<figure><img width="1236" height="737" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107121148/6368f0779c7e80680e0359d6jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>onlinekhabar.com</figcaption></figure>Keshav Sharan Lamichhane in Annapurna Post, 17 JulyYouth in Pokhara have shown the way to recycling plastic by paving a section of road with the non-biodegradable waste (pictured, above).  Plastic wrappers from noodles, biscuits, milk packets and tobacco were used to blacktop 100m of Anupam Marg in Pokhara-14, and the section was inaugurated by Pokhara Mayor Man Bahadur GC. Green Road Waste Management introduced plastic into the traditional bitumen mixture, reducing the amount of expensive asphalt concentrate to make cheaper, longer-lasting and environmentally friendly roads.The plastic waste is first processed into pellets, then boiled at 160 Celsius with other components including asphalt. Of the 2,475 litres of bitumen used in the blacktopping of Anupam Marg, up to 16% was plastic and cost only Rs20,000. “The use of plastic saves Rs200,000 per km of road. This means if we are to pave 200km of road, it will save us Rs20 million,” said civil engineer Rajiv Subedi of Green Road Waste Management. Subedi spent a week in Bhutan learning about the technology, first introduced in India in 2001. So far, 100,000 km of roads in India and 200 km in Bhutan have been blacktopped using plastic. Kathmandu can learn from Pokhara, given how much plastic is piling up in garbage on the streets. “Using plastic to pave roads is an appropriate alternative to the Valley’s growing plastic pollution,” said Sanjeev Bastola, founder of the Green Road Waste Management. “Roads blacktopped with plastic have higher load-bearing capacity, are water resistant, and durable.”Also read: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/plastic-money/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Plastic money</a>, Samuel Johns<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/making-money-from-garbage-in-kathmandu,2055" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rupees from rubbish</a>, Sahina Shrestha

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Pokhara's plastic road

<img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107121140/6368ef139c7e80680e03595bjpeg.jpg" alt=""/>As human beings, we are creatures who measure. We count. We quantify. We love numbers even more with every passing year with the 'Decade of Data' now well underway.Money is no different. We count and calculate it. We measure and monitor. We consider our spending and contemplate new income streams. But money doesn't grow on trees. So where does it come from?Nepal has been the rich beneficiary of strong governmental relations with Western countries like the US, UK, Germany, for over seven decades since joining the Colombo Plan in 1952. Today, foreign aid to Nepal accounts for around $350 million per year making up a sizeable chunk of Nepal’s total GDP.But in his book Kathmandu, Thomas Bell warns: 'The agents of development rather than the targets, have benefitted financially … thousands of man-hours of expert advice have failed to upskill or incentivise the indigenous workforce significantly.'Aid often fails to breed a sense of dignity, responsibility and ownership. Social entrepreneurship is a better option. A growing group of business-minded, socially-interested stakeholders from both within and outside Nepal are now reframing the debate on aid. What if enterprise took the place of aid? What if micro-loans and micro-financing replaced the '<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/gigantism/">gigantism</a>'  of macro-projects in Nepal?The ultimate, good and true purpose of business is to increase human wellbeing. When people create wealth themselves, however, they are empowered, and benefit from a sense of dignity, ownership, and responsibility. The imbalance in relations between the 'West' and the 'Rest' too often results in positions of power and paternal stances of support.The wealthy then typically see their responsibility towards the poor in terms of chairty. Not only can this breed dependency and irresponsibility, but it is also liable to corruption and misuse. Further, such aid rarely pays respect to local norms, indigenous cultures and practices.Enterprise, or more specifically social enterprise, focuses on enabling, creating, and facilitating long-term indigenous enterprises. These foster 'independence, dignity, and ownership...rather than breed dependency, these approaches encourage responsibility’, notes the British thinker on business, Peter Heslam.Social enterprises are coming up all over Nepal. Visit the Village Cafe in Pulchok and taste the fantastic Newari yomari. This is an initiative of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/review/The-Village-Cafe,120.">the SAARC Business Association of Home Based Workers (SABAH)</a> Operating on a model of dispersed ownership, SABAH runs as a social enterprise with a flat hierarchy.Not only does this mean every voice is listened to (helpful in cottage industries and with <a href="https://nepalitimes.atavist.com/the-kingdom-of-cardamom">home based workers</a> in particular) but more importantly responsibility &amp; ownership are divided amongst all members. Learn more <a href="http://sabahnp.org/">here</a>. A trip to Baglung district, west of Pokhara, will show you social enterprise in action with educational institutions. Bhimsen Higher Secondary School (HSS) based in Bihun of Baglung runs a social enterprise arm in partnership with <a href="http://www.psdnepal.org">PSD Nepal</a>, where initiative is fostered. Local staff, students, and teachers pitch for ideas of extra-curricular support whether sporting events, musical instruments, new ICT equipment or smart-screens, and the like. PSD Nepal helps partner with funders to make these initiatives happen. All the responsibility is at the local, grassroots level, and initiatives for new ideas stems from the school itself too.<a href="http://himalayanlife.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Himalayan Plastic</a> in Pokhara featured in this newspaper <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/plastic-money/">(18-24 June 2018, #910)</a> works to get street children into employment. Training and apprenticeships from carpentry to mechanics, metal-making, and plumbing serve not only to give valuable skills to ex-street children, but also lead into careers and jobs with Himalayan Plastic recycling based in Pokhara Industrial Park -- another brilliant example of social enterprise fostering local, applicable, practical skills.Interestingly, <a href="http://www.hiddenjourneysnepal.com">Hidden Journeys Nepal</a> works to connect these dots. Show-casing meaningful projects with meaningful impact across Nepal, they share success-models and inspire future entrepreneurs. As they put it – there are 'intelligent solutions that improve people's lives' all across Nepal.From SABAH to Himalayan Plastic in Pokhara, to Baglung, and many more initiatives across Nepal, social enterprises are promoting grassroots leadership, local solutions, circular economies, and resourcefulness. A move from aid to enterprise would foster responsibility in Nepal. Enterprise demands ownership, a training-ground for integrity, trust and honesty. Enterprise lasts.Samuel Johns studied geography at the University of Oxford and UBC in Canada and writes about the Himalaya in the anthropocene.Photo: Yuvaraj Shrestha

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Nepal moves from aid to enterprise

<h4>The government’s plastic bans have been repeatedly sabotaged by</h4>big businesseshttps://youtu.be/VP-vD3sJbXUTwo years ago, just after the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2015/03/23/plastic-free-valley-in-new-year/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">government announced a ban on plastic bags</a> thinner than 30 microns, the newly-appointed joint-secretary at the Ministry of Environment, Durga Prasad Dawadi, had visitors.They were plastic bag manufacturers, and were shown in. They bluntly warned Dawadi that if the ban went ahead, their investment would be lost and tens of thousands of workers would be out of their jobs.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6849c7e80680e03148bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="640"/>“I told them the main source of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/a-load-of-rubbish-kathmandus-garbage-problem,4039" target="_blank" rel="noopener">garbage</a> on the streets is plastic waste, and we cannot measure the damage to the environment and human health in rupees,” Dawadi recalls. However, he said there first needs to be a law to apprehend and punish plastic bag manufacturers.Sunil Manandhar was Environment Minister at the time and says the lack of legal provisions is being used as an excuse to allow the plastic industry to function without hindrance. He says the Environment Conservation Law of 1996 clearly spells out conditions under which a violator can have its license revoked.It has been 20 years since the production and use of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-plastic-wars,612" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plastic bags</a> has seen exponential growth. Now, there are 250 factories converting imported raw material in pellet form into bags and other goods.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=6130&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Plastic money</a>, Samuel Johns<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6889c7e80680e03148cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="933"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Another former Environment Minister Ganesh Shah admits that he tried but failed to implement the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/plastic-free-new-year,2174" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plastic ban</a> in 2008. While being involved in a Bagmati solid waste cleanup campaign, Shah realised that plastic bags constituted a large portion of the city’s non-biodegradable waste. In fact, Kathmandu Valley today produces more than 500 tons of plastic waste a day.Former ministers, secretaries and other bureaucrats in the Environment Ministry interviewed for this article all confirmed that their initiatives to ban the production of plastic bags were sabotaged by industrialists who enjoyed political protection.“They used all kinds of pressure and inducements to ensure that the plastic ban was not implemented,” says former minister Manandhar. “I experienced the coercion myself during my tenure.” He suspects that officials of his own ministry involved in formulating a plastic bag ban directive in 2011 were conspiring to allow loopholes.Durga Prasad Dawadi, who is now Director General of the Department of Environment, says every time a minister started talking about a plastic ban to reduce the garbage burden, somehow the businessmen would get wind of it and arrive at the ministry with large delegations. He says the pressure also came from political party leaders.Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=6137&amp;elementor" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Virtuous cycle</a>, Yuvaraj ShresthaJust a fortnight ago, four businessmen came to his office with a recommendation from the Maoist Minister of Forests and Environment Shakti Basnet to clear 16 truckloads of waste cotton from Bangladesh stopped at Jhapa customs.“I said I could not clear something harmful to the environment, and they threatened me. They said they would teach me a lesson for not obeying the minister,” Dawadi recalls. He says similar tactics were used to revoke plastic bans in the past.https://youtu.be/SGhXMvSkzhAAnother former Environment Secretary Krishna Gyawali says there is no excuse for the bureaucracy to let businesses off the hook: “If the law is weak, it is their job to make it stronger.”A notice in the gazette announced a ban on bags below 30 microns effective Nepali New Year on 14 April 2015. As with all previous directives, this one was never implemented. This time, the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2015/05/27/a-month-that-felt-like-a-year/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">earthquake</a> was used as the excuse, but ex-minister Ganesh Shah is convinced industrialists were again behind it.Plastic bag manufacturers petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the ban in 2015. However, the court ruled in favour of the government, saying that plastic bags were harmful to human health and the environment, and that the ban had legal basis.Last year’s budget once again announced a ban on plastic bags. That decision was also soon forgotten. Towns like Pokhara, Biratnagar and Dharan have also tried to implement plastic bag bans without success.Dawadi says the government’s policy itself is contradictory: “How can the Ministry of Industry give licenses to plastic factories on the one hand, and the Ministry of Environment ban them?”Read Also:  <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/plastic-free-new-year,2174" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Plastic-free new year, not easy</a>,  Sahina ShresthaShard Sharma, Chair of the Nepal Plastic Producers Association, says it is natural for his industry to lobby against the ban. “We have invested billions with permission from the government, we have been paying taxes, you cannot ban plastic just because some NGOs oppose it,” he told Nepali Times. “If you want to close us down, we have to be compensated.”Environmentalists say the excessive use of one-time-use plastic bags clog up drains, spoil river banks, and release carcinogenic dioxin into the air when it is burnt. Thin plastic bags are blown about by the wind into farmlands and affect harvests.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d68a9c7e80680e03148djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="346">The public is used to the convenience of plastic bags, however, and not enough has been done to raise awareness about its hazards. Affordable alternatives to plastic bags and water bottles are also absent. Future bans must also include foil wrappers and smaller instant noodle and candy packs, Dawadi says.One way to reduce plastic use would be to tax it, or to put a price on plastic waste, as has been done in the Langtang National Park (see adjoining article).Shopkeepers can also pay a role, as shown by Bhatbhateni and Big Mart which do not give away plastic bags. But the volume of plastic waste can be reduced if household and street garbage are sorted at source.There is also an initiative to turn plastic bags into diesel by Rabindra Dhakal at the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST). Although proven, it has to be upscaled from a lab experiment to industrial production. On Monday, Kirtipur announced that it would discourage plastic bags, and is distributing 10,000 cloth bags as alternative. Lamahi of Dang has banned plastic cups and plates, and will soon ban bags. However, noodle and biscuit wrappers are still a problem.Says environmental campaigner Bhusan Tuladhar: “Yes, plastic waste is a huge problem. But with big store chains banning it and rising public awareness, it is not all a flop.”Read Also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/a-load-of-rubbish-kathmandus-garbage-problem,4039" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A load of rubbish</a>,  Sahina Shrestha

Industrial scale litter

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d69d9c7e80680e031495jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1050"/><figcaption>Discarded PET bottles trucked in to Pokhara from as far away as Langtang National park.</figcaption></figure>When Daniel Burgi first came to Nepal to work for United Mission to Nepal’s hydropower projects, he travelled all over Nepal and decided to dedicate his life for the education of Nepali children.He set up the non-profit group, Himalayan Life Nepal and to pay for its work, Burgi and Nepali colleague Chanman Srimal spent most of their time fundraising from donors. There must be a self-sustaining way to pay for a children’s charity, they thought.What could be a social entrepreneurship activity that could raise money for children? At first they thought of making chemical-free soaps for Pokhara’s hotels, and while planning for it noticed mountains of plastic waste piled high along streets in the scenic city.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=6124&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Industrial scale litter</a>, Mukesh Pokhrel<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=6130&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Plastic money</a>, Samuel Johns<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6a19c7e80680e031496jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="934"><figcaption>Workers sort the bottles, selecting transparent ones.</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6a49c7e80680e031497jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="934"><figcaption>Labels and caps are removed. Coloured bottles are sold to other recyclers.</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6a79c7e80680e031498jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="934"><figcaption>Bottles are machine-shredded into flakes to be processed into plastic pellets.</figcaption></figure>Six years ago, no one had really thought you could make money <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/recycle-reuse-reduce-garbage-kathmandu,1279" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recycling plastic</a>. But Burgi and Srimal came up with a feasible plan and registered Himalayan Life Plastic Pvt Ltd in the Pokhara Industrial Estate with an initial investment of Rs60 million.The factory now employs 65 workers to buy discarded PET bottles collected from Kathmandu, Pokhara, Syangja, Tanahu and Langtang (see story, above) and recycle them into pellets for reuse.The business model is quite simple: discarded transparent PET bottles are bought for Rs35 per kg, processed into pellets and sold to other plastic industries for reuse at Rs115 per kg, which is much cheaper than the raw material they import for Rs200 per kg of pellets.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6aa9c7e80680e031499jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1050"><figcaption>The Chinese-made machines can recycle 3,000 bottles in every 8-hour shift.</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6ad9c7e80680e03149ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1050"><figcaption>Pellets are weighed and filled into sacks before dispatch to customers all over Nepal.</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6b09c7e80680e03149bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1050"><figcaption>Sacks of pellets ready for transport from Himalayan Life in Pokhara.</figcaption></figure>“Using recycled pellets means there is less plastic garbage in the environment, plastic industries have cheaper raw materials, and it reduces Nepal’s import bill,” says manager Prabhat Pratik of Himalayan Life.Ironically, one of the biggest problem is competition from Indian recycling companies who source plastic trash from Nepal in bulk and have the advantage of an economy of scale.There is criticism that the plastic is being recycled to make other plastic, but that overlooks the fact that the environment is rid of plastic trash. Pratik calls this "upcycling, not recycling".Ashok Sapkota of Green Society Nepal agrees: “Ventures like these need government support. They clean up the environment, reduce the import bill, create employment, pay taxes, and still make a profit that they plough into children’s welfare.”<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6b39c7e80680e03149cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="640">Read also:<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/recycle-reuse-reduce-garbage-kathmandu,1279" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Recycle, reuse, reduce</a>,  Donatella Lorch<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/making-money-from-garbage-in-kathmandu,2055" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rupees from rubbish</a>,  Sahina Shresthahttps://youtu.be/VP-vD3sJbXU

Virtuous cycle

<h4>Conservation group pays Rs 1 for every discarded plastic bottle in Langtang to upcycle them</h4><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d68e9c7e80680e03148fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1318"/>Langtang Valley is just beginning to recover from the earthquake three years ago, but another disaster looms large here in the high Himalaya: The Plastic Crisis.As the region rebuilds, tourists are flocking back to this stunningly scenic region, 7-hour drive north of Kathmandu. Every year, about 15,000 trekkers visit the Langtang National Park, using up and leaving behind 200,000 plastic water bottles. A conservative estimate puts the number of discarded bottles in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-reincarnation-of-a-holy-valley/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Langtang Valley</a> alone at 5 million.It takes just three seconds to throw away a water bottle, but it will take 450 years for it to biodegrade. The plastic will be around for seven more generations of Nepalis by the banks of the Bhote Kosi (picture below).But here in Langtang survivors of the earthquake are building a new beginning, they have understood the importance of keeping this jewel clean and safe. These mountains are an asset in the richest sense of the word, with huge aesthetic and environmental value which, if protected, can also provide economic benefits from trekking.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6909c7e80680e031490jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="640">The <a href="http://www.psdnepal.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Partnership for Sustainable Development</a> (PSD) is a Nepali advocacy group involved in the retrieval and recycling of plastic trash in cooperation with the Kyanjin Gompa Langtang Society. PSD is also partnering with <a href="https://sustainablemountainarchitecture.tumblr.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sustainable Mountain Architecture</a> to build a model pavilion entirely of plastic bottles in Rasuwa to raise public awareness. It supports the work of Nepali scientists to turn plastic waste into diesel. All this may seem like a drop in the ocean compared to the 1,000 tons of solid waste daily, much of it plastic, that <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/a-load-of-rubbish-kathmandus-garbage-problem,4039" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kathmandu</a> produces. But <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/everest-garbage-caravan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">every drop counts</a>.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=6124&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Industrial scale litter</a>, Mukesh Pokhrel<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=6137&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Virtuous cycle</a>, Yuvaraj Shrestha<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6929c7e80680e031491jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="934"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>In 2017 PSD launched a simple scheme to pay Rs1 for every PET bottle. About 15,000 bottles per month collected from <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/langtang-destroyed-in-earthquake,2205" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Langtang</a> are dispatched to Himalayan Plastic in Pokhara where they are recycled to make educational material. The whole enterprise is funded and fuelled by the economics of recycling and providing desperately needed employment, vision, and long-term support in Langtang, where 400 people lost their lives in the earthquake.Cultivating a circular economy around waste, especially plastic, is one way to tackle the impact of the quake on tourism. It creates jobs, local employment, and local responsibility for waste that would otherwise litter the environment.https://youtu.be/VP-vD3sJbXUThopden Sonam has been hard at work for the past seven months collecting, sorting, cleaning, and storing the 500kg of<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/recycle-reuse-reduce-garbage-kathmandu,1279" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> plastic bottles</a> a month that are trucked to Himalayan Plastic. The 1000-litre drums are full to the brim with sorted plastic, ready for the next shipment. Thopden stores the leftover mix of sugar-soda bottles and mineral water bottles supplied to trekkers in the valley. You name the brand and they have all been salvaged from the banks of rivers in Langtang Valley: Bailley, Natural Nepal Water, Kinley, Aqua, Coke, Sprite.Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/making-money-from-garbage-in-kathmandu,2055" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rupees from rubish</a>,  Sahina Shrestha<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/everest-garbage-caravan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Everest garbage caravan</a>,  Sonia Awale<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6969c7e80680e031492jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="933"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Our slogan ‘Langtang Himal, Ramro Himal’ seeks to spread environmental consciousness and clean trails, and help the tourism economy. Convincing the locals is no easy matter, and sometimes things move slow.Recycling is not only an option for keeping the Himalaya clean, but can also be a modest income stream for local people.The 100 tons of plastic thrown away actually represents Rs 7 million, if it can be collected for recycling.Slowly, the message is spreading: why throw bottles in the river, if you can recycle them? Even better, why recycle them if you can upcycle?Samuel Johns studied geography at the University of Oxford and UBC in Canada and writes about the Himalaya in the anthropocene.Read also:<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/a-load-of-rubbish-kathmandus-garbage-problem,4039" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A load of rubbish</a>,  Sahina Shrestha<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-reincarnation-of-a-holy-valley/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The reincarnation of a holy valley</a>,  Clara Bullock<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6999c7e80680e031493jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="366" height="571">

Plastic money

Violations of Nepal’s airspace during WWII

At Budhanilkantha School Ujwal Thapa was a few years my senior. He was a quiet person who kept to himself; I didn’t know him very well despite being related to him because of that introversion and natural shyness. What we did have in common, coming of age in the 1990s, is our generation, GenX, which became weary, inured for the most part, to Nepal’s famously unstable politics.&nbsp; Counting the events of this past September, GenX has, astonishingly, lived through three people’s revolutions, one armed conflict, a flawed but hard won constitution, and a major earthquake. Ujwal Thapa, one of Nepal’s most cherished Gen Xers, despite his previous, youthful reticence, did not long remain a complaisant bystander against the backdrop of these extreme upheavals.&nbsp; By the mid 2000s he had become deeply political, but without the equivocation that so often accompanies politics. Thanks to his lived experience, he came to believe that the youth of Nepal are the key to our future. He believed in discerning wisdom (bibeksheelta), innovation, and nurture. He inspired entire generations, young and old, including GenZ, before his untimely death due to Covid in 2021. He was only 44.&nbsp; By the time of his passing he had started a tech company, and employed and mentored scores of youth. It is important to note that only after he had made a significant contribution to civil society did he turn towards politics, founding and then stepping back from the Bibeksheel Nepali party, which has now, after several complicated mergers and splits, been integrated into the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP). When the Ujwal Thapa Foundation set out to make a documentary on his life three years ago, no one could have known that it would premiere at such a crucial point in Nepal’s social and political history.&nbsp; Everything that Ujwal Thapa believed in still holds true. I think he would have been proud to see the youth of our country, GenZ, stand up for themselves, peacefully. He would have been grieved at the state condoned bloodshed, and, believing in non-violent protest himself, been deeply shocked by the savage revolution that followed.&nbsp; Most of all, I wonder how he would have reacted to the publishing of the blatantly elitist RSP proportional representation list - the party that many had pinned their hopes on, and that Bibeksheel Nepali has ultimately been absorbed into. That party now seems like it may be a chip off the rotten old block, ruled by men endorsing rampant nepotism, and outnumbered by people without scruples.&nbsp; Many of the names on the list and the rankings, in particular, disrespect the very spirit of a provision that was created for those competent individuals who would not otherwise be able to contest elections, due to lack of monetary and social capital, but whose marginalised voices are vital for inclusive policy making. There is still time for real inclusion, to embrace a more bibeksheel path, before the March elections.&nbsp; Ujwal Thapa’s own, firm, ethical stances are clear in the The Man Who Shook Our Minds, translated loosely from the Nepali title Dimaag Ghhochne Manchhe. While long, at almost two hours, it is filled with thought-provoking and sage counsel. The film also offers very real insight into how Ujwal Thapa evolved into the icon he is today.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026011111018_eb596eb063dcaf0f67840bfa4ffa39eb27df2bf9ec1a3f9a1f531824c1b7a569.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2026011111018_eb596eb063dcaf0f67840bfa4ffa39eb27df2bf9ec1a3f9a1f531824c1b7a569" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="670" loading="lazy" alt="Ujwal Thapa"> <figcaption>Stills from the documentary.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026011111018_65d9625d3a4865ca228425b7ce7b7b186ae5009313bbfab0ee65eada276aebd6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2026011111018_65d9625d3a4865ca228425b7ce7b7b186ae5009313bbfab0ee65eada276aebd6" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="670" loading="lazy" alt="Ujwal Thapa"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026011111018_2ff455c55722d153cafbd2d650e19584e38d7c098b109271bd106a55201f4fa0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2026011111018_2ff455c55722d153cafbd2d650e19584e38d7c098b109271bd106a55201f4fa0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="670" loading="lazy" alt="Ujwal Thapa"> </figure>  It isn’t easy making a documentary after the passing of the primary subject. While there are many talking heads, the people featured, friends, family, fellow activists and senior politicians are all eloquent in their descriptions of Ujwal Thapa and his transformation from an engaged, civic minded entrepreneur into a committed political leader who among many other commendable things, believed in putting women first, and understood the crucial necessity for a welfare state that would serve its people. The main man is not deified, he is humanised.&nbsp; The feature is punctuated, and leavened, with moments of real humour as his infamous bluntness and occasional domestic haplessness are gently exposed. Another strength of the film is the profound love story between Ujwal Thapa and his brave, brilliant, incredibly resilient wife, Erica Adhikary, the heroine to a real life hero, and a major force behind the making of this film, alongside many of his stalwart wellwishers and friends, old and new.&nbsp; Sushila Karki, the Prime Minister, was present at the premiere of the film with members of her Cabinet. Candid and sincere in her opening remarks, she said she had wanted to attend the moment she heard about the film. She had known Ujwal Thapa, and she had mourned his loss, praying for him during his illness. She wished that leaders like him were here today to show us the way forward in a time of need. The film opened in theatres on the 9th of January, and is an essential viewing experience for anyone who cares about Nepal’s future and wants some insight into how they might make a difference.&nbsp; Ujwal Thapa was not perfect, but he was remarkable. He realised that being a civic minded citizen just isn’t enough. To make a real difference, one also needs to be principled, insightful, entrepreneurial, creative, self motivated, able to speak truth to power, uncorruptible, practical, well prepared, and, perhaps, most importantly, able to step back from holding power even after attaining it.&nbsp; The saying by Plato that goes “He who does not desire power is fit to hold it” was surely meant for people like Ujwal Thapa. One can only hope that in the near future more people embodying this description will, however reluctantly, come forward to lead Nepal. Ujwal Thapa worked hard to enable this, they must be out there. <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/veO1yVM4pS4?si=f0Lcbs1wasyqfnK1" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> The Man Who Shook Our Minds is being screened at QFX cinemas across town. Sophia L Pandé is on the Ujwal Thapa Foundation Advisory Board. She is a writer, art-historian and filmmaker, advising on the economic and social potential of the Cultural and Creative Industries. She is Director of Development at the Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust, and Founding Director of The Kalā Salon, a non-profit space for the arts.

The Man Who Shook Our Minds

Did <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/1921-rendezvous-mallory-pumori-and-everest">George Mallory</a> and Andrew Irvine of the 1924 British Expedition reach the top of the highest mountain in the world? It has been more than a century after the two climbers were last seen just 300m below the summit. And 26 years ago Mallory’s remains were found on the North Face of Everest, while Irvine’s boot was located at its base.&nbsp; Some doubt that the two could have reached the top with the level of equipment and clothing of the time, but others are convinced that at least one of them made it but had an accident on the way down.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260108110148_26b4f6883ce3362c6f0c312d35422a57384c04aeb673f578d3ddb660761747fc.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260108110148_26b4f6883ce3362c6f0c312d35422a57384c04aeb673f578d3ddb660761747fc" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="George Mallory and Everest"> <figcaption>Panuru Sherpa on the top of Mt Everest with a client in 2002. He has climbed the peak 16 times.</figcaption> </figure>  Among those who believe Mallory and Irvine were the first to climb Mt Everest, and not <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/everest-70-years-on">Hillary and Tenzing in 1953</a>, are the Nepali guides who took part in the research expeditions in 1999, 2001 and 2004 to find clues about Mallory and Irvine. Mallory’s body was found 8,125m on the North Face in 1999, and Irvine’s detached foot and sock with his initials inside a leather hob-nailed boot was found in 2024 in the Rongbuk Glacier below the North Face. Various expeditions have recovered a mitten, an oxygen cylinder, and ice axe from that expedition. “I believe they reached the summit, and fell on the way down in the dark and bad weather,” says <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/sherpaland-co-usa">Panuru Sherpa</a>, who has climbed Mt Everest 16 times, including on the northern route taken by four British expeditions in 1921, 1922, 1924 and 1933. “They were making good progress past the Second Step from where it is a much easier hour-and-half to the summit. A climber who reaches that point below the final pyramid does not turn back.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260108110148_bdbdd01c5c12cb5bb022857f7ca871cc4ff95e02c2305f6bbf1a63d1d15de8e4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20260108110148_bdbdd01c5c12cb5bb022857f7ca871cc4ff95e02c2305f6bbf1a63d1d15de8e4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1300" height="864" loading="lazy" alt="George Mallory and Everest"> <figcaption>Mt Everest North Face in China which early expeditions took because Nepal was closed till 1950. The red line is the classic route to the peak, the dotted line is probably what George Mallory and Sandy Irvine took in 1924 to avoid the formidable obstacle of the Second Step.</figcaption> </figure>  Panuru is convinced that the location of Mallory’s body and Irvine’s ice axe shows that the two had not lost their way on their descent. He told Nepali Times in Denver, where he now lives: “Mallory’s body was not decomposed even after 75 years, and his exposed back was white like marble. One of legs was broken, and there was an altimeter and letters written to his wife Ruth in his pocket.” He remembers the search team was happy to locate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/mountains-of-books">Mallory</a>, but it was unable to find one of the three cameras believed to be with the duo that could have held the proof that the two, or at least one of them, had indeed been the first to climb Everest.&nbsp; There was a deep wound around Mallory’s waist, which could have been caused during the fall by the rope which was still found tied around his body. Mallory’s remains were covered in stone slabs at the site after a brief ritual, Panuru recalls. A 1975 Chinese expedition reported seeing the body of a Western climber, which was probably Mallory, near their Camp VI. There are rumours in climbing circles that the Chinese also found a camera, but that the negative could not be developed. Everest summiteers have said the Second Step’s 45m overhanging cliff at 8,610m would have been “essentially insurmountable”, and it is only possible today because the Chinese fixed aluminium ladders to the rock face in 1975.&nbsp; But Panuru agrees with other mountaineering historians who believe Mallory could have decided to take a route below the northeast ridge and bypass the Second Step, following the advice of fellow team member Ed Norton who set the then world record by reaching 8,572m. The other finding that could indicate that Mallory reached the top was that a photograph of his wife Ruth which he intended to place at the summit was not in his pocket.&nbsp; EVEREST CONNECTION Panuru is the son of Nima Tsering Sherpa, who was a part of the 1953 expedition to Mt Everest that made Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay the first climbers on the world’s highest peak. Nima carried loads for that expedition up to the South Col. Nima had eight sons and a daughter, Panuru is the sixth, and<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-most-prolific-mountaineering-clan"> most of his siblings are also climbers</a>. After the successful 1953 expedition, Nima spent time grazing yaks, growing potatoes and raising his family in Phortse. He joined expeditions to support the family. The young Panuru would meet mountaineers who stopped by at the family’s tea house in Phortse. He has walked the Jiri route to Kathmandu many times, and his eldest brother who worked for Mountain Travel Nepal got him a job as a trekking guide. Panuru ended up joining expeditions, climbing Everest from both sides multiple times. Panuru Sherpa’s brother Danuru was the youngest member of the 1999 expedition, and a year earlier had first climbed Everest from the Nepal side when he was only 18. The siblings are now chefs at the Sherpa House in Colorado.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260108110152_9275f617585d33f7324d087455de7c61fd3759fe4d44a7ebe604fa2eefc047df.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20260108110152_9275f617585d33f7324d087455de7c61fd3759fe4d44a7ebe604fa2eefc047df" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="523" loading="lazy" alt="George Mallory and Everest"> <figcaption>Brothers Panuru and Danuru Sherpa are now working in Golden, Colorado, and lead occasional climbing trips in the Rockies and Alaska.</figcaption> </figure>  In 2001, both brothers were members of another expedition composed of 20 foreign and 21 Nepali climbers led by David Hahn that tried to find Irvine in the same area of the North Face, guided by the discovery of Irvine’s ice axe in a 1933 expedition as well as sightings of what was believed to be his body near the ridge above. No more clues were found then, or in 2004 when Danuru returned for another search expedition. Remnants of Irvine and Mallory’s Camp VI were found at 8,600m during the 2001 expedition, only about 300m from where Mallory’s body was located.&nbsp; “It was probably dark when Mallory fell because his snow goggles were in his pocket,” says Danuru, who has taken part in the three search expeditions on the north side and is also convinced the two fell on their way down after reaching the summit. Altogether 13 people died on Everest during the three expeditions that Mallory was involved in, of which nine were Nepali porters, cooks and guides who were hired in Darjeeling before the march-in. “Chomolungma and Sherpa are synonymous,” says Danuru. “It was Chomolungma that made the Sherpa people famous globally, and it was Sherpas who made it possible to climb Everest.” Konrad Anker, who led the 1999 team that found Mallory’s body, doubts that one or both the climbers reached the summit in 1924, mainly because of the difficulty of climbing a cliff at 8,600m with the kind of gear they had.&nbsp; “It is possible, but unlikely they climbed the Second Step with 1920s equipment, but even getting to that altitude back then was an incredible accomplishment,” he has said. After the expedition, Anker and Panuru worked together to set up the Khumbu Climbing Center to upgrade the technical skills of Nepali guides. Panuru has also trained hundreds of fellow Nepali guides, and many of them regard him as a mentor. Panuru knew the need for better training because he himself had been badly wounded during a fall into a crevasse in the Khumbu Icefall in one of his early expeditions in 1992 and had to be evacuated by helicopter to Kathmandu.&nbsp; But the very next year, he was back on the mountain. He climbed Everest from the north with a Korean team in 1994, and a year later got to the top again from the north side with an American expedition. He summited again from the Nepal side in 1996, and nearly died in an avalanche on the north side that killed a fellow Sherpa in 1997.&nbsp; So far, Panuru has climbed Everest 16 times, Cho Oyu 14 times from both sides, Xixapangma four times, five other eight-thousanders in Nepal, and Ama Dablam six times. He was the first Nepali to ascend Gurla Mandhata in Tibet. After emigrating to the United States, he has climbed Mt Denali (6,190m) in Alaska three times while also being a part of a volunteer rescue team.&nbsp; Irvine’s boot was found by an expedition led by American climber Jimmy Chin in the Rongbuk Glacier, probably transported there from the base of the face by the movement of ice in the past 100 years. Asked why he climbed Everest 16 times, Panuru echoes George Mallory: “Because I was there.” &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Finding George Mallory

At the stroke of the midnight hour, it finally came to something everyone in Nepal’s oldest and biggest party had been dreading — a split.
Not that this was anything new. The Nepali Congress (NC) had splintered twice before and the main protagonist both times was five-time prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. After the GenZ uprising and being physically mauled and his house looted and set on fire on 9 September Deuba had said he was stepping aside, but it seems old ambitions die hard.
The showdown between the Gagan Thapa-Bishow Prakash Sharma camp and Deuba came to a head on Wednesday as the establishment leadership decided to suspend Thapa, Sharma, and Farmullah Mansoor for five years to punish them for daring to challenge the leadership and hold a special general convention.&nbsp;
Bhrikuti Mandap in the centre of Kathmandu is the venue for trade exhibitions, but this week it was where an exhibition of everything that is wrong with Nepali politics was on full display — lack of internal party democracy and an unaccountable gerontocracy clinging on to power.&nbsp;
Thapa and Sharma had gathered the support of 62% of the NC membership at their convention and chose Gagan Thapa as the new party leader and proposed him as a prime ministerial candidate after the 5 March election.
Deuba’s allies had refused to attend or endorse the special general convention, and were adamant about holding a general convention to choose a new party head after the election. Thapa, Sharma and their supporters argued that the party faced ignominious defeat in the polls if Deuba insisted on being prime minister again.
The events of September 2025 have cast a long shadow over Nepali politics, with many new parties and alliances pledging to represent the aspirations of the GenZ movement. However, that realisation does not seem to have dawned on the tried, tested and failed leadership of the NC, UML and the NCP where the party leaders have held on to power by sidelining all rivals. &nbsp;
Thapa and Sharma were NC general secretaries held multiple rounds of discussions to convince Deuba to accept their eight-point demand that for the party’s and the country’s sake his time was up, and he should cut and cut cleanly. Despite having already handed over the party leadership to Purna Bahadur Khadka in September, Deuba refused to step down.&nbsp;
‘What demands has the Nepali Congress been unable to reconcile that it is headed for a split? There is no ideological dispute, just a proposal to make it easier to go for the election,’ noted journalist and author Narayan Wagle. ‘If those who have been in politics for so many years cannot reach an agreement, what have they learned in life and what hope is there for the country?’
Gagan Thapa was elected unopposed as the new party president on Thursday midnight, with Sharma and Pushpa Bhusal appointed vice-presidents. Thapa has said backroom talks are still ongoing though mediators, but for all intents and purposes the split seems irreconcilable.&nbsp;
The million dollar question now is: who gets to be the real Nepali Congress? Who gets the NC’s tree election symbol at the polls?
Both the Thapa and Deuba factions have written to the Election Commission (EC) laying claim to the party and its symbol. Whatever the EC decides, with less than two months to go for the polls, the dispute over its legitimacy will almost certainly have to be decided in the courts.
Deuba and his counterpart K P Oli in the UML have been unwilling or unable to fathom the level of outrage that young Nepalis feel about their parties. They have shown an inability to heed the call for institutional overhaul within parties and in Nepal’s political culture post-September. Second generation leaders within those parties who have grown old waiting for reform, seem to have better internalised the need for internal restructuring.&nbsp;
Oli has managed to hold on to power after displaying increasing authoritarianism within his UML, while Deuba has shown an unwillingness to bow out of leadership with grace. Both have squandered away their legacy.
For Gagan Thapa, the events of Thursday was a culmination of his long-standing claim for leadership change within the NC coupled with a compulsion to address the demands of the youth movement to maximise gains for his party this election. Just like Deuba, Thapa’s house was also looted and torched during the September protests.
Thapa told Onlinekhabar on Thursday: “Our belief was that we cannot go into elections under the present circumstances under [Sher Bahadur Deuba’s] leadership and with him as the party’s prime ministerial candidate. We would lose.”
The special general convention has taken further steps for reform, endorsing amendments to the party statue, which has set term limits for key leadership positions, including a one-term limit for party president, two-term limit for prime minister, three for a ministerial position, and four terms for a directly elected member of Parliament. Meanwhile, party members are only allowed to become lawmakers through the Proportional Representation system for one term.&nbsp;
If Thapa’s leadership holds legitimacy, this new chapter for the NC might come as a welcome change to young Nepalis who have been calling for leadership overhaul and internal party reforms within the establishment parties. But it may also come at the cost of the NC’s core base. It remains to be seen which side tips the scale at the polls.&nbsp;
The NC’s infighting and institutional shake-up has also posed fresh concerns about how it will affect the election schedule just as it looked as though all the mainstream political parties were finally on board and preparing for the polls. With voting barely weeks away, Nepal’s political parties are still too busy cleaning up their own house to give too much time to work on their platforms, agendas and serious campaigning
Historically, political break-ups and make-ups in Nepal are not set in stone. Even the newest alliance between Rabi Lamichhane’s RSP and Kulman Ghising’s UNP did not even last 12 days. &nbsp;Balen Shah is set to resign from his mayor position in the next and has gotten into the thick of election preparation with the RSP. His next step will be to choose which constituency he is going to contest from.
Meanwhile, in the light of a new day, the two NC factions may still decide that breaking up is hard to do when they are so close to elections, and the political stakes are so high.&nbsp;

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