| Garibjanata |
Posted
on 31-Oct-02 12:51 PM
MOUNTAIN SUMMIT- PARAS' MAHAN SPEECH -AND A SYCOPHANT NAMED YUBRAJ GHIMERE
TODAY'S KTM POST EDITORIAL
Mountain environment
More than half of the Nepalese population live in the mountains, yet the mountain areas in Nepal are the most neglected in terms of human and physical development. There are, in the mountain areas of Nepal, more people who are denied basic facilities like shelter, food, drinking water, health care and education than elsewhere in the country. Years of such neglect has no doubt manifested itself in many of them falling emotional and psychological prey to the armed Maoist insurgency. The Crown Prince, therefore, hit the right vein when he told a mountain summit gathering in Bishkek the other day that due attention must be paid to this problem. Access to the market is but one of the many problems being faced by the people living in the mountain regions the world over. Nor can the problem be solved merely by making transport available. The fact is that the development of mountain areas is a difficult proposition specially in the 21st century when so much attention is being paid to the maintenance and preservation of the mountain ecology. There has to be a harmonious blend between the needs of the people and the needs of the ecology. Should a road be built on the mountain? While conservative ecologists and environmentalists will tend to have nothing to do with the idea as this will affect the environment, others will call for a compromise between the needed physical infrastructures and the need for conserving the environment.
The need is obviously to take the middle course. But even the middle course is difficult compared to the sheer neglect that is presently going on, especially in a mountain country like Nepal. It is more than tempting to turn a blind eye to the needs of the people living in the mountain areas and concentrate more on those places where construction of development infrastructures is easy and less time-consuming. But this has proved disastrous, and Nepal is a living example of this. The people whether they live in the mountain areas or the plains should receive equal treatment in terms of facilities provided by the state. And they should be the centre on which everything else is built. It is time, therefore, the best brains of the country get together and plan how best the people of the mountains can be served while at the same time ensuring the minimal destruction of the fragile environment. There is a close bond between men and mountains. This should not be forgotten while charting out plans and programmes that may be drawn up for the benefit of the hill people. Conservation of the mountain ecology is important but this should in no way interfere with the facilities that a state must provide to the hill people. The task is a difficult one but one that must be addressed immediately in order to avoid alienation of the people living in the mountain areas. Planners and experts need to realise that mountain ecology is as much important as the people living there.
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