?fbclid=IwAR1uwmTVq4gUB70ljfRezjzukD9ArWXPuMnUikopeQ8PoiZMjicToPSwhKE&amp;=1">AI tools</a> that detect forgeries, identify their work even when unsigned, and ensure they receive proper recognition and credit. The archives will be searchable with translated inscription and interactive guides. Says curator Meena Lama: “AI and blockchains are tools that give us the power to detect fakes and identify unsigned paintings and track every piece. With these tools we can restore trust, secure authorship and give artists the dignity they deserve.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53" data-rendition-name="original" width="1300" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum."> <figcaption>Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum.</figcaption> </figure>  The Council is also holding an exhibition of Nepali cultural masterpieces with 50 historical <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-the-art,671">thangka and paubha </a>by past masters and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/between-the-sacred-and-everyday">contemporary works by current artists</a>. This curated collection is a living tribute to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/when-yaks-go-so-does-culture">Himalayan culture</a> with economic depictions of deities, mandala and sacred narratives. The exhibition at <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/a-portal-into-patan-s-past-and-present">Patan Museum</a> also provides an opportunity to meet painters and custodians of art and culture. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/golden-deities">Golden deities</a>, Sewa Bhattarai ‘The exhibition is only the first step in a long journey to ensure that Nepali art is no just seen but fully understood, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Narratives-of-Faith-and-Memory-Remembering-the-Lost-Sculptures-of-Kathmandu-exhibition,987">protected and remembered</a>,’ the Council says. Artist Kailash K Shrestha of Artudio has spent decades promoting thankha and paubha traditions because of their beauty and devotional meaning. But he also says artists are underpaid, exploited and ignored. He adds, “AI and blockchain are not just buzzwords, they are powerful tools that can protect Nepal’s artists from fraud, verify authenticity and build a permanent record of provenance.” Traditional Art Exhibition Till 17 May Patan Museum

Digital protection for Nepal’s art

India and Pakistan are twins separated at birth. Tensions between them have been at a hair trigger ever since independence and has erupted into full scale conflict at least four times in the past 80 years.
The 22 April terrorist attack in Kashmir that killed 25 Indian tourists and a Nepali citizen, threatens to escalate tension between the two nuclear-armed nations. India has squarely blamed Pakistan for the attacks, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given his military “operational freedom” to respond. Pakistan has said it has credible intelligence of an Indian military strike and its officials have promised a “full spectrum” response — a code for a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/thinking-the-thinkable">nuclear retaliation</a>.
For Nepal, the killing of its national in the Pahalgam attack comes as another stark reminder that in conflicts from Afghanistan to Iraq, from <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/how-to-agree-an-armistice-in-ukraine">Ukraine</a> to Israel, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/10-nepalis-from-one-town-fighting-in-ukraine">Nepalis are getting caught in the crossfire</a>. The last time full-scale fighting broke out between <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/peacemongers-at-india-pakistan-border">India and Pakistan</a> on Kargil in 1999, at least 22<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/india-s-trial-by-fire-for-soldiers-from-nepal?%27%5C%22="> Nepalis fighting for the Indian Army</a> were killed in action.
Three of Nepal’s immediate neighbours (China, India, Pakistan) have nuclear weapons, and they do not have good relations. With China supplying weapons, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/war-and-warming">missile technology</a> and other support to Pakistan, this triangular friction could set off a regional conflagration.&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-022-00573-0" target="_blank">Research at Rutgers University</a> has calculated that even a week-long tactical nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan would throw up so much smoke and debris into the atmosphere that it would block out the sun for years, and lead to a collapse of the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/grow-nourish-sustain-together-world-food-day">global food system</a>. This does not take into account the radioactive fallout that prevailing winds would blow up to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lives-on-the-line-in-the-himalaya">the Himalaya</a>, contaminating glaciers that are the sources of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/saving-what-is-left-of-himalayan-rivers">Asia’s main rivers</a>.
The impact of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/climate-breakdown-linked-to-thame-flood">climate breakdown </a>on High Asia was already ringing alarm bells about its <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/himalayan-icecap-melting-faster-than-thought">shrinking ice cap</a> reducing the dry season flow of water downstream. Water was going to be the next strategic commodity, geopolitical experts warned, and the next wars in Asia would be over water.
That water war is already happening. India retaliated to the Kashmir attack by suspending the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/world/asia/india-pakistan-indus-waters-treaty.html" target="_blank">Indus Waters Treaty</a> of 1960 mediated by the World Bank that has withstood at least three wars between India and Pakistan. The treaty gives India control over the three eastern tributaries of the Indus (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beas_River" target="_blank">Beas</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravi_River" target="_blank">Ravi</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutlej" target="_blank">Sutlej</a>), while Pakistan got water from the Indus and two of its western tributaries (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_River" target="_blank">Indus</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenab_River" target="_blank">Chenab</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jhelum_River" target="_blank">Jhelum</a>.
Pakistan was assured of 70% of the annual flow, and India could use a reasonable amount of water for<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15231"> irrigation and hydropower</a>. &nbsp;Within days of its threat, India stopped water flowing down to Pakistan from the Chenab river and is reportedly preparing to do the same on the Jhelum.
The sabre-rattling has reached a crescendo. Besides threats and counter-threats there are also symbolic drills, with the Indian Air Force practicing landing on an expressway in Uttar Pradesh by its Rafale, Su-30 and Jaguar fighter jets to demonstrate ‘operational readiness’. In response Pakistan test-fired its Abdali ballistic missile that can carry a nuclear warhead and has a range of 450km.&nbsp;
The danger is that with ultra-nationalist rhetoric and the beating the war drums by both sides, India’s government and Pakistan’s military may have to ‘do something’ to appease domestic public opinion. But any tactical strike, an artillery exchange, or territorial incursion could quickly escalate out of control.
Expecting an Indian retaliation for the Pahalgam killings, Pakistan is using<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/interfaith-collaboration-for-nuclear-disarmament"> nuclear deterrence </a>and warning of “catastrophic consequences”. The two neighbours came close to a nuclear exchange in 2019 after an attack on the Indian military in Kashmir, and prompt international intervention led by the United States cooled tensions.&nbsp;
This time, the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/trump-shock-wave-hits-nepal">Trump administration</a> is too distracted and not as engaged. Pakistan has denied it was responsible for the terrorist attack and called on Washington to stop a possible Indian retaliation. India and Pakistan have stopped overflights by each other’s airlines, and some international carriers have even stopped flying over Pakistan fearing an air war.
Washington, Beijing, the UN and the EU have all urged restraint. Iran, which has good relations with both India and Pakistan has sent its foreign minister to urge both countries not to go into a tit-for-tat war. Iran has its own nuclear flashpoint to worry about with tensions in Israel, &nbsp;Yemen and Syria.
India and Pakistan both share similar problems of joblessness, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/why-nepal-s-poverty-rate-is-stuck">poverty </a>and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/climate-change-new-threat-to-nepal-s-rhinos">environmental threats</a>. Neither side needs the threat of a senseless war, and we in the neighbourhood do not need it either.&nbsp;
Kunda Dixit
This Editorial 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.

Nukes in the neighbourhood

Most Nepalis thought they had seen the last of it after <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/11-56-25-april-2015-wkc9q2an">the 25 April 7.8 magnitude </a>earthquake ten years ago. But the Himalaya had more surprises in store. On 12 May, another 7.3 magnitude tremor that some said was an aftershock, but was strong enough to itself be a major earthquake, struck Dolakha.&nbsp; Not many people had heard of Singati till then — a cluster of houses by the Tama Kosi River along a narrow gorge that is the roadhead to Rolwaling Valley.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_57b6e316656851f71eca56ca6f98d9bbcc820c1a00d62af3c990725b4361244d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250508110520_57b6e316656851f71eca56ca6f98d9bbcc820c1a00d62af3c990725b4361244d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_016534fb2b6a79957402281cda768efb83a146786377e39e11df3e251d37159e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250508110520_016534fb2b6a79957402281cda768efb83a146786377e39e11df3e251d37159e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>  It was here that dozens were killed on 25 April in the first earthquake. Hundreds of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Singati-rising-from-rubble-rebuilding,3703">Singati survivors</a> had lined up for food and relief supplies in the morning of 12 May when the second earthquake triggered a rock slide that buried a nearby camp. At least 50 people were killed. &nbsp; Three hours later, a US Marine Corps UH-1Y Venom helicopter landed in a nearby cornfield to pick up the wounded, and flew off. The aircraft lost contact with air traffic control in Kathmandu and its wreckage was located high on Kalinchok four days later. Six American servicemen, two Nepal Army soldiers, and five wounded civilians from Singati were killed. Today, Singati bears little physical scar of the multiple tragedies that struck the town ten years ago. Most <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/bungamati-builds-back">houses have been rebuilt</a> as urban-style concrete structures, and Singati has become an economic hub on the road leading up to several hydropower plants and a<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/off-the-beaten-trek-in-nepal"> popular trekking destination</a>.&nbsp; The town looks less like a village and more like a suburb of the Dolakha district headquarter of Charikot, 47km away.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_196f341d1df1403ba133e5dfeb837eec20d7cbcb4c8c56b17cc5598810de5df2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250508110520_196f341d1df1403ba133e5dfeb837eec20d7cbcb4c8c56b17cc5598810de5df2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110524_ae66c4a92430f67db51b5e11e017059eedfbac4cb18c8e073f2a50cca1fe904e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20250508110524_ae66c4a92430f67db51b5e11e017059eedfbac4cb18c8e073f2a50cca1fe904e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>  “The demand for construction material, cement, iron rods and bricks peaked after the earthquakes,” says Suresh Khadka, who owns a hardware business here and now supplies material to the 456MW Upper Tama Kosi hydropower project that is undergoing repairs after it was damaged by a landslide last year. The demand for cement boomed since most residents believe, not necessarily correctly, that <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/in-a-disastrous-state">cement houses are safer</a>. Although Khadka did well selling construction material after the earthquake, he worries that most new structures do not follow seismic-resistant building codes.&nbsp; The construction boom financed by bank loans has in turn forced many from Singati to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/making-overseas-migration-better">migrate overseas for work</a> so they can service their debt.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110524_50caa4530bd5ff9120cf7ab70a62173846d337ef448ff8bac339f3faa375a9e2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20250508110524_50caa4530bd5ff9120cf7ab70a62173846d337ef448ff8bac339f3faa375a9e2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> <figcaption>Suresh Khadka</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_ef8b7d3993fc3b5df852bbf952feb3fbabc96d6883b0d5eb74ee5c60f4123b83.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20250508110520_ef8b7d3993fc3b5df852bbf952feb3fbabc96d6883b0d5eb74ee5c60f4123b83" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> <figcaption>Phu Doma Sherpa (right)</figcaption> </figure>  “My family had no choice but to borrow money to rebuild our home since the government compensation was not enough, and ten years later we are still paying off the loan,” says Phu Doma Sherpa, 60. Because of the shortage of qualified masons and proper seismic engineering, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/structural-problems">many of the buildings are of questionable building standards </a>and the traditional architecture has been abandoned, admits Kul Bahadur Budathoki, deputy chair of the municipality. “But these buildings were more expensive than what the government grants could cover, many people here are heavily in debt and the men have <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/every-day-is-closer-to-pay-day">migrated to the Gulf to pay their loans</a>,” Budathoki says.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_32f89e97b7e757fc9286c0bbb671f48ea8d4468e9634fa646d7247c650ad8480.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="20250508110520_32f89e97b7e757fc9286c0bbb671f48ea8d4468e9634fa646d7247c650ad8480" data-rendition-name="original" width="1501" height="1079" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> <figcaption>Kul Bahadur Budathoki</figcaption> </figure>  Singati is in a multi-hazard zone. The <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Singati,3091">12 May 2015 earthquake </a>could have led to the collapse of Nepal’s largest glacial lake, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/stairway-to-heaven">Tso Rolpa</a>, upstream. Due to global warming, the glacier has turned into an expanding lake 3.5km long, and its collapse would have unleashed a catastrophic Himalayan tsunami down the Tama Kosi Valley, with Singati directly in its path. Singati has literally risen from the ashes of 2015, with its residents beginning to recover from the trauma and financial toll. But it is not out of danger as <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/climate-breakdown-linked-to-thame-flood">climate breakdown </a>magnifies the risk from future earthquakes.

Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village

The streets of Patan are alive this month with lavender jacaranda trees under rain-washed skies as <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-red-god-rises-again-in-patan">the chariot of Rato Matsyendranath</a> is pulled across town. This is the festival of the rain god, and inevitably the heavens opened up and pre-monsoon showers pelted the chariot as it started being pulled in Pulchok last week. Thousands of devotees, onlookers and the chariot procession organisers thronged the streets on the first day last week. The rhythmic cymbals and drums exuded a vibrant energy as the enormous four wheels turned and the chariot lurched.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025051007050_81df97744db16f732a419dc1f1579d235ce3df37642b078f50b83bd4bd026688.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2025051007050_81df97744db16f732a419dc1f1579d235ce3df37642b078f50b83bd4bd026688" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1503" loading="lazy" alt="Divine chariot"> </figure>  The<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Red-rain-god,3141"> red rain god</a> has Hindu and Buddhist antecedents, alternatively called Bungadya and<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-s-gravity-defying-chariot-festival"> Karunamaya</a> — reflecting Kathmandu Valley’s syncretic mixture of the two religions.&nbsp; “Bungadya is a profoundly <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/12-full-opinion/marketing-the-intangible">intangible form of heritage</a>,” explains heritage expert Monalisa Maharjan. “It embodies traditional knowledge,<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/reviving-nepal-s-craft"> artisanal skills passed down through generations</a>. Local communities and specific families have specified roles in being custodians of the heritage, ensuring their survival over the centuries.” There are many legends and stories about this annual tradition. Lichhavi king Narendra Dev is supposed to have brought Rato Matsyendranath from Assam to Kathmandu Valley to convince Guru Gorakhnath to lift a spell that created a two-year drought in Kathmandu.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250510050520_347a9a398f8a9abc4a7fb4e2774fde8264cccbdce8bdab23851ab3f0e73c3e8a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250510050520_347a9a398f8a9abc4a7fb4e2774fde8264cccbdce8bdab23851ab3f0e73c3e8a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1503" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Divine chariot"> </figure>  Matsyendranath was Gorakhnath’s mentor, and upon seeing him, the serpents were released, unleashing the rains. The chariot festival honours the return of this life-giving rain. The deity is seen as an icon for thriving agriculture, t<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/before-the-next-monsoon">he arrival of monsoon</a> showers, and the welfare of the community. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-reign-of-the-god-of-rain">The reign of the god of rain</a>, Vidhu Prakash Kayastha Till this day, the Rato Matsyendranath festival is no ordinary celebration. Patan does not sleep for a month as the chariot is pulled through various neighbourhoods. It unfolds at a state level with the president (formerly the king) attending the climax of the Bhoto Jatra in Jawalakhel later this month.&nbsp; The intergenerational transmission of tradition is unique in the world, and the reason the festival is one of the most vibrant cultural expressions that thrives despite inroads of modernity. The other unique aspect is that it is a transnational festival, binding Patan with Guwahati in the Indian state of Assam.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025051005058_8bc685ada13045d863b28e3eed91c931da2b510714586af6fd7eb5d1e298a24a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="2025051005058_8bc685ada13045d863b28e3eed91c931da2b510714586af6fd7eb5d1e298a24a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1503" loading="lazy" alt="Divine chariot"> </figure>  “Unlike Nepal, where the deity commands grandeur and devotion, many in Assam are unaware of Rato Matsyendranath,” says Khagen Sharma of Gauhati University, which convened <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-assam-connection-revived">a symposium in February in Guwahati on the rain god</a>. Attending was a delegation led by Lalitpur Mayor Chiribabu Maharjan, organisers of the festival, and builders of the chariot. After the symposium, a committee was formed to explore and revive the tradition in Assam as well. Although the team had planned to visit Nepal this month, logistical challenges delayed the trip. Still, there are plans to build a Guru Matsyendranath statue in Assam to reestablish regular worship practices in the Guwahati shrine.&nbsp; The vines used to build the chariot in Patan are sourced from the jungles of Assam. But Sharma notes that in recent years unclear regulations have blocked the official import of the vines, although they are still brought to Nepal informally. The <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/makers-of-machhindranath,2204">chariot making</a> has also had a taste of modernisation in recent times. In the past, even a single nail or piece of steel was avoided. But over time, the wooden structure, particularly the shaft between the wheels, has been replaced with bronze. When that too proved unstable, metal clamps were introduced, which have become a pragmatic compromise.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250510050524_b2a819a5791612f14c81d30fc393dbd3f99f0c64b90a9110e8b0855d944bfa93.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20250510050524_b2a819a5791612f14c81d30fc393dbd3f99f0c64b90a9110e8b0855d944bfa93" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="998" loading="lazy" alt="Divine chariot"> </figure>  Another welcome change is the focus on safety. Builders climbing the chariot’s tower now wear harnesses and there are efforts in crowd control. The most visible change in recent years has been the involvement of Patan’s enthusiastic youth in the festival — the tradition is now passing to a new generation. Says Matsyendranath expert Vidhu Kayastha: “There is more energy, the young people in red t-shirts this year were very organised, these modern touches aren’t diluting our culture, they’re keeping it alive in new forms.” He adds, “We are <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/searching-for-a-homeland-away-from-home">reconnecting with our roots</a>, we have more resources, more awareness than ever before. We must not be swept away by western values that may not serve us, and in some ways, cause more harm than good. We must revive our own culture.”&nbsp;

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