While <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/peak-tourism-in-2023-9ukoi8iz">Nepal’s tourism </a>numbers have rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, domestic incompetence and regional <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-geopolitics-of-nepal-s-politics">geopolitics</a> are holding back numbers for the coming year.
International media coverage of frequent <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/fatalism-and-fatalities">aviation and highway disasters</a> in 2024 also dampened arrivals, and not much was done to restore confidence in neighbouring China and India as well as make Nepal’s presence felt in international travel marts.
The Indian pilgrim bus that killed 27 on the Pokhara-Kathmandu route, or the helicopter crash in which four Chinese nationals died, both in August, led to cancellations.
The reality is that Nepal sells itself because of its unique attractions: the world’s <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-smoky-mountains">highest mountains</a>, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/taking-the-high-line">adventure sports</a>, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/culture-cannot-be-an-afterthought">cultural heritage</a>. International visitors come to Nepal despite high ticket prices, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/call-to-ease-entry-of-tourists-to-nepal">complicated visa processes</a>, poor domestic connectivity, and bad press about <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/bad-air-and-polluted-politics">high pollution levels</a> in Kathmandu.
Ticket prices are inflated because of the high price of refuelling airliners and expensive handling charges at Kathmandu airport. Most countries have gone for e-visas, and Nepal should just reciprocate and stamp passports for visitors from countries that give Nepalis visas on arrival.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/e-gon">E-GoN</a>, Vishad Raj Onta
Horror stories about <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/highway-accidents-are-no-accident-in-nepal">the condition of Nepal’s highways</a> have spread through social media posts, as have tales of notorious <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/air-pollution-is-more-dangerous-than-smoking">air pollution</a> levels. It is surprising that tourists still come in the numbers they do despite knowing this.
Those problems need longer-term solutions, but there are <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/low-hanging-fruit-in-uk-farms">low-hanging fruit</a>: facilitate easier arrival formalities at airports and land borders. Pilgrims have posted on social media about having to wait six hours for visas trying to travel overland from India to Lumbini on the Buddhist circuit.
Geopolitics can be blamed for <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/activating-the-new-aerial-gateways">Bhairawa and Pokhara airports</a> not taking off -- India’s refusal to grant air routes for flights from the west and descent over its territory, as well as linking Indian cities to Pokhara because its international airport was built by the Chinese.&nbsp;
But that does not absolve the Nepal government and its agencies from blame for not marketing Lumbini and Pokhara in East Asian markets during the delayed construction of the airports, and even three years after completion.&nbsp;
Most existing promotion is done by private sector companies involved in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-himalayan-odyssey">mountaineering and trekking</a>, hotels and conference organisers. The government’s role has been restricted to junkets by officials, ministers giving speeches and hand-wringing about India not allowing flights.&nbsp;
The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) literally arm-twisted airlines to fly to Bhairawa by using the upgrading work at Kathmandu airport till end-March as an excuse. The airlines are not happy about it, and complain of inadequate facilities there.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/airfields-without-airplanes">Airfields without airplanes</a>
But for some reason Nepal’s own carrier Himalaya Airlines faced no such pressure to fly to Bhairawa or Pokhara. Bhairawa is not even used as an alternative airport by Nepal Airlines when Kathmandu airport is closed due to poor visibility. Himalaya Airlines has, however, announced it is starting Pokhara-Lhasa flights next month.
Lack of permission by India on the westbound L626 airway has no bearing on connecting Pokhara and Bhairawa to flights from China, Thailand, Singapore or Malaysia. Thai Air Asia is finally operating one flight a week from Bangkok’s Don Muang, bringing Buddhist pilgrims directly to Lumbini, and Sichuan Air has flown charters to Pokhara from Chengdu.&nbsp;
Given the popularity of Pokhara and Lumbini in China, and the advantage for Chinese tourists who want to avoid Kathmandu, there should have been more proactive promotion by Nepal of flights from Lhasa, Kunming or Chengdu.
Nepal is already a preferred destination for international and regional conferences because of its neutrality and ease of entry. Most conferences are conducted by international agencies, the private sector and involve the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) with little government help.
The Pacific Area Travel Association (PATA) Nepal chapter is hosting the tri-nation Nepal India China Expo (NICE) in Pokhara 24-26 February. Originally planned for 2020, it was postponed because of Covid, and organisers hope it will promote better connectivity for Pokhara in 2025 and beyond.&nbsp;
Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel and Pokhara Mayor Dhan Raj Acharya were injured while inaugurating Pokhara Tourism Year on Saturday when hydrogen filled balloons caught fire while they were lighting the oil lamp. Pokhara hopes to attract 2 million visitors in 2024.&nbsp;
Instead of promoting Pokhara, government officials have made unsubstantiated claims that its airport is not suitable for Boeing 737s and Airbus320s, planes that operate without difficulty in airports with even more challenging terrain like Paro or Leh.
The government needs to work on a long-term strategy to promote quality tourism, but government decisions are ad hoc, lack coordination and are not followed through.&nbsp;
<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepal-chops-chopper-flights-to-everest">Helicopter flights to Everest Base Camp were banned</a>, lifted and banned again – the confusion ridiculed on social media.

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Missing out on Nepal’s tourism potential

The daily 10-hour curfew at Tribhuvan International Airport from 8 November that will last five months has affected tourism during Nepal’s peak season, with some hotels and trekking agencies here reporting cancellations into spring next year. The reduced hours at Nepal’s main aviation gateway till 31 March means that a third of all flights have been cut. This has also caused ticket prices to surge by up to eight times of normal fares. For example a Kathmandu-Delhi ticket that used to cost Rs12,000 is now listed at Rs50,000, and even then seats are not available.&nbsp; “Especially if they are here to trek, change in flight dates can cause tourists to miss their connections,” says Jagan Timilsina, who runs a trail running and outdoor education business. &nbsp; Pokhara is feeling the brunt as hotels report last-minute cancellations for November because of flight disorders. Some hoteliers also say although there have been some cancelled trips, most itineraries have been rescheduled.&nbsp; Hari Prasad Sharma Gaire of the local chapter of the Hotel Association of Nepal says the Kathmandu airport closure should have been timed for the off-season. He told us: “Starting construction during the peak tourist season was a mistake and will cause the tourism industry to lose a lot of business. The upgrade could have been spread out over a longer time but closed for fewer hours at night so that disruption was minimal.”&nbsp; Nearly a third of the 1.2 million tourists who visit Nepal annually come to Pokhara, which is also the gateway to Mustang, the Annapurna treks and pilgrimage tourism to Muktinath. Located by scenic lakes with a range of adventure sports like hot air ballooning, paragliding, canyoning, bungee and ziplines, Pokhara is also popular among diaspora Nepalis. “Besides its own attractions, Pokhara is really the hub for central Nepal, and we have been trying to get visitors to extend their stay here,” says Timilsina, who started out as a trekking porter and rose up the ranks to be an expedition guide and entrepreneur. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024111603114_0e071ce63ea9b0a9a7ee76f8c3cea0ff08c6767c41dd09f6bc4413d2db067a60.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2024111603114_0e071ce63ea9b0a9a7ee76f8c3cea0ff08c6767c41dd09f6bc4413d2db067a60" data-rendition-name="original" width="3500" height="2333" loading="lazy" alt="Pokhara's tourism woes NT"> <figcaption>Tourist arrivals in Pokhara have slumped since the disruptions at Kathmandu airport due to upgrading work. Photo: KRISHNA MANI BARAL/NEPALI TIMES ARCHIVE</figcaption> </figure>  Even without the Kathmandu airport closure affecting tourist arrivals, Pokhara was already suffering from a decline due to many factors like the poor state of the Prithvi Highway, the shortage of luxury accommodation for high-end tourists, and the reluctance of international airlines to start direct flights to Pokhara despite an expensive new airport that was inaugurated two years ago.&nbsp; “There was a lot of initial excitement on the construction of the international airport,” says Timilsina, “but it hasn’t delivered as expected due to politics. People have invested in nearby businesses, and have faced losses.” India has blocked direct flights from its cities to Pokhara because the facility was built by a Chinese company. Although tourists and pilgrims from India hit record levels this year, the poor state of the highways and the Indian bus accident on the highway to Kathmandu in July that killed 27 pilgrims from Maharashtra state dampened arrival figures. Gaire says, “While tourist arrivals to Pokhara are now approaching pre-Covid levels, we haven’t seen the improvement we were expecting. We need a better marketing strategy. What are our embassies abroad doing?”&nbsp; Indeed, Pokhara used to be a favourite destination for Chinese tourists. There was a boom in arrivals from China before Covid, especially after a popular Chinese tv serial was shot on location here. But arrivals from China have not really recovered since the pandemic because of the economic slowdown there. Promoting Pokhara airport to handle direct flights from Chengdu or Kunming could revive Chinese arrivals.&nbsp; Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAAN) has used the Kathmandu airport closure as an excuse to arm-twist international airlines to start flying to Bhairawa, which has barely been in operation for two years since it was inaugurated. So far, Fly Dubai, Thai AirAsia, Jazeera and Qatar are flying to Bhairawa, but most use it as a hop before flying on to Kathmandu, which does not reduce congestion at Kathmandu.&nbsp; An ideal situation could have been to get Pokhara to run to full capacity while Kathmandu is partially out of action. Pokhara entrepreneurs are puzzled why the CAAN and the national government have not taken more interest in promoting Pokhara as an alternative to reduce the congestion in Kathmandu. Nepal’s football team that was flying to Dushanbe this week couldn’t get tickets via Delhi, and took a domestic flight to Bhadrapur, crossed over to Bagdogra and flew on to Delhi to catch their flight to Tajikistan.

Vishad Raj Onta

Pokhara’s tourism woes

Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of his visit to Kathmandu in 2019 said that the Chinese people especially want to visit Nepal. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi extolled Nepal’s beauty, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPxSS9K_MkM">speaking before Parliament in 2014</a>. The incapacity of Nepal’s government and private operators is that we have not been able to cash in on the disclosures and admiration of President Xi or PM Modi, to use as marketing tools to fly in high-end tourists from all over China and India. But all we do in Nepal is bemoan our fate that the hotels are empty, or that neither Pokhara and Bhairawa airports have international flights. The air bridges are rusting with lack of use at the $215 million Pokhara airport, and foreign airlines have not shown an interest in using Bhairawa.&nbsp; Read Also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/pokhara-s-desperation-and-hope">Pokhara's desperation and hope</a>, Kanak Mani Dixit The blame is mostly placed on New Delhi which, to be sure, has made things difficult for Nepali aviation. Inbound international flights have to be routed through the Simara waypoint, while only outbound flights can use Mahendranagar or Janakpur. New Delhi has also not allowed inbound flights to descend through Indian air space to Bhairawa airport.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231012121040_0de3dcd41ad511a13e3200ce624d63221cdf0eda99b8ec8e0008580992db141c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20231012121040_0de3dcd41ad511a13e3200ce624d63221cdf0eda99b8ec8e0008580992db141c" data-rendition-name="original" width="1800" height="1200" loading="lazy" alt="Chinese President Xi Jinping with President Bidya Devi Bhandari"> <figcaption>Chinese President Xi Jinping with President Bidya Devi Bhandari during his state visit to Nepal in 2019. Photos: NEPALI TIMES ARCHIVE.</figcaption> </figure>  Himalayan Airlines, which has Chinese investment and more jets than Nepal Airlines, is barred from serving Indian cities. At Kathmandu airport passengers boarding Indian-owned airlines have to pass through cabooses attached to the ramps to be frisked by Indian security staff. But Nepalis do complain too much while doing very little to find solutions. &nbsp; One can be sure that Sher Bahadur Deuba and Pushpa Kamal Dahal have not made a strong and continuous case on the air corridors that Nepal needs. There are also existing opportunities that do not have to involve India at all. Bhairawa airport is the gateway to the Lumbini-Kapilvastu Buddhist circuit, and we should be drawing in pilgrims directly from China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore and Sri Lanka. All these countries are located to the east of Nepal. Which means not getting descent clearance over Indian air space into Bhairawa is immaterial since all flights from Lhasa/Chengdu or Bangkok/Yangon would track to Simara anyway before approaching the airport from the east.&nbsp; Flights to Pokhara or Bhairawa descending from the west would just have to take an extra dozen minutes to route via Simara, which seems a handicap that could be managed. Departures are no problem from both airports since airway L626 towards Dhangadi is open for outbound flights.&nbsp; Pokhara, meanwhile, is one of the most exotic destinations in Asia, with its proximity to Annapurna, lakes, trekking, adventure sports, and ornithological wonders. It is also the staging point for Muktinath, Mustang and the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-abcs-of-a-winter-trek-in-nepal">Annapurna Circuit/Sanctuary</a>. The city became popular with Chinese travellers pre-Covid after a Chinese tv serial called it ‘a place to visit before one dies’. Pokhara is right at the centre of Nepal, whereas Kathmandu is towards the east. If there are flights, many migrant workers who make up more than half the outbound passengers from Kathmandu could choose to fly out of Pokhara. Read Also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/pokhara-s-china-connection">Pokhara's China connection</a>, Durga Rana Magar We cannot simply build hotel rooms and hope the tourists will come. In the case of both Pokhara and Bhairawa, the lethargy of government is complemented by the lack of marketing imagination of the private sector. Pokhara, for example, has the hotel-bed capacity to host a dozen international flights a day. There are also new dimensions and challenges to tourism today that need to be addressed. Regional air pollution is obscuring the views of the Himalaya, which is adversely impacting tourist. Given that tourism contributes up to 10% of global carbon emissions, there is eco-guilt and flight shaming which are discouraging tourists from long-distance travel, particularly from Europe.&nbsp; There is also much to be done to get Beijing to open up the China-Nepal land borders for tourism. The Humla route into Manasarovar needs to be preserved, and the exotic faraway view of Manasarovar-Kailash from Limi in Humla needs promotion and the route infrastructure. Tourists will not flood through Bhairawa just because it serves Lumbini. Most pilgrims want to do the entire circuit including Kushinagar, Bodhgaya and Sarnath in India. Presently, most international Buddhist pilgrims make a quick half-day trip from India to Nepal even though they do not have a Nepal visa. Mostly, they bring lunch packets and make a quick turnaround. To make Bhairawa airport viable, Nepal’s politicians need to sit down for some hard talk with their counterparts in New Delhi. They need to make the argument that if overseas pilgrims can come across Nepal, they should have access to the Indian side as well. Granted that there are more places to visit in India, but a border is a border. If tour operators alert pilgrims that they should also get Indian visas, they can arrive in Nepal through Kathmandu, Pokhara or Bhairawa, also tour Indian holy sites, return to Nepal and fly out. This is not impossible to do, it just needs some commitment to tourism and the economy, and some imagination. &nbsp;

Activating the new aerial gateways

<figure><img width="1282" height="692" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150232/63fe10e99c7e80680e0da4b7jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: Hemanta Dhakal</figcaption></figure>A day after the inauguration of Pokhara International Airport, writer Ganesh Poudel remarked on Facebook that the vultures displaced by the new airport had relocated to his farm house.“Possibly they are making a night stop after being displaced," he wrote. “Like us, they too will also be evicted from this valley.” Poudel’s family had lived for generations in the area where the new airport was built. Many farms and homes were taken over by the government 40 years ago when the idea of the new airport was first mooted.“Thousands of people were forced to move out, destroying our social and cultural relations. Now, the airport has even disrupted the lives of the many birds and the entire ecosystems,” he added. “They have turned birds and humans into refugees."While people whose land was occupied for the construction of the airport have received compensation and relocated, many birds including the raptors that used to inhabit the area have been driven out because of the danger they cause to planes flying in and out. The approach flight path to the overflies the habitat of vultures and eagles, which like Pokhara Valley's topographic extremes that allow the buildup of thermals. Even before the completion of the airport, conservationists had raised concerns about the safety of endangered birds and the risk of potential bird strikes at the new airport. Vultures and eagles also congregated at the landfill site near the airport's eastern edge, and the local government that was tasked with relocating the landfill site  failed to do so.Every winter flocks of birds migrate to Pokhara, travelling thousands of kilometres from the Tibetan Plateau and even as far away as Mongolia, for its warmer climate, lakes, wetlands, overall greenery and open spaces.Indigenous birds also like Pokhara's habitat because of its many lakes and wetlands.  Even when the noise from the more than 100 flights a day to Pokhara's two airports has not deterred them.“Many birds, including vultures, have spent their entire life-cycles here,” says Manshant Ghimire of Pokhara Bird Society. “Just as it is difficult for a person to leave the place where they were born and raised, and grew old, it is the same for the birds.”Prior to building the airport, the area was a large pasture for cattle. In addition, the nearby landfill site was perfect for vultures to fly, forage and flourish.According to journalist Krishna Mani Baral, when horses, donkey and other animals that grazed in the fields of Pokhara died, the vultures would scavenge on their carcass. For years, many birds, including the Himalayan Griffon vulture, Egyptian vultures and small gray vultures, have made the landfill site their home due to the abundance of food there. <figure><img width="1125" height="549" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150232/63fe10ec9c7e80680e0da4b8jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>For the past five years, bird conservationists have routinely asked the authorities to move the landfill site before the inauguration of the international airport to conserve the endangered species before it is too late, as well as for aviation safety.  Pokhara Municipality has not yet found a proper alternative for the landfill site. In fact, a few days after the airport opened, a steppe eagle struck a landing aircraft. the plane landed safely, but the eagle did not survive. “To ensure the safety of planes, these birds must be properly relocated from the area to prevent potential bird strikes,” says ornithologist Hem Sagar Baral. Pokhara is home to nine different endangered species of vultures which have undergone considerable decline in recent years. The White-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis), Slender-billed vulture (Gyps tenuirostis), Red-headed vulture (Sarcogyps calvus) and Indian vulture (Gyps indicus) are on the IUCN critically endangered list. Conservationist Hemant Dhakal believes that the city should coordinate with scientists and ornithologists to safely relocate the vultures. “Flights could also be reduced between 10am to 2pm when vultures are most active,” he says.  The airport is using firecrackers and sirens to drive off vultures from the runway, but they are still soaring along the approach path.  “It is an inhumane way and can send a bad message internationally,” according to Dhakal, who has been monitoring vultures for 10 years and is part of the IUCN Vulture Conservation Group. “Such insensitivity can also lead to more accidents  and give Pokhara a bad name.” Vultures, like most birds, breed only once a year. At this time of the year, young hatchlings are just growing in their nests, and adult vultures have no choice but to return to the vicinity of the airport. Baral adds, “Constructing such a big project and failing to find an alternative habitat for birds has gravely affected for avian life.” Vultures, despite their bad reputation, are integral to the ecosystem. In their absence there will be no scavengers to dispose of carrion, leading to disease outbreaks among humans and cattle. Nepal has established itself as a pioneer in vulture conservation over the years, and just when the birds are showing signs of coming back, lack of management and attention can reverse past gains. Bird Conservation Nepal opened a ‘Vulture Restaurant’ near Pokhara 12 years ago that provided uncontaminated food for birds.  Operated and managed locally, the centre provided birds meat that did not have the steroid dicoflenac that was poisonous for vultures and was contained in livestock that had been treated with the medicine. The presence of vultures was not contained in the environment impact assessment (EIA) of Pokhara's new airport, although it was later covered in a supplementary environmental assessment. Experts say the real problem will be in four to five months when the hatchlings will grow, and the mother birds have to forage to feed the young in their nests.  Translated from the Himal Khabar <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/134174">original </a>by Aria Parasai.

Only vultures left behind

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131120/637233549c7e80680e0c48d9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1600" height="791"/><figcaption>All photos: SANJAYA RANABHAT</figcaption></figure>Nepal's government decided to finally begin operation of the much-delayed Pokhara International Airport from 1 January 2023.With an investment of Rs22 billion, 98% of the airport work that was undertaken by China’s CAMC Engineering has been completed. The airport has bays for 4 mid-size airliners with 2 airbridges, parking for 8 turboprops and a maintenance hangar., The airport is set to connect the scenic tourism hub to Nepal's regional capitals without travellers having to fly to Kathmandu first.Reducing the height of a hill on the eastern approach to the runway, relocating a garbage landfill site to reduce risk of bird strikes, and building a retaining wall to protect the airport from river erosion is not yet complete.The project had previously been delayed by decades of bureaucratic hurdles, local opposition, corruption, and the Covid-19 pandemic. The airport is Nepal’s third international aviation getaway after Kathmandu and Bhairawa.In May, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba inaugurated Lumbini’s Gautam Buddha International Airport with the arrival of a Jazeera Airways flight from Kuwait City.Days later, Nepal’s Supreme Court ordered the government to scrap all decisions taken thus far to build another new international airport in Nijgad, 80km south of Kathmandu, citing an amateurish Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) that ignored the ecological cost of the $3.5 billion project.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131120/6372335c9c7e80680e0c48dajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1501" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131124/637233609c7e80680e0c48dbjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1189"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131124/637233649c7e80680e0c48dcjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1210"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131124/637233689c7e80680e0c48ddjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1333"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131124/6372336c9c7e80680e0c48dejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1333"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131124/637233709c7e80680e0c48dfjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1333"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131124/637233739c7e80680e0c48e0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1333"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131124/637233769c7e80680e0c48e1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1211">Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/what-to-do-with-pokharas-extra-airport/">What to do with Pokhara’s ‘extra’ airport?</a>, Masta KC

Pokhara Airport ready for take off

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016118/636d14219c7e80680e0a9961jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3000" height="2000"/><figcaption>The terminal building of Pokhara’s new airport with its sweeping steel roof nears completion amidst a dramatic backdrop of the Annapurnas.</figcaption></figure><a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19515#.YZ22olVByJC">Forty years after it was first proposed</a>, Pokhara’s new airport is finally nearing completion to connect the scenic tourism hub to regional capitals by July 2022.With an investment of Rs22 billion, China’s CAMC Engineering has now finished the runway, apron, taxiway and terminal work and all that remains to be done is to<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/cabinet-indecision-delays-pokhara-airport/"> slice off the top of a hill on the eastern approach</a> to the airport, which will be able to accommodate Airbus 320s and Boeing 757s.Nepal’s third international airport after Kathmandu and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-buddha-was-born-in-lumbini/">Lumbini</a>, the project was <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Pokhara-waits-for-take-off,4136">delayed</a> by decades of turf battles, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/business/pokhara-airport-takesoff,2965">bureaucratic hurdles, local opposition, corruption in high places,</a> and finally the pandemic last year.The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is planning a soft opening in mid-2022 for domestic flights and then allow international flights from China, India, Malaysia and the Gulf countries.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c32WjMV3InYHowever, there are now questions about current airport, with the Pokhara Airport Office, CAAN and the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation undecided about what to do with the prime real estate.The chief of Pokhara Airport, Bikram Raj Gautam, who is also coordinating the task force to prepare for the transfer of operations, says there are no firm decisions yet."We have sent appropriate suggestions to the higher authorities," he said evasively, "ultimately, we follow what they decide. It could continue to be used for other aviation-related work."Read more: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/pokhara-nepals-new-aviation-gateway/">Pokhara: Nepal’s new aviation gateway</a>, Kunda Dixit<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016118/636d14249c7e80680e0a9962jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="475"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/cleared-to-land/">Pokhara airport</a> is the second busiest airport in the country after Kathmandu, with an average of 31 flights a day connecting Jomsom, Bhairawa, Simara, Bharatpur, Nepalganj and Kathmandu.Out of 54 airports across the country 19 are currently inoperative, and locals have turned a majority of these into grazing areas for livestock. In addition, CAAN is not up to speed on the utilities, land, and infrastructure that remain in those airfields. This raises doubts about whether it can handle the vested interests that have eyes on the present airport’s valuable real estate.“The necessary infrastructure and staff of the closed airports have all been shifted and repurposed to the nearest open airport," says CAAN’s Raj Kumar Chhetri, who adds that it is necessary to prevent encroachment and pressure from the land mafia."Such expensive property in the middle of the city cannot go to waste," he says. "If pressure on the new international airport were to drastically increase, the old airport could be brought back into service for domestic flights and sports aviation," he says.Read more:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/cleared-to-land/">Cleared to land</a> <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/pokhara-will-be-a-game-changer/">"Pokhara will be a game changer"</a><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016118/636d14269c7e80680e0a9963jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3000" height="1688"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Unfortunately, the delay in decision-making means the airport may be subject to the same misuse seen in other government properties. Examples like the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/legal-niceities/">Baluwatar land scandal</a> in Kathmandu show that politicians and legislators often have their eyes on cashing in on national property.Pokhara’s civil society wants to keep the airport as an open space in a city that is urbanising fast and losing its greenery. Indeed, municipalities across Nepal are fond of erecting concrete monuments, build shopping centres and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-war-tourism-is-a-scam/">view towers</a>, or just haphazardly selling the land piecemeal.Chhetri says Pokhara’s current airport will not be abandoned like other closed airfields across the country."After appropriate research, the airport can be used in the public’s interest," he says. However, these matters are yet to be discussed with local representatives and Pokhara’s businesses.Pokhara’s deputy mayor Manju Devi Gurung is adamant about preventing unnecessary development at the site. She says: “It should be preserved as <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/open-spaces-and-open-society/">an open space</a>. Even if it is the property of the national government, it should be used for the benefit of the locals of Pokhara."Local stakeholders agree that the airport should be converted into a green area with a public park. Infrastructure expert, Suryaraj Acharya sees this as an opportunity to enhance the beauty of the city, and says: "<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/a-green-city-is-a-smart-city/">Open spaces are integral for families and communities.</a> There is no need to even think about adding more concrete to the area."Translated from <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/126704">the original</a> by Aryan Sitaula.

What to do with Pokhara’s ‘extra’ airport?

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101152/636b78a69c7e80680e0646b2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="763"/><figcaption>Photo: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>With business coming to a grinding halt globally due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Nepal’s migration and tourism-based economy is being severely impacted.Global stock markets are in freefall, the US has halted trans-Atlantic flights, Italy is in lockdown, India has stopped issuing tourist visas, schools in Japan are closed, Qatar has banned nationals from 14 countries, Saudi Arabia has halted travel to nine countries, and although the virus has stabilised in next-door China, there is a danger there of reverse infection.But as the epidemic spreads, Nepal has officially admitted to only one confirmed case of COVID-19. Public health experts say this does not mean there are no infected people, it just means suspected cases have not been tested yet. They say the country is not prepared to deal with an outbreak.“The situation around the world is getting out of hand, but Nepal has been able to dodge a full-blown health crisis till now,” says Sameer M Dixit, a scientist at the Centre for Molecular Dynamics Nepal. “In an ideal situation the country would be under lockdown, but right now Nepal should stop all direct flights from highly affected countries.”Even though there are no overt signs of a health crisis, Nepal’s economy has already been hit hard and the impact is expected to worsen in the coming months as tourism collapses and air travel is further curtailed.The Asian Development Bank’s ‘<a href="https://www.adb.org/publications/economic-impact-covid19-developing-asia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">COVID-19 Economic Impact Assessment Template</a>’ released this week lays out the best- and worst-case scenarios for countries in the region. For Nepal, the bank predicts a loss of up to $322 million.The tourism sector has been impacted by travel restrictions imposed by Nepal and other countries, and airlines cancelling flights.The government decision late Thursday, after the print edition of this paper had gone to press, decided to revoke visa on arrival at Kathmandu for nationals of all countries. Visitors will still be allowed to enter Nepal but they will require a visa from a Nepali mission abroad and also a Coronavirus-free health certificate. The visa rule be effective 14 March to 30 April for now.The move comes one day after China cancelled all expeditions from its side of Mt Everest. The Nepali government has also cancelled all climbing expedition permits including Mt Everest for the spring season.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/why-nepal-must-watch-about-coronavirus-but-not-panic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Why Nepal must watch Coronavirus, but not panic</a>, Sameer M DixitEven before the government <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/lets-call-off-visit-nepal-year-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called off Visit Nepal Year 2020</a>, the campaign was criticised for lack of international promotion and the money being wasted on domestic extravaganza. Although tourist arrivals saw only a slight drop to 101,400 in February, there was a 80% decrease in visitors from China.Official figures are not yet available for March and April, but the travel industry is reporting widespread cancellations. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-postpones-international-events-as-fear-of-covid-19-intensifies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Many international conferences and sports events have been postponed</a>. Hotel occupancy rates are dropping at what should have been peak season. Trekking and mountaineering expeditions have gone ahead but there has been a 50% decline in the number of clients. There are also reports of cancellations for April.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101152/636b78a99c7e80680e0646b3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="981" height="497"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“Hotel bookings are down by 60% in the 5-star hotels around Nepal,” Shreejana Rana, President of <a href="https://www.hotelassociationnepal.org.np/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hotel Association of Nepal</a>, told Nepali Times. “We had <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/chinese-tourist-influx-to-nepal-in-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expected a surge in bookings </a>after Chinese New Year and during the spring from American and European tourists but that isn’t the case.”The first airlines to cancel flights were the ones operating to Chinese destinations: Himalaya Airlines, Sichuan Airlines and Tibet Airlines. Air China, China Southern and China Eastern are still operating flights, but with reduced frequency and smaller aircraft.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101152/636b78ab9c7e80680e0646b4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4096" height="2730"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101152/636b78ae9c7e80680e0646b5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3644" height="2429"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“The tourism industry is very sensitive. The smallest problem has widespread impact, and it takes a lot of time to recover from it,” says Deepak Raj Joshi, former CEO of <a href="https://www.welcomenepal.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal Tourism Board</a>. “We need to start preparing for the future right away.”The Tourism Ministry is now repurposing <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/the-nepal-brand/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Visit Nepal Year 2020</a> towards a 2020-2030 ‘Tourism Decade’, and the hotel industry is relying on domestic promotion, encouraging Nepalis to travel to Pokhara and to go trekking during the new-year break in April.Nepal expects about 250 climbers from 24 expeditions on Mt Everest this spring, even though Korean, Japanese and some western expeditions have cancelled. This is half down from last year, when there was a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/most-days-its-not-so-crowded-on-mt-everest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">notorious traffic jam on the summit</a>. On Wednesday, China closed its side of the mountain due to the COVID-19 scare.“Everest expeditions are starting soon but we are still trying to figure out what to do if the mountaineers catch coronavirus during the trip,” says Sarita Lama of the <a href="https://www.taan.org.np/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal (TAAN)</a>. “This is so bad it may take us years to recover from the crisis.” Trek bookings are also at half of last year’s numbers.Nepal’s main source of foreign exchange, its <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/for-nepals-migrant-workers-good-news-in-small-bites/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">two million workers abroad</a>, will also be hit. Qatar this week imposed a ban on workers from 14 countries, including Nepal. Nepal is preventing workers from flying to South Korea.The High-Level Coordination Committee also decided on Thursday to stop issuing labour permits for Nepali migrants seeking to go abroad for work. It is uncertain when the migration ban will be lifted.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/labour-mobility/crossborder-virus-and-nepali-migrant-workers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Crossborder virus and Nepali migrant workers</a>, Upasana KhadkaNepal’s major infrastructure projects all face delays because of the reliance on Chinese contractors and workers. The start of the epidemic in January coincided with Chinese New Year, which meant that workers at new airport projects in Pokhara, Bhairawa and numerous hydropower plants under construction who had gone home could not return.Even among those who have returned, some have been quarantined, including 70 who work on Pokhara’s new airport. If given the all-clear, they will be released only on 16 March.“Although work has slowed down these past couple of months, we will work night and day to meet the target completion date of July 2021,” Pokhara airport manager Binesh Munakarmi assured Nepali Times.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101152/636b78b19c7e80680e0646b6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3000" height="1688"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Construction at Bhairawa airport, which was scheduled to open later this year, is expected to be delayed.“Many of our engineers and workers have not been able to come back to Nepal,” says Bhairawa airport project chief Prabesh Adhikari. “There are about 25 Chinese workers on site and we are trying to move construction forward, but we need the rest to return.”The timely completion of<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/reservoirs-of-suspicion/hydropower-geopolitics%20,3991" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> hydropower projects</a>, of which 65 have the involvement of Chinese companies, looks more bleak. Construction at 25 of these under-construction projects have not resumed since Chinese New Year. Workers have not been allowed to travel out of China, and necessary electro-mechanical equipment has also not been dispatched from China to Nepal.“Even if one Chinese engineer is absent, or if one critical piece of equipment does not arrive from China, work stops,” says the <a href="http://www.ippan.org.np/public/page/ippan-committee" target="_blank" rel="noopener">President of the Independent Power Producers’ Association</a> Shailendra Guragain. “If the situation worsens, we may be seeing losses amounting to a billion dollars in our projects.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-climate-connection-to-covid-19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The climate connection to Covid-19</a>, Rastraraj Bhandari

Nepal’s economy, already weak, takes direct hit

<figure><img width="1400" height="1167" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107161120/6369228e9c7e80680e03a135jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Diwakar Chettri</figcaption></figure>Nepal needs to urgently upgrade its <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19687#.W6OCxM4zbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">aviation gateway</a>. Year after year, Kathmandu's airport has had the dubious distinction of being voted among the top ten worst in the world. Cosmetic improvements have been made lately, but the country's only international airport is plagued with mismanagement and is a known den for smugglers, traffickers and extortionists. A $100 million ADB-funded project to increase the airport’s capacity has been mired in corruption. Even the modest first phase to expand the present terminal is five years behind schedule because of a dispute between the Spanish contractor and the government. The only runway is a wreck, operations are frequently halted at peak hour to patch potholes, leading to delays and cancellations. Despite such shoddy and inadequate infrastructure, Kathmandu has the highest landing and ground handling fees in the world, and the most expensive aviation fuel.Increase in traffic has led to monstrous congestion at both the arrival and departure concourses. Matters become much worse in winter when poor visibility due to proximity to a highly polluted urban core delays flights. Planes are put on hold in the air for hours. The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/air-jam/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pressure on Kathmandu</a> was supposed to ease with the construction of two other international airports at Bhairawa and Pokhara. Bhairawa is supposed to serve as a direct gateway to Lumbini, and will have a new terminal building and longer runway to accommodate larger jets. But the $70 million ADB project is delayed because the sub-contractors were conmen. It will now be completed in 2020. The saga of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/business/pokhara-airport-takesoff,2965" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pokhara’s new international airport</a> spans four decades. It finally got a go-ahead with a loan from China Exim Bank, but the final inflated price tag of $305 million is suspicously high, and has a whiff of kickbacks in high places. All these delays have convinced many in government and business of the urgent need of a mega airport in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/economy-ecology-of-nijgad-airport/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nijgad in the plains 75km south of Kathmandu</a>. A detailed design by the Korean Landmark Worldwide company envisages two parallel runways 3,600m long, world-class terminal building, aprons, hangars and even an adjoining aeropolis. Tourism Minister Rabindra Adhikari calls it a “game changer”.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/economy-ecology-of-nijgad-airport/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Economy &amp; ecology of Nijgad airport</a>, Om Astha RaiUp to 2.4 million trees would be cut to accommodate the 80 sq km airport. London’s Heathrow is only 12.14 sq km. Most of the site is covered in dense jungle, the last remaining primary forest in the eastern Tarai and an important corridor for wildlife migration. The government has promised to plant 25 trees for every one cut, and resettle the 7,000 people who will be displaced, but few believe that.Although the ecological rationale has caught the people’s attention, the much more convincing argument against Nijgad is actually economic. As a Nepali Times investigation in June showed, there are serious questions about the viability of such a gargantuan airport. The hub-and-spoke model in international aviation is now obsolete with the rise of a new generation of ultra-long range airliners which can fly point-to-point nonstop for up to 20 hours. Instead of putting all our eggs in one basket with an expensive, over-sized airport, it makes much more economic sense to decentralise and improve Kathmandu, Pokhara and Bhairawa and upgrade Biratnagar or Dhangadi to international airports as passenger demand grows. And why should the government be in such a tearing hurry to chop down 250,000 trees right away for a project that has not even been finalised, investors have not shown any interest yet (and it is doubtful they ever will)? For a soft state with such high levels of corruption, impunity, mismanagement and poor record of implementation, Nijgad is not just a white elephant, it will be a white dinosaur. Just to put it in perspective: Nijgad is 12 times more expensive than the mammoth <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/melamchi-coming-to-kathmandu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Melamchi Project</a> that is 20 years behind schedule, and its total cost represents half of Nepal’s annual budget. Another story in this edition on the<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/heli-rescue-fraud-tarnishes-nepals-image/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> helicopter rescue scam</a> that threatens to undermine Nepal’s tourism industry is symptomatic of just how deep the rot is. Insurance fraud by powerful businesses enjoying political protection does not give us much confidence that a $6.7 million project will ever take off. In fact, Nijgad is now looking more and more like a logging concession than an airport project. Megalomania and kleptomania make a lethal combination.Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.atavist.com/fly-or-ride-" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fly or ride?</a><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/does-nepal-need-a-4th-international-airport/?fb_comment_id=1829616777094382_1834390453283681" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Does Nepal need a 4th International Airport?</a>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdRauyhpccA&amp;t=9s <h2>10 years ago this week</h2> After he was elected in 2008, the former Maoist supremo ‘Prachanda’ Pushpa Kamal Dahal became Prime Minister and made a trip to New Delhi. He showed his pragmatic side by charming the Indians and telling them what they wanted to hear. Nepali Times columnist <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15226#.W6SYnnszaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Prashant Jha wrote this in his column</a> ‘Plain Speaking’ for the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/issue/418" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issue #418 of 19-25 September 2008</a>:NEW DELHI -- Nepal’s prime minister was a celebrity in Delhi this week. From armchair revolutionaries to national politicians to the policy elite, everyone wanted to have a glimpse of a rebel leader who is now the head of government. In a smart suit and tie, Pushpa Kamal Dahal was at his charming best. The common theme in all his speeches was: “Trust me.” And judging from the reaction, the message hit home.He donned his free market hat, taking a business-dominated 50-member delegation and assuring representatives of Indian joint ventures in Nepal of security. He told Indian business what it needed to hear: private sector is at the heart of growth, Nepal will set up special economic zones, government is only a facilitator, we want investment. <img width="508" height="813" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107161120/636922929c7e80680e03a136jpeg.jpg" alt="">

Megalomania + Kleptomania

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

New year revolutions

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

What is invisible is more dangerous

Here in the mountains of far-western Nepal, the biggest threat to life and limb is gravity. Women collecting fodder fall from trees, boys grazing goats fall off cliffs, heavily loaded tractors plunge from dirt roads carved out of steep slopes. There is nothing to be done about those who die on the spot. But for the severely wounded there is only one hospital: Bayalpata. And it is there that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJzWlnYd0ZM&amp;t=8s" target="_blank">orthopaedic surgeon Mandeep Pathak</a> is the last hope for many wounded people. Pathak, 42, is too modest to tell us how many lives he has saved over the past 10 years he has worked at Bayalpata. But hospital records show he has performed more than 4,000 operations in the past decade, many of them so patients did not suffer permanent physical disabilities. Pathak also did 800 major life-saving surgeries in that time. “I treat patients with injuries, but I wish I could also treat poverty,” Pathak says, emerging from Bayalpata’s surgical theatre one recent afternoon. <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="700" height="415" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CJzWlnYd0ZM?si=s_rkbU4YDaw87gqH" 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> Sudurpaschim Province in Nepal’s far-west is far away from everything: from Kathmandu, from adequate medical care, from food security, and far from the reach of government services. It has suffered state neglect for centuries, its men mainly migrating to India for seasonal work to families who depend on subsistence agriculture. Pathak remembers the searing sadness he felt when a patient once told him, “Doctor, I sold the last of my rice to pay to come here, please give me a medicine that I can take on an empty stomach.” Pathak was born in Kathmandu, and after getting his MBBS from Kathmandu University, he got an MD from The Philippines. At a time when many Nepali doctors and staff nurses were emigrating, Pathak did not just return to Kathmandu but decided to go to one of the remotest districts in Nepal to serve those most in need. The hospital was established in 2009 in the village of Bayalpata, and has been managed by the non-profit <a href="https://www.nyayahealthnepal.org/" target="_blank">Nyaya Health Nepal (NHN)</a> as a public-private partnership treating 100,000 patients a year for no fees at all. NHN is now preparing to hand over the running of the hospital to the Sudurpaschim provincial government so its <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/this-is-how-to-upgrade-nepals-rural-health" target="_blank">model of hospital management</a> can be replicated.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250414130456_b59dabd4604a24426a55fe91c0e5866b5029858bdb4c4028c331557aeb5408ae.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20250414130456_b59dabd4604a24426a55fe91c0e5866b5029858bdb4c4028c331557aeb5408ae" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Bayalpata hospital"> <figcaption>Bayalpata hospital in Achham.</figcaption> </figure>  People from not just Achham but surrounding districts, and from as far away as Humla, bring patients to Bayalpata, sometimes walking for days. Some with complicated pregnancies are brought in stretchers, young children with broken arms walk into the emergency, and sometimes there are mass casualties when a tractor or bus falls off a road. And Pathak is always there with his team performing triage, and doing orthopaedic surgeries that would be difficult even in Kathmandu. Recently, his team did a hip replacement at <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/state-of-the-art-rural-hospital" target="_blank">Bayalpata Hospital</a>. Mild mannered, modest, soft-spoken, hard-working, professional are the words families of patients who have been treated at <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-rural-lifeline" target="_blank">Bayalpata Hospital </a>use to describe Mandeep Pathak. But the surgeon is too busy to let all this get to this head.&nbsp; Asked why he does not emigrate like his peers or get a lucrative position at a private hospital in Kathmandu, Pathak answers simply, without a trace of self-importance, “I do not think I could get the satisfaction or sense of fulfilment anywhere else.” When travelling to attend medical congresses overseas or visit family in Kathmandu, Bayalpata has other doctors to take care of patients, but many wait patiently till Pathak returns for their consultation or surgery.&nbsp; When he returns from seminars abroad after learning the latest skills, Pathak’s suitcases are not full of clothes or presents, but titanium bone implants, external fixation rods, or intramedullary nails to be used in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/altruistic-healthcare-models-in-nepal" target="_blank">surgeries at Bayalpata</a>.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025041414040_5356278472c1eb2b9e4af1d593d6234cc8dc5e5161a8c614197c01abefadbd80.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="2025041414040_5356278472c1eb2b9e4af1d593d6234cc8dc5e5161a8c614197c01abefadbd80" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1368" loading="lazy" alt="surgery"> </figure>  Before Bayalpata Hospital was established, most people suffering broken bones had to travel down to Dhangadi or Nepalganj for treatment. No more. Although Pathak’s specialisation is orthopaedic oncology, he is mostly treating fractures and rejoining broken bones.&nbsp; Now as Bayalpata’s Hospital Director, Pathak also has administrative and fundraising duties. He has to take the 10-hour ride down to Dhangadi often to meet various Sudurpaschim ministries to release the hospital’s budget — that is sometimes more difficult than the most complicated surgery. Recently, he had to cancel an appointment with the Chief Minister to rush back to Bayalpata because there was a patient who needed emergency surgery. “I told myself, let me save this patient first, then I will try to save the hospital,” he recalls.&nbsp; Once, when he had to be away for a month on emergency surgery training in the US, the family of a 90-year-old woman who had dislocated her hip after falling from a staircase was waiting for him to return. Her son told Pathak: “Doctor, either put her out of her suffering, or cure her.” Pathak told him it was too dangerous to operate at her age, but the son said his mother was in so much pain it was worth the risk. The operation was touch-and-go, but it was successful. The woman who had been brought in on a stretcher, walked out of the hospital three days after the operation.&nbsp; A few months later, a 27-year-old woman was brought into the ER bleeding profusely from an arm mangled by a thresher machine. Even in that state, she was breastfeeding her baby. Pathak welled up seeing this display of selfless motherhood, as he wheeled her into surgery. She needed three operations, but now has full use of her hand. <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="700" height="415" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xJdxLD0hBqo?si=mOpM2R_DsYL88Lfg" 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> It is the sense of achievement from such recovery that keeps Mandeep Pathak here in this isolated village in the middle of nowhere. Bayalpata Hospital has not just saved lives, it also saves families from poverty because they do not have to take sick relatives to expensive city hospitals.&nbsp; In January, a woman was brought to Bayalpata with both hands broken. She said she had taken a fall, but Pathak did not believe her. When alone in the surgery, she finally admitted that her husband had beaten her.&nbsp; It was her husband who had brought her to hospital for treatment, but she refused to file a police report. Pathak quietly put both her arms in casts, thinking about the poverty, patriarchy and injustice in society that he is unable to treat.

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