No one knows who is to be blamed but the victim is undoubtedly a Nepali residing in Nepal. A Nepali has become synonymous of a helpless face; a face whose reflected image resembles a stone-aged man without the mirror being in fault. A Nepali wrestles with the dark, too much busy blaming the system, while its neighbors go on for their third or fourth or god-knows-how-many nuclear experimentations.
To cut the story short, I have listed some of my random thoughts:
1. Maximum hours a Nepali gets to see electricity without any accessories = 6. And do not forget that not all of the 147,181 sq. km. of Nepal is wired.
2. Given the number of hours, are we not better off getting rid of that [“hatti ko mukhh ma jira”] 6 hours too? Our communist government would certainly benefit by not having to censor press or internet. Good way to sustain communism………… comrades.
3. Our prime minister accused “years of dormancy” as the sole factor that led to present havoc. We are impatient to hear your plans too. Your plans better not be “we are the one of the richest country in hydroelectricity” and “we can power up whole Asia”; show us the strategy as to how you are going to power up Nepal (too naive to dream about lightning up already lighted ones). You dexterously maneuvered politics of hype and vanity. Now it is the high time you show that you are a snake with venom and that you were not wearing a mask bought from Indian market. Dear PM, your guerilla warfare is responsible for not letting villages lighten up with the help of small hydro-power projects (if not the major hydro projects too).
4.”American Imperialism” and “Indian Expansionism” (two words you are infatuated with) are not something you can fight with guerilla warfare. Please demonstrate the diplomacy you had once promised (but probably never expected to have to keep up also).
5. There was a program, “aafno gau , aafai banau” (make your village yourself), which the UML government had implemented years ago and is the one thing I remember UML for. Are there any plans you have put forward that will make Nepalis long remember you and your party? Or is it just the anarchy and killings that make us forget you as a nightmare and avoid like a plague?
6. The election of Prachanda as PM is farce. People are as much complicit as Maoists leader is in killing thousands and torturing millions. Torn apart between Lainchaur and Beijing, he is creepily meandering in Nepali politics.
7. NRS 236 billion worth of budget aims to see NRS 65 billion in the form of foreign support. Is this the move towards financial stability? Or stressing of parasitic nature of communism?
8. Instead of embracing the hydro power project as the panacea of Economic miseries, there needs to be detailed technical, economical, political studies about whether this really is beneficial to Nepal. After all, we might be better off with small hydroelectric project than mega projects. Large external investment in small economy like Nepal might have detrimental effect on overall economic health of the country. Lessons should be learned from Itaipu and Yacyreta mega-hydroelectric projects in Paraguay.
9. Bipartisan politics is required if we are not to continue Tanakpur-Mahakali type of jumble. There should be common national interest rather than a party’s interest when dealing with such mega projects that bear implication on Nation’s economy for decades.
10. Decentralization of hydro-power project could be one of the alternatives to the massive projects. This can give rise to the boom in small industries that produce turbines required for those small scale projects. Home produced turbine could have chain effect in booming nation’s economy; country can prosper by creating jobs while reducing dependency on foreign oil and fuel-woods. Since small scale projects do not require building of dam or reservoir, it could be something that can thrive even in poor economy. Massive current of rivers certainly is on people’s side; all we possibly need might be a helping hand from government, without having the government to look up to economic giants/players for mercy.
11. Low cost Photovoltaics could be another alternative to kerosene lit villages of Nepal. For details, click on this link.
12. For reference purpose, this link provides the list of the power projects in Nepal.
13. Here is the map of the Nepal with major rivers. Click here for the image with more detailed view of the rivers:
14. Finally the link to the Nepal Electricity Authority. Click Here
