Local residents of Mustang, including a sitting MP and several politicians, submitted a petition to Prime Minister KP Oli in Kathmandu this week urging the government to lift the region’s ‘restricted’ status. This is not the first time such a demand has been raised, and as infrastructure the region’s accessibility improved over the years, calls to remove the long-standing restriction have grown louder.&nbsp; Upper Mustang is no longer weeks away <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/postcards-from-kathmandu">from Kathmandu.</a> Nearly 85% of the road from Beni to Kagbeni has been blacktopped, and one can drive from Kathmandu to Lo Manthang with an overnight stop in Pokhara. Between April 2024 and April 2025, Lower Mustang received 144,745 international tourists, a near 50% increase compared to the previous year. Most of these were <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/nepal-india-trans-boundary-bonds">Indian pilgrims </a>travelling to Muktinath. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/comings-and-goings-in-mustang">Mustang</a> is also gaining popularity among Nepali visitors, with 700,000 visiting the region in 2024. A hotel operator in Kagbeni estimated that about 20% of Nepali visitors to Muktinath also travel to Korala, the trade and transit checkpoint on the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/latest/north-of-the-border">China border</a>. That would mean that nearly 100,000 domestic tourists visit Upper Mustang annually. In stark contrast, international tourist numbers to Upper Mustang (north of Kagbeni) have remained stagnant, hovering around 4,000 visitors per year. The primary reason is the continued enforcement of the region’s restricted status. Foreign visitors must pay a steep permit fee: a minimum of $500 for 10 days, with an additional $50 per day thereafter. Tourism some entrepreneurs, politicians, and residents want these fees to be abolished so Upper Mustang can attract a broader range of international travellers. The success of Lower Mustang, where relaxed restrictions have led to a<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/boom-time-in-central-tarai"> tourism boom</a>, is often cited as proof of what lifting restrictions could achieve. Upper Mustang is not the only region in Nepal with a restricted status. Several northern areas prefixed with ‘Upper’ (Upper Manaslu, Upper Dolpo, Upper Kanchenjunga, and Upper Arun) also need similar permits and fees. Although no clear official explanation exists, these areas were primarily restricted due to historical inaccessibility, ecological and cultural fragility and security concerns. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/upper-mustang-opposes-prohibited-areas">Call to scrap Upper Mustang tourist fee</a> In the 1960s and 1970s, these remote regions served as shelters for Khampa guerrilla fighters who launched cross border ambushes on the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-last-days-of-the-khampa">Chinese military </a>across the border.&nbsp; Though the Khampa have long gone, security concerns rooted in that era seem to persist. The government in Kathmandu is seemingly unaware of the changed political and security landscape. If concerns do remain, they are not made public. One of the main reasons for maintaining the restricted designation is to limit visitor numbers. But with <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-road-out-of-nepal">improved road access and services</a>, as Upper Mustang has seen, this justification no longer holds. When Upper Mustang first opened to international tourists in 1992, it had no formal lodges or hotels, and it took four to five days of trekking from Jomsom to Lo Manthang.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250716120744_4e4405cf10e6f127f90a1cd40feda0b9d8d69efd13093a2563530ca31489ba9f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20250716120744_4e4405cf10e6f127f90a1cd40feda0b9d8d69efd13093a2563530ca31489ba9f" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="509" loading="lazy" alt="Lift restrictions on Upper Mustang"> <figcaption>Photo: DINESH SHRESTHA</figcaption> </figure>  Without a nechyang (a household with traditional friendship), it was difficult to find a place to stay or get a proper meal. Only a few elite households offered accommodation. Today, there are now more than 80 lodges and hotels above Kagbeni, spread across nearly every village. Several upmarket hotels now struggle to stay afloat during the off-season, relying on low-spending domestic visitors to survive. Lo Manthang, once a remote destination, is now just a few hours’ drive from Jomsom, easily reachable by lunchtime for early starters. Once the remaining road sections are blacktopped, travel time will be further reduced. Yet, the government still charges a flat $500 fee for a 10-day permit based on outdated &nbsp;assumptions from a bygone era. There has been no serious review of the permit structure to align with current realities, nor any response to local aspirations to attract more international tourists and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/peak-tourism-in-2023-9ukoi8iz">harness tourism for economic development</a>. Concerns about over tourism are valid. There is a risk that increasing visitor numbers could erode Upper Mustang’s <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/a-million-mantras-in-mustang">cultural heritage</a>, social fabric, and fragile natural environment, precisely the features that make it special. However, the region’s 33 years of tourism experience have been largely positive.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250716120744_5c7e5e05097cd0e5a1027b51c7e3db3be0bd67e0f7cbaea6d2c447b1dacafc8a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20250716120744_5c7e5e05097cd0e5a1027b51c7e3db3be0bd67e0f7cbaea6d2c447b1dacafc8a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1400" height="1050" loading="lazy" alt="Lift restrictions on Upper Mustang"> <figcaption>Photo: MUKESH POKHREL / NT ARCHIVE</figcaption> </figure>  Tourism has contributed significantly to the restoration and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-history-of-heritage?%2F">preservation of religious and historical sites</a> like the Thubchen and Jampa monasteries in Lo Manthang, the ongoing conversion of the old palace in Ghami into a premium hotel, and the rehabilitation of many monasteries and chortens.&nbsp; These efforts, supported by international donors and heritage experts, demonstrate that tourism—when well managed—can be a powerful driver of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/shrinking-tourism-s-ecological-footprint">conservation</a>. The high permit fees have been somewhat effective in limiting international visitors, but they have no influence on the growing number of domestic tourists, particularly during the Dasain and Tihar holidays. The most pressing need now is for all levels of government—federal, provincial, and local—to<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/why-invest-in-nepal"> invest in </a>managing tourist flows and maintaining tourist sites. These efforts are essential not only to enhance visitor experience but also to build long-term resilience and sustainability for the destination. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/greening-nepal-s-tourism">Greening Nepal’s tourism</a>, Hanna Wells Visitor numbers are central to any tourism development strategy that aims to balance economic, social, and environmental goals. Clinging to obsolete policies and concerns to justify Upper Mustang’s restricted status is not only unfair, it also suggests an undemocratic and discriminatory attitude toward a remote district.&nbsp; Shailendra Thakali, PhD, is from Jomsom and is a freelance consultant on protected areas, tourism, conservation, and sustainable livelihoods.

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Lift restrictions on Upper Mustang

<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/human-face-of-a-himalayan-climate-crisis" target="_blank">Janmu Sherpa</a> was a grandmother with a dozen goats and a tea house in Donggang in the Rolwaling Valley. Her stopover served trekkers en route to Tso Rolpa Glacial Lake and the trail over Tashi Laptsa Pass to Khumbu. In 2018, I spent months in the Rolwaling Valley studying how <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/rastraraj_bhandari_what_climate_activists_are_doing_wrong" target="_blank">mountain communities perceive</a> climate change. Unlike my climate-anxious self, Janmu was calm, even hopeful, despite having lived through floods, landslides, and the 2015 earthquakes. “No one knows when Tso Rolpa will burst, so we cannot stop our daily chores. Let fate decide,” Janmu Sherpa had said. Last year, fate did decide. On 22 June 2024, the Dorji Phungmo Glacial Lake burst. The resulting flood swept through the Rolwaling River, washing away homes and hotels in Donggang. Janmu <a href="https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/climbers-valley-devastated-by-floods-immediate-relief-sought" target="_blank">was among</a> the missing, and later declared dead.&nbsp; I learned of her disappearance during a recent cycling trip through Panauti along the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/a-flood-of-tears-on-the-rosi" target="_blank">Rosi Khola</a>, which was devastated by deadly flash floods on 28 September 2024.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025051918054_14898953b7a5808b51440f7a6fa35a7d66146bbb1d62bf88729a83a558ca8ebf.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2025051918054_14898953b7a5808b51440f7a6fa35a7d66146bbb1d62bf88729a83a558ca8ebf" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="A pre-monsoon déjà vu"> <figcaption>Tso Rolpa glacial lake at 4,580m has grown seven times in size in the past 60 years due to global warming. </figcaption> </figure>  Tipper trucks rumbled through the dusty road, carrying stones and gravel from unregulated quarries and sand mining along the Rosi. This was destruction disguised as development, and the crusher industries had <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-revenge-of-the-rivers" target="_blank">magnified the impact of record rainfall</a>. On the other side of the mountain, along the Lele and Karmanasa Khola, families are still reeling from last year’s floods. Here, too, a quarrying frenzy exacerbated the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-valley-suffers-quadruple-disaster">destructive power of the floods</a>. There are thousands of untold stories like Janmu, and the estimated 200 who perished in the September floods. Most have been forgotten, their deaths blamed on fate. I write this from afar, as Kathmandu hosts the Sagarmatha Sambaad this week to draw global attention to the impact of the climate crisis on the Himalaya. The summit took place as pre-monsoon rains lashed the Rosi and Lele Valleys. Even before the start of the rainy season, more debris flows from the mining operations destroyed repaired roads and neighbourhoods rebuilt after floods last year. The rivers that flooded Kathmandu in September 2024 are still vulnerable. Aside from a few sandbanks built by local hands, nothing has changed. No national reckoning. No systemic response. Instead, everything is blamed on climate change.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025051918054_57fa57586b1e370e715daf837aa4cae3e73b0f029bb0ccef8be768e85656cc5f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="2025051918054_57fa57586b1e370e715daf837aa4cae3e73b0f029bb0ccef8be768e85656cc5f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1499" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="A pre-monsoon déjà vu NT"> <figcaption>Janmu Sherpa's village of Donggang is directly downstream from Tso Rolpa Glacial Lake.</figcaption> </figure>  <a href="http://as%20kathmandu%20hosts%20the%20sagarmatha%20sambaad/" target="_blank">Janmu Sherpa’s story</a> haunts me not just because of her loss, but because she shaped my journey as a climate activist. She taught me that climate action is not just about carbon or conferences, it is about livelihoods, listening, and the impossible trade-offs faced by communities where survival is more urgent than sustainability. As monsoon clouds gather again, there is a sense of dread not just about floods, but for the apathy that follows. We are trapped in a cycle of climate inaction fueled by corruption, state neglect, and a development model that treats rivers as resources to be drained, not lifelines to be protected. It is no longer a question of if the floods will come, but when, and how devastating they will be. And yet, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/politicians-and-cronies-blamed-for-kavre-floods" target="_blank">those in power remain unmoved</a> even when disaster strikes their own backyard. We are still chasing climate finance and hosting international summits, while local insurance markets stagnate and communities fend for themselves. To be sure, global advocacy matters. The Himalayan climate crisis must be on the international agenda. Melting glaciers here affect billions downstream. But adaptation cannot begin and end in air-conditioned conference halls. It must bring real preparedness to villages, valleys, and riverbanks of Nepal.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025051918058_3ec77114d434385351ad1637fd5ab42dc6a76b94b0e90f1c6e683c71535f6e6a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="2025051918058_3ec77114d434385351ad1637fd5ab42dc6a76b94b0e90f1c6e683c71535f6e6a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1701" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="A pre-monsoon déjà vu"> <figcaption>The Sagarmatha Sambaad climate conference in Kathmandu this week. Photo: PRADEEP RAJ ONTA / RSSseasonmedia2007</figcaption> </figure>  I visited the communities ravaged by floods in September and as I wrote in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/flood-of-despair" target="_blank">Nepali Times</a> then, top-down responses are always too little, too late and too ineffective. The only real solution is bottom-up, community-led adaptation. Those who lived through the floods know what needs to be done, and those privileged and in power need to enable them. Community-led adaptation is not just a buzzword. It is our only viable path forward. It means empowering local people with the tools, knowledge, and resources to protect themselves. It means investing in early warning systems that reach the last mile and actually work, restoring ecosystems that buffer floods, and supporting indigenous knowledge that has long helped communities live in harmony with nature. It means letting go of our belief that somehow our degrees in climate change and attendance in global climate conferences enable us to tell communities how they should be responding to climate change. It means shifting power and funding to the grassroots, where resilience is not theoretical — it is lived, practiced, and urgently needed. As the rains return, I am reminded of Janmu Sherpa’s voice of quiet wisdom. Her innate resilience did not save her life. Let us not wait for the next flood to act. Let us protect what we still have. Rastra Raj Bhandari is co-founder and fellow at the Himalayan Water Project, where he leads the research on climate finance opportunities for the Himalaya.

A pre-monsoon déjà vu

Ramprit Yadav was a ranger in the late 1960s before Chitwan National Park was even established. He later became the first warden of Nepal’s first national park in 1973, one that he helped survey. Those were the days when national parks were defined as wilderness areas with no human settlements, but Chitwan’s jungles were the home of the Tharu and other indigenous groups. The village of Padampur with 10,000 people, mostly Tharu, was relocated. The very people who had relied on the forest and protected it for generations were kept out. Ramprit Yadav remembers that when his team surveyed the Chitwan National Park 55 years ago, he did so without consulting the Tharu. “That was a mistake,” he says now. “I was 22 years old and had a theoretical knowledge of plants from college, but everything else about biodiversity I learnt later from the Tharu of Chitwan.” The Tharu had over generations learnt to sustainably manage their jungle, grassland and wetland habitat, taking only what they needed and allowing nature sufficient time to regenerate. When they were removed from the national park, it was not just the Tharu who suffered but also the nature they had helped preserve. The Tharu of Old Padampur had been farming on the flatlands for generations by creating a canal from the Chure Hills to the south. The traditional irrigation system brought down not just water but vegetation that fertilised their fields. After using the water they needed, they let the rest flow out, replenishing the wetlands that was an important habitat for rhinos and birds. In spring, the Tharu dug small ponds inside the forest to capture rainwater and raise fish. This practice also helped recharge the groundwater. But after 1973, the park put a stop to this, and ponds dried up. The number of rhinos dropped dramatically after Padampur was evacuated primarily because of the deterioriation of the wetlands, and later after 2003 when the park was expanded to the east and there was an increase in poaching. Bal Singh Chaudhary, 84, remembers that the ponds themselves were a favourite wallow for rhinos. “I used to see between 15-20 rhinos in one pond, but after we stopped using the ponds the rhinos were gone.” Today, park nature guide Ram Giri Chaudhary says it is difficult to even find one or two rhinos in what used to be the ponds. Paugi Chaudhary, a 70-year-old resident of Old Padampur, remembers as a boy bringing in up to 15kg of fish and 25kg of snail (ghonghi) from the family paddy fields. “All that came to an end after our relocation,” he says.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024081512088_260b0e2ac61e75678af678f485606e2a9b3fdf75455bd19f7ff5a949ffb736a8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2024081512088_260b0e2ac61e75678af678f485606e2a9b3fdf75455bd19f7ff5a949ffb736a8" data-rendition-name="original" width="1056" height="640" loading="lazy" alt="Parks plus people"></figure>  Before being evicted, Tharu villages used to have up to 400 cattle that grazed in the grasslands along the Rapti floodplain. Grasslands made up 20% of the park area in 1973, but today it is down to 6%. The reason is that the Tharu had a sustainable way of using the grasslands for grazing and harvesting reed and thatch to maintain their homes and the temporary huts they built by the Rapti River. In winter, they set fire to the reed which allowed green shoots to sprout, fertilised by the nutrient rich ash. The park allowed the Tharu and resettled farmers from the mountains to cut and burn the grass for 15 days every year, but this practice was stopped during the Maoist conflict. “The condition of the grasslands in the national park was better where the grass used to be burnt rather than when it is cut by machine,” explains Aashis Gurung of the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC). The decline in grasslands has affected the population of native and migratory birds like the Bengal Florican, Lesser Florican, Slender-bellied Babbler, and Jerdon’s Babbler. When the grassland area fell, so did the insect population. The ban on grazing removed the dung that used to fertilise the soil and allowed insects to proliferate in the siru grasslands. And with the insects gone, the birds had nothing to eat. Park officials at the time did not grasp this cycle of sustainability in which the Tharu people were a crucial part. Chitwan’s wetlands and grasslands are now much reduced, affecting the population of rhino, deer and other wildlife. Part of the credit for Nepal’s success in tripling its wild tiger population goes to the indigenous people of Chitwan, whose descendants now suffer disproportionately from wildlife attacks and crop damage in the fringes of the park where they were resettled in 1973. Birendra Mahato is an elected member of the Ratnanagar Municipality Ward 6 and Founder Chair of the Tharu Culture Museum Research Centre in Sauraha.

Parks plus people

I was born and raised near Sanguri Danda in eastern Nepal, and it was only later that I found out that the hills were called the Chure. And it was still later that I learnt that the Chure is also known as the Siwalik Range, the southernmost and lowest fold in the Himalaya bordering the Tarai plains — the geologically and ecologically fragile hills made up of uplifted sediments with only a thin layer of topsoil.&nbsp; I have walked in the Siwalik in eastern Nepal, and have often wondered where the name comes from. And no one else seemed to know either, so I did my own research. The term Siwalik appears to have been first used in a paper published in 1836 in the 19th Volume of Asiatic Researches, Calcutta with its Latin title, Sivatherium giganteum. The authors asked a holy man in Haridwar the native name for the hills directly to the north, and he replied that it was Shivalaya, Shiva’s abode. The researchers rendered that as Sewalik, and a component of the sub-Himalaya. Later, the spelling changed to Shivalik, and Siwalik today. The Siwalik ridge forms the Nepal-India border wherever there are Inner Tarai valleys like Chitwan and Dang, but elsewhere is the watershed for cities like Janakpur, Birganj, Biratnagar, Bhairawa, Nepalganj and Dhangadi.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024072704078_c960c809d218d58600b35803f5fbe4fd58a42165d8373aa55e01454404fd98c8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2024072704078_c960c809d218d58600b35803f5fbe4fd58a42165d8373aa55e01454404fd98c8" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="868" loading="lazy" alt="Siwalik"> <figcaption>White lines show the width of the Siwalik range.</figcaption> </figure>  The orogenesis of the Siwalik range is closely tied with the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates that began more than 50 million years ago. Rivers flowed down to the Tethys Sea separating the two converging landmasses, and as the Himalayan mountains were uplifted, these rivers which later became the Ganga, Brahmaputra and Indus cut passages through them.&nbsp; There was a lot of volcanic activity due to the subduction of the Indian plate, and remnants of these can be seen in Mt Kailash and other mountains. At different periods after that, the greater Himalaya was uplifted, and the Mahabharat foothills after that.&nbsp; About 15 million years ago, some Himalayan rivers were blocked by upliftment and the sediments deposited there turned into sandstone, claystone, conglomerate or shale. Then the most recent tectonic activity in the Himalaya uplifted these sediments to form the Chure-Siwalik range. The Siwalik is only about 120m elevation in the east, but rises to 1,970m in the west, extending parallel to the main Himalayan chain. The Siwalik ecosystem's services to the plains downstream is vital to the Tarai’s rivers and water supply. But the degradation of the Siwalik due to unregulated mining, deforestation, and road construction increases risk of disastrous floods in the Tarai as well as districts downstream in India.&nbsp; There have been government programs including the Presidential Chure Tarai-Madhes Conservation and Development Board, but these have been inadequate or ineffective in slowing the destruction.&nbsp; Most of the government’s efforts at restoring the Chure ecosystem concerns forestry and not holistic watershed management. There are some 48 rivers that originate in the Siwalik, but most are dry for 9 months in a year and flow only during the monsoon. The 2021 census records show that 53% of Nepal’s population now lives in the Tarai, and the populations of the 21 districts bordering the Siwalik are also rising. This translates into increased deforestation to make way for agriculture or new settlements, and unmanaged road construction.&nbsp; Women from Saptari district in Madhes Province marched 25 days to Kathmandu, and have been demonstrating at Mandala in Kathmandu against the degradation of the Siwalik. They held a rally last week, with slogans like “Give us water", "Stop wildfires". Bijaya Singh Danuwar, who did a PhD on the Chure watershed, Members of Parliament Pradip Paudel who is now Health Minister in the new government and Amresh Kumar Singh, former minister Julie Mahato, as well as former minister Prabhu Sah have all raised the destruction of the Siwalik and its impact on the Tarai in Parliament.&nbsp; There has been scant attention in the media about the rallies, and the federal, provincial and municipal governments are not showing much concern about the wanton destruction.&nbsp; The provinces and municipalities directly downstream from the Siwalik are the ones which should be most concerned because they will be the ones more directly affected. Or is there just too much vested interest with contractors? &nbsp; Kamal Maden is a botanist and biodiversity researcher.

To save the Tarai, save the Siwalik

Banks are exposed to a complex risk environment because of the climate crisis the world over. With their diverse asset class portfolios across multiple sectors, banks are vulnerable to new risks involving loan portfolios, investments, and business operations.&nbsp;
Banks need proactive approaches to plan transitions to a more resilient and sustainable future, while analysing the immediate effects of climate disasters. Developing appropriate methods to manage these risks while trying to remain competitive should be the priority of all banks.
Banks in Nepal face both transitional and physical risks because of the impact of climate change. &nbsp;They must evaluate how these hazards may interact and intensify, since the risk factors are interrelated.
The direct impact of climate breakdown on a bank’s assets and operations are referred to as physical risk, which are the tangible, real-world effects of severe weather, increasing sea levels, temperature fluctuations, and other climate-related phenomena.&nbsp;
One example of these risks is the possibility of property damage from extreme weather events, floods or wildfires, which can destroy buildings, infrastructure, and businesses. Disruptions in the supply chain can also result in the scarcity of products and services, which is another kind of physical risk.&nbsp;
Physical risks can be acute or chronic. Event-driven risks such as typhoons and floods can be called acute risks, whereas the long-term shift in climate patterns are chronic physical risks.
Transitional risks, on the other hand, would be the financial burden associated with the shift to a low-carbon economy with concurrent changes in consumer behaviour, market sentiment, regulatory changes, and technical breakthroughs. New policies by governments and regulatory agencies to address climate change, carbon pricing, or tighter environmental standards can impact the economy and the banking sector.
A few commonly used frameworks to reduce the climate risk of banks are:
· Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) which was articulated by the Switzerland-based Financial Stability Board in 2015. In 2017, TCFD released a report with 11 voluntary recommendations for disclosing climate-related financial risks and opportunities. It is made up of four pillars: governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets.&nbsp;
· &nbsp;Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) were developed by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Finance Initiative. PRBs have been signed by over 300 banks from 60 countries since 2019 and are based on six guiding principles: Alignment, Impact and Target Setting, Clients and Customers, Stakeholders, Governance and Culture, Transparency and Accountability. PRBs aim to align the banking sector with the Paris Agreement and SDGs.&nbsp;
· Equator Principles (EP) are a voluntary risk management framework developed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Financial institutions adopt 10 EPs to determine, assess, and manage environmental and social risk in project finance transactions. Financial Institutions that adopt the Equator Principles commit to implementing them in their internal environmental and social policies, procedures, and standards for financing projects as well as to restrict new finance or corporate loans to projects where the client is unable to comply with the principles.
· The Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition (CPLC) was developed by the World Bank as a voluntary initiative that brings together leaders from governments, business, civil society, and academia to enhance global understanding of carbon pricing as a tool for accelerating and financing effective climate action.
· &nbsp;Climate Resilience Principles (CRP) were developed by the Climate Bonds Initiative to integrate the criteria for climate adaptation and resilience into the climate bond standard. CRP guides financial institutions and other stakeholders on the potential range and type of climate resilience investments, ways to define and assess physical risks, and approaches to demonstrate climate resilience outcomes credibly.&nbsp;
· The Joint Impact Model (JIM) as a useful tool to navigate challenges in reduction in carbon footprints. By the quantification of emissions linked to their loan portfolios, institutions can obtain vital insights into their climate effect and pinpoint opportunities for finding ways to be supportive of the circular economy.
Banks can also employ technical and financial tools to minimise both physical and transitional risks and these can help quantify potential impacts, allowing informed decision-making and risk management using Climate Scenario and Extreme Event Analysis. Geospatial Risk Mapping can be used to assess hazardous zones. Hydrodynamic modeling is a tool to simulate effects of flooding. Carbon Footprint Calculations can help banks assess lending portfolios.
Testing can be conducted to evaluate the impact of a transition to a low-carbon economy on the bank’s financial performance, considering changes in market dynamics, asset values, and investment returns. Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors can be included into financial models to evaluate the long-term sustainability.&nbsp;
Financial modeling adopted by banks for climate risk mitigation is diverse, encompassing various aspects of physical risks and Transition Risk. Data Collection and assessment of historical weather patterns, and projections for property location, exposure to flood zones, and susceptibility to extreme weather events can help banks identify potential physical risks.&nbsp;
Scenario Analyses can be developed to simulate various climate change scenarios and their potential impacts on assets and borrowers. Insurance and Risk Transfer Instruments can be used to explore the use of insurance products and risk transfer instruments to mitigate the financial impact of climate-related physical risks. Sustainable Finance Product Modeling helps the bank to develop financial models for sustainable finance products, such as green bonds or sustainable loans, to assess their risk-return profiles and market viability.&nbsp;
Nepal’s banking industry faces challenges to safeguard credit portfolios. Banks should adopt a consensus approach to navigate transition and physical risks. Nepal’s banks are already seeing climate impacts on their loan portfolios.
Agriculture
Farms are affected by erratic rains. Floods destroy infrastructure and crops, lowering productivity and impacting the ability of borrowers to repay loans. The Kosi Flood in 2008 was one of the most destructive. In the past decade alone, some 300,000 hectares of farmland have been lost to floods. Last year, 325,258 &nbsp;tons of harvested paddy worth Rs 8.26 billion were destroyed.&nbsp;
Banks must support smart irrigation systems that enable farmers to modify watering schedules based on real-time meteorological data to help conserve water and reduce the effects of shifting precipitation patterns and glacial melt.
EVs
Electric vehicles are becoming more popular among consumers. Banks need to adjust financing in response to this spike in demand for EVs and providing loans for charging stations. In the first 11 months of the fiscal year 2022–2023, EV imports totalled 3,070 valued at Rs 11.23 billion, a 122% increase over the same period in the previous fiscal year. AT this rate, EVs will fully replace petrol cars.
Hydropower
Change in hydrology of rivers, reduced water availability during dry seasons and changes in precipitation patterns can all have an immediate effect on hydroelectric plants. The increase in the frequency and severity of extreme weather have damaged hydropower schemes. Floods on 16-17 June 2023, in eastern Nepal damaged 30 hydropower facilities with a combined capacity of 463 MW. The hydropower sector is also exposed to transition risks, including carbon pricing, emissions limits, and renewable energy generation.
Manufacturing&nbsp;
Changes in regulatory policies, such as carbon pricing, emissions limits, and renewable energy mandates, that aim to address climate change may also result in greater compliance and operational costs for manufacturing firms. If clean energy and sustainable manufacturing practices render conventional manufacturing methods less competitive or obsolete, adoption and investment in new technologies and processes may become imperative. Infrastructure related to manufacturing projects could also be physically damaged by storms, floods, and other natural disasters, as well as it could have a serious impact due to severe weather patterns.&nbsp;
As a first step toward mitigation, banks should thoroughly assess the climate risk associated with manufacturing projects and their clients. Banks should also provide financing and investment products that are specifically designed to support climate-resilient and sustainable manufacturing practices. Examples include green loans, which can be combined with advisory services, technical assistance, and capacity building project support to assist clients in identifying, evaluating, and putting into practice strategies for waste management, water conservation, renewable energy integration, and energy efficiency.
Govind Ghimire is the Deputy CEO of NMB Bank.&nbsp;

Changing climate for investment in Nepal

In the run-up to the third Nepal Investment Summit this weekend, there have been seminars, conferences and workshops where the discourse has revolved around the economy and the investment climate.
The consensus that Nepal needs foreign direct investments (FDI) to grow was repeated, and the familiar litany of reasons about why it has not been able to was discussed.&nbsp;
Policy advocates and regulators have understood that the lack of urgency is compounded by procedural inconsistencies, on top of the already deficient investment environment in the country.
It is a welcome change from what used to be flippantly accepting matters as given. There now seems to be a sense of urgency, with procedural inconsistencies and lack of harmonisation between various Acts and regulations openly discussed.&nbsp;
Government stakeholders also appear more willing to learn and attempt to be part of the solution. Whatever policy changes have been introduced in the past have been piecemeal and address the few rather than the entire industry. This left dual regulatory approaches aimed at similar players.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/killing-investment-in-nepal-in-10-easy-steps">Killing investment in Nepal in 10 easy steps</a>, Dibesh Karmacharya
This time, unlike in the past two Summits, the government seems to be committed to amending 9 Acts, a positive step towards showing commitment to change. However, the deadline to do so during the winter session of Parliament is over. The option mooted has been to have it passed through ordinance, a lesser appealing step; albeit, a positive one moving forward.&nbsp;
To attract FDI in a competitive global market means that Nepal has to demonstrate that it is serious about bringing in investments with a more consultative and collaborative approach with investors. A departure from procedural to a result-oriented focus is needed.&nbsp;
To put issues in perspective, Nepal needs US$20 billion in investments to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets by 2030. If net-zero decarbonisation targets are to be met by 2045, another US$7 billion will be required annually.&nbsp;
Looking at our investment history and poor government capital expenditure, the gap is long and wide. In fiscal year 2022-23 Nepal booked a lamentable ~$59 million in FDI (equity). Nepal is in fact the lowest market in South Asia for FDI with 0.3% of the regional average.&nbsp;
What is it that we can do to fill the gap?&nbsp;
First, we need to move away from the notion that Nepal only needs large investments. This has proven to be a mistake, and time series data have proven that smaller investments, in aggregate, make a larger impact on economies.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/poor-cash-rich-nepal">Poor cash-rich Nepal</a>, Sonia Awale
We talk about an ‘enabling environment’ but without the right tools. We place restrictions on interest on debt ceiling (SOFR +5.5), without risk premium adjustments, we do not have an active secondary market for bond trading, nor do we have a yield curve, an integral part of the bond market, which is inhibiting us from tapping into the trillion dollar green bond market.&nbsp;
In order to attract green financing, Nepal needs to develop its bond market. Sovereign risk rating has been mooted and was expected to be operationalised before the Investment Summit.&nbsp;
However, to be rated in an adverse economic environment could further deteriorate investment potential due to a lesser-than-expected rating.&nbsp;
Hedging is another instrument that needs further research on. A commercial bank last year showcased the first risk-hedging mechanism for an investment of $8 million. This can be the beginning to expand on its modality. &nbsp;
Subordinated debt instruments have been introduced, but on a special nod basis, this now needs to be institutionalised as it is the most applicable form of investment after equity in a market that has volatile forex reserves.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/invest-in-investment">Invest in investment</a>, Nepali Times
Viability Gap Funding has been introduced by multilateral development agencies implemented in solar installations. It is a tool to incentivise the private sector to invest in projects that are not financially lucrative initially, but have potential for profitability in the long run. This needs to be scaled up and replicated in sectors like infrastructure, where returns may not be immediate.
Moving forward, to attract FDI, Nepal needs to tap into the funds that are available for the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and climate change. Alternative investments such as Private Equity Venture Capital (PEVC) have been around in a structured manner in Nepal for nearly a decade now.
These funds have blended finance components and have attracted climate funding as well. PEVC is a new asset class and can address the issues of penetrating into SME financing by incorporating environment, social and governance issues into their investment process.&nbsp;
SMEs are the backbone of any economy, PEVC comes with the ability not only to scale up the enterprise with risk capital, but with the ability to bring technical knowhow to enhance not only the enterprise but also the entrepreneur.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/success-in-nepal-means-not-having-to-work">Success in Nepal means not having to work</a>, Anil Chitrakar
A differentiator from all other forms of financing available till date in Nepal. Blended finance is a way of de-risking investments, especially in frontier markets. Business Oxygen (BO2) is an example of blended finance with subordinated debt investments of IFC (World Bank Group) taking the lead and Climate Investment Funds along with FCDO as co-investors.&nbsp;
On a larger scale, the 216MW Upper Trisuli 1 is another example of blended finance with IFC, a Korean consortium and local investments. So far, we see that development finance Institutions have been taking the lead in Nepal as their risk appetite is greater than commercial investors and they are eager to help develop the financial markets.&nbsp;
In order to be sustainable, we need to step on this and attract commercial capital from all over the world. To do this there has to be political will to make that pivot.&nbsp;
Instead of being a means to an end, the two previous Investment Summits turned out to be intermittent and cosmetic, providing hardly any results. The third one’s success will depend on how the event will be implemented as a platform for continuous marketing for the country and facilitation for investors in future.&nbsp;
Nepal has outdone many countries in its macro-economic indicators, with sound forex reserves and a stellar history of debt payments to its creditors. This story needs to be propagated along with the drive for change to attract potential investors.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/alternative-investments-to-attract-fdi">Alternative investments to attract FDI</a>, Siddhant Raj Pandey

Siddhant Raj Pandey

Nepal looks at alternative investments

Over the last two decades, Nepal has made notable progress in maternal and neonatal healthcare. The<a href="https://mohp.gov.np/uploads/Resources/Final%20Report-26%20March-%202023-UPDATED.pdf"> maternal mortality ratio (MMR</a>) has declined from 536 per 100,000 live births in 1996 to 151 by 2021.
Driving this process were the country’s <a href="https://mohp.gov.np/program/safe-motherhood-programme/en">Safe Motherhood policy</a>, an increase in skilled healthcare providers, free delivery services for expectant mothers, incentive schemes for antenatal care, as well as postnatal visits.
Other measures, such as birth preparedness packages along with systematic planning for managing potential complications during childbirth, amplified these achievements.&nbsp;
There has been a remarkable rise in institutional deliveries, an increase in antenatal visits, and an impressive 70% of women receiving postpartum care from healthcare providers within the first two days after giving birth.
Quality improvement initiatives such as the Maternal and Perinatal Death Review, minimum health facility assessment standards, routine clinical monitoring, and supportive onsite supervision visits, have been outlined in policy documents and guidelines to elevate the overall quality of care.&nbsp;
However, it is when analysing province-wise MMR. that we still see significant disparities. Maternal deaths are still high in Lumbini Province (207 per 100,000 live births) and Karnali (172). The MMR in Bagmati Province (98) correlates with better figures for higher education, awareness and access to health service and providers.
In contrast, 83% of women in Karnali face challenges in seeking medical care, primarily due to financial constraints and long distance to healthcare facilities.
Half of the maternal deaths in Nepal are of mothers within the age groups of 15-34. Despite the legal marriage age being 20, child marriage is still widespread and contributes to the highest number of pregnancy-related deaths.&nbsp;
Read Also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/remove-barriers-to-life-saving-drug-to-prevent-maternal-deaths">Remove barriers to life-saving drug to prevent maternal deaths</a>, Marty Logan
The median age of marriage in Nepal is 18.3 years, with the lowest median age in Madhes province at 16.6 years and the highest in Bagmati province at 19.9 years. The Muslim community reports the lowest at 16.5 years, while the Janajati and Brahmin/Chettri communities have generally higher median ages for marriage.
In Madhes and Sudur Paschim Provinces early marriages among girls under 15 contribute to heightened adolescent mortality, mainly due to difficulties accessing timely health facilities. Disparities persist among ethnic groups, particularly among doubly marginalised Madhesi Muslims, who face high mortality rates due to early marriages.
Health facility deliveries have improved from 10% in 2001 to 79% in 2021. But again, progress is uneven and these disparities need to be overcome to<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/more-equal-than-others"> meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals</a> (SDGs) target of 90% institutional delivery rate by 2030.
Wealth inequality and provincial variations, especially in Madhes, pose challenges that need nuanced understanding of women’s reluctance to seek health services.&nbsp;
Despite Nepal’s success in maintaining population growth close to replacement levels, the total fertility rate (TFR) is significantly higher among those without formal education. The proportion of postpartum family planning uptake is also lowest in Madhes and Sudur Paschim at only 0.2%.
Breastfeeding is in decline, with less than three out of five mothers following recommended practices. Regional variations highlight the need for targeted interventions, particularly in provinces like Bagmati, where breastfeeding rates are lower among well-educated city dwellers.&nbsp;
Read Also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/why-has-progress-in-saving-women-s-lives-stalled">Why has progress in saving women’s lives stalled?</a>, Marty Logan
Anemia persists as another risk factor, with Madhes Province again carrying the highest burden.
Comparing Nepal with Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan shows that we are doing better in under-five and infant mortality rates. Nepal’s institutional delivery rate surpasses Bangladesh, but lags slightly behind India.
Even so, alarming disparities persist in neonatal and maternal mortality rates within disadvantaged groups, reflecting inadequate coverage of routine maternal and neonatal health visits and suboptimal care.&nbsp;
This points to both limited access to recommended interventions for disadvantaged women and potential inefficiencies in delivering crucial interventions during routine these visits.
Nepal should prioritise rural pockets of the country and employ a comprehensive strategy that includes delivering antenatal care through primary health care outreach, home visits, distributing essential medicines, vaccinations, and identifying appropriate health facilities for birth preparedness.
Read Also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/what-can-be-more-fulfilling-than-saving-lives">“What can be more fulfilling than saving lives?</a>”, Naresh Newar
The quality of antenatal care must be improved by talking about nutrition with pregnant women and families, emphasising awareness of danger signs that necessitate timely health facility visits, and ensuring local governments can efficiently refer complicated cases, with airlifting as a viable option for emergencies.
Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health with a targeted focus in provinces with early marriages and childbirths combined with education, awareness, and easy access to reproductive health services are imperative.
More effort is needed to meet the SDG target of reducing the MMR to 70 per 100,000 live births. Mitigating disparities among provinces demands political commitment, active local leadership, community engagement, especially leveraging the youth force, and fostering public-private partnerships at all levels.
Surya Bhatta is Executive Director of One Heart Worldwide that works primarily on maternal health in rural Nepal.

Saving more mothers and babies

Last spring, I climbed a couple of easy 6,000ers in Nepal with Howard Lister. When we returned to Kathmandu, we had dinner with Richard Salisbury and Rodolphe Popier of The Himalayan Database.&nbsp; For them, Nepal’s 2023 spring climbing season had not been very interesting. Although there was a record number of climbers on Mt Everest and many more on the other 8,000ers in Nepal, almost all fall into what László Pintér calls ‘of only statistical value’ -- commercial expeditions repeating the ordinary routes on 8,000ers.&nbsp; It could seem like Himalayan climbing (defined as making new routes and early repeats) is in decline. There are a couple of myths about Himalayan climbing, that should be dispelled: &nbsp; Myth 1: The Himalaya is Crowded The record numbers of permits given for Everest and the famous images of queues of climbers on the South-East Ridge might make a casual observer think that the Himalaya is crowded. This is far from being the case.&nbsp; In the 2023 pre-monsoon season, 1,176 climbers were granted permits for the 374 ‘open’ mountains, making an average of only three climbers per mountain. That does not sound too crowded, but the distribution of climbers is indeed unbalanced. László writes about ‘guided summit collectors who seek fame’, and these were massively concentrated on 8,000m peaks with 41% of the climbers on Everest. Even there, they were almost all on the South Col route.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/mt-everest-pvt-ltd">Mt Everest (Pvt) Ltd</a>, Vishad Onta Another 31% were on normal routes on Nepal's six other 8,000m peaks. Of the remaining 329, a quarter of the climbers were on Ama Dablam and a fifth on Everest’s near neighbour, Nuptse.&nbsp; That left another 187 climbers spread amongst 365 peaks, of which 346 had no visitors at all. If you want solitude in Nepal, it is not difficult to find. The magic 8,000m line has a massive influence on the choice of climbing objective. Whilst 847 people tried mountains of above 8,000m, with the exception of Nuptse, there were no attempts on any of the other 23 mountains between 7,500m and 8,000m.&nbsp; Myth 2: There Are No Climbing Challenges Left ‘Guided summit collectors’ tend to make up increasingly contorted claims to fame (‘first left-handed Zimbabwean’ or the ‘oldest dyslexic dentist’ to climb Everest). The casual observer might assume this is because there are no real climbing challenges left. That is absolutely not the case.&nbsp; Let us start with Lhotse, which essentially has three faces and three ridges. None of the ridges have ever been climbed, and almost all ascents have been by a single route on the North-West Face. The South Face was climbed 33 years ago, and waits for a repeat. This is a very wide wall on which multiple different lines would be possible. The North East Face of Lhotse has not even seen an attempt. Some of the other 8,000ers have had the most obvious routes picked off, but there are other climbing objectives to last a few centuries at the current rate of progress. The high 7,000ers in Nepal are mountains which differ from the 8,000ers only by being slightly below an arbitrary height line.&nbsp; Read also,<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/without-sherpas-there-is-no-mountaineering"> “Without Sherpas, there is no mountaineering”</a>, Bhadra Sharma Gyachung Kang, the world’s 15th highest mountain, is less than 50m short of being an eight thousander, but it has only had 10 ascents and no attempts for 18 years.&nbsp; Next is Annapurna II, which has been climbed only 5-6 times. For some Annapurna II may sound like a minor sub-peak of Annapurna, but being 30km away from Annapurna I and with a prominence of nearly 2,500m makes it indisputably a separate mountain.&nbsp; But these days hardly anyone attempts Annapurna II. There were 16 expeditions to it in the 1980s, three in the 1990s and three in the 2000s, but only one since 2008.&nbsp; Dhaulagiri, like Annapurna, is a name given to a series of mountains in a massif with Dhaulagiri II, III, IV and V -- all above 7,600m. Dhaulagiri III, IV and V may be considered subsidiary tops of Dhaulagiri II, but Dhaulagiri II is every bit as independent as Annapurna II, yet has received only 10 ascents, the last in 1986. None of Dhaulagiri III, IV or V have been attempted since the 1970s.&nbsp; If you Google ‘what is the most dangerous mountain in the world?’ you will get an answer based on the somewhat nonsensical measure of dividing the number of deaths by the number of successful summit climbers. It is declared to be Annapurna I followed by K2 and Nanga Parbat.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/letters-from-everest-base-camp-1-vfqcer0e">Letters from Everest Base Camp 1</a>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240223060240_e4eb40276b95d06a98879c513b6e2d327ace35092e7b108b61497887e9fade3f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240223060240_e4eb40276b95d06a98879c513b6e2d327ace35092e7b108b61497887e9fade3f" data-rendition-name="original" width="595" height="842" loading="lazy" alt="Dangerous mountain"> </figure>  This is wrong because it only looks at 8,000m peaks. Annapurna is often quoted as having a ‘fatality rate’ of 32% (although the large number of commercial climbs in the last few years have brought this down to under 20%).&nbsp; That certainly does not make it the most dangerous mountain in the world. Twelve climbers have summitted Dhaulagiri IV, but 14 have died while trying, so the fatality rate on that peak is 117%. But Ngadi Chuli (Peak 29) is the world’s 20th highest mountain at 7,871m. It has had only two summiteers, but five people have died while trying, giving it a fatality rate of 250%. It has not even been attempted for more than 40 years. There is plenty of scope for new routes on all of these mountains. Excluding variants, Annapurna II has been climbed by two routes, Peak 29 by two, Dhaulagiri II by only one.&nbsp; And then there are mountains that have never been climbed like Shartse, a 7,591m peak on the East Ridge of Lhotse Shar.&nbsp; There are still some bold climbers making fantastic ascents, like Ukrainians Nikita Balabanov, Mikail Fomin and Viacheslav Polezhaiko on the South-East ridge of Annapurna III in 2021.&nbsp; The French pair of Boris Langenstein and Tiphaine Duperier last year explored the possibility of ascending the huge and untouched North East Face of Dhaulagiri II. Their plan to climb up and ski down was thwarted by route finding difficulties and bad weather, but this was a real pioneering attempt.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/chopper-vs-chauri-below-everest">Chopper vs Chauri below Everest</a>, Bhadra Sharma One of the finest climbs on a high 7,000er was the alpine style ascent of a partially new route on the daunting North Face of Jannu by Americans Matt Cornell, Alan Rousseau and Jackson Marvell last autumn. If we compare the proportion of expeditions to the seven 8,000ers and the highest seven 7,000ers in the Nepal Himalaya by decade, we can see the picture very clearly. Mostly non-guided climbing of 7,000ers, making new routes and first or early ascents, peaked in the 1980s and has been much lower since, while 8,000m climbing, mainly by commercial expeditions, is growing almost exponentially.&nbsp; While ‘real’ Himalayan Climbing is not dying, it is declining and carried out by a relatively small number of highly talented climbers.&nbsp; That situation is masked by the large numbers of climbers on commercial routes on Everest, the other 8,000ers and a handful of popular mountains and by the publicity these climbs receive. The lack of such ‘adventurous climbs’ is not because there are no worthwhile objectives. Himalayan climbing is dangerous even on the heavily populated and well equipped mountains, and it is even more so for those who venture away from well-trodden paths to seek new challenges.&nbsp; Anyone who attempts such exploits needs to make their own mind up about the risks and difficulties involved. But if anyone believes there are no climbing challenges left in the Himalaya or that all mountaineering in Nepal involves long queues on fixed ropes, then they are absolutely wrong. &nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/himalayans-on-the-frontlines">Himalayans on the frontlines</a>, Ang Tshering Sherpa  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024022306024_d9a02bfe0967c9647b5d4d02aef5eb4ee985c7b16e8f142fc176c5e07080c8b5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="2024022306024_d9a02bfe0967c9647b5d4d02aef5eb4ee985c7b16e8f142fc176c5e07080c8b5" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Edward Morgan Book Details"> </figure>  Edward Morgan is the author of Lhotse South Face – The Wall of Legends. &nbsp;

Dispelling myths about climbing

Every day more than 20 trucks loaded with water buffaloes for slaughter make their way to Kathmandu from the Tarai, each packed with up to 35 animals tied tightly with ropes through their nostrils. The overloaded trucks have a capacity of only 15 animals and most are on the road for up to 20 hours during which the buffaloes have no food or water. Many die along the way. Chicken are also carried packed in the backs of vans or tied by their legs hanging upside down on motorcycles from poultry farms to market. Often the birds’ beaks are scraping the asphalt. Seven years ago, the government introduced the Animal Transportation Standard-2064, a comprehensive set of guidelines designed to regulate and ensure the safe and humane transportation of animals. Compliance is not only encouraged but also legally mandated. The regulations underline the need to be compassionate during the transportation of livestock and poultry with adequate floor space to move comfortably, protecting the animals from harsh weather, providing adequate food and water, and making rest stops during the journey. The law also requires that precautions be taken to prevent animals from causing harm to each other during transit. It also says that animals should not be on the move for more than eight hours at a time.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240220080220_b3f0ad118bf7538f807953605c9715119dac22d4bc74a6daee1c8a303d10aaff.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20240220080220_b3f0ad118bf7538f807953605c9715119dac22d4bc74a6daee1c8a303d10aaff" data-rendition-name="original" width="1280" height="854" loading="lazy" alt="Be kind to buffaloes"> <figcaption>Overloaded pick-up vans with cows stacked on top of each other. </figcaption> </figure>  Any indication of distress or harm to animals such as bruising, stress, sunburn, bloat, exhaustion, poisoning, injury, or dehydration, are considered reckless endangerment of animal rights and a direct violation of established standards. Besides transportation, the regulation also stipulates that lactating animals should be milked twice a day, and special attention paid to proper nourishment of young animals. Many of these rules, like many others in Nepal, are ignored, and not enforced. Despite government claims that the country is now self-reliant in buffaloes for meat, most of the animals are imported from India where they are not eaten. However, there are no holding centres for livestock along the highways that join the Tarai with the rest of the country, including the capital. Read Also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/saving-chari">Saving Chari</a> Transporters are also wary of stopping anywhere to give the animals some food and rest because of local protests. &nbsp; Holding centres are not the priority, and real estate along the highways are expensive. Ramnagar in Chitwan last year received a budget to construct a holding centre, but the money was not enough to pay for the land. Makwanpur district is the transit for animals being transported from the Indian border to Kathmandu and to the east. An inspection of the Veterinary Hospital and Livestock Centre in Makwanpur revealed a multitude of problems, including overcrowding of animals, the mixing of males and females, fights, and inhumane practices such as tying animals by their noses, ears, and tails.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240220080224_e7e5f5511b4bac703a560526b750b5bbfe46d9d2eac62b3b8f2760c45009dd13.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20240220080224_e7e5f5511b4bac703a560526b750b5bbfe46d9d2eac62b3b8f2760c45009dd13" data-rendition-name="original" width="1280" height="854" loading="lazy" alt="be kind to buffaloes"> <figcaption>A team from the Veterinary Hospital and Livestock Centre in Makwanpur inspects the live animals.</figcaption> </figure>  India has banned the export of buffaloes which means that there are no veterinary certificates, and most of the buffaloes are smuggled across the border. The Makwanpur centre has levied fines and turned away a majority of heavy trucks and pickups found to be in violation of established animal transportation standards.&nbsp; Owners are penalised for the lack of proper documentation, including veterinary certificates and purchase bills and this has controlled the abuse of animals temporarily. But the Makwanpur experience shows that if enforced properly veterinary hospitals and livestock expert centres can be replicated across the country. According to the guideline, every shipment of animals must be accompanied by a valid certificate issued by a qualified veterinary doctor. This is supposed to confirm that the animals are in good health, fit for travel, and free from infectious or contagious diseases. In the absence of such a certificate, carriers are required to decline the consignment for transportation.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240220080224_8aa8abfa96903617c397dedb0574b67a452a311dc9dc8de0339e6fac727651e4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240220080224_8aa8abfa96903617c397dedb0574b67a452a311dc9dc8de0339e6fac727651e4" data-rendition-name="original" width="630" height="472" loading="lazy" alt="be kind to buffaloes"> <figcaption>An overcrowded truck heading towards Kathmandu.</figcaption> </figure>  But veterinarians have sometimes issued certificates for animals without conducting a comprehensive health assessment and provided fake certificates. In some cases, farmers and traders have been found to use ‘incentives’ to expedite the certification process. To restore the integrity of the certification system, stricter guidelines and oversight measures are needed in the veterinary community.&nbsp; Veterinarians should be held accountable for upholding ethical standards and conducting thorough health assessments before issuing any certification. Regular training and awareness programs about established protocols are needed for vets. Read Also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/activists-decry-animal-slaughter-at-nepal-temple">Activists decry animal slaughter at Nepal temple,</a> Sewa Bhattarai Abinash Thakur is the President of Nepal Veterinary Students' Association, HICAST

Be kind to buffaloes

Every year antimicrobial resistance (AMR) contributes to the death of around 5 million people around the world. Resistance to antibiotics, once considered ‘miracle drugs’, is fast becoming one of the biggest threats to health and development in Nepal as well.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) empowers harmful microbes to withstand the very medications designed to stop them from spreading. This means that disease-causing microbes such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites can survive even when we treat them with medicine.
So how are these pathogens getting more resistant? There are many factors, the primary being underuse, overuse or indiscriminate use of antibiotics to treat common infections among humans or livestock.
Introducing medicinal drugs to microorganisms without proper tests and diagnostic trials helps them build resistance and get stronger. As a result, many medicinal drugs have become ineffective because they do not kill the ‘<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17373">superbugs</a>’. If this keeps up, it will not be long before medicines become ineffective in treating diseases.
AMR is not just a problem for humans, it can affect wildlife as well as the whole ecosystem. Microorganisms resistant to drugs can reach forests and wildlife through air and water. Human-animal interactions can also expose them to these drug-resistant organisms.
Numerous wild animals like elephants, rhinos and wild boars often venture outside Nepal’s protected areas into farmlands to feed. In buffer zones in Chitwan or Bardia, it is common for domestic and wild animals to graze in the same area and use the same water source, this can transfer harmful pathogens to new hosts – the wild animals.
Once livestock is infected with antibiotic resistant microbes, the shared resources in the forest will create a pathway for transmission of diseases among wild animals.
Read Also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/are-you-sick-of-chicken">Are you sick of chicken?</a>, Sonia Awale
Even when dealing with known infections, providing medical treatment and care to wild animals poses formidable challenges. This will only be exacerbated when facing infections caused by new superbugs.
The more advanced the infection, the easier it spreads, and lower the chances for it to be treated successfully. The drugs available to treat such diseases will be more limited, and the only option will be to stand back helplessly as wildlife die en masse. By the time new antidotes are tested and delivered, it will be too late, and entire species may be wiped out of their habitats.
The forests of Nepal are home to many globally endangered and rare species, and they are now under huge risk of AMR. Geographical variations in the area means that different animal species share the same habitat, creating opportunities for shared encounters. In such circumstances, infections can swiftly spread infecting entire wildlife populations in the area.
Some habitats in the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/underpasses-to-reduce-roadkill-in-nepal">Tarai region</a> are connected to India, allowing animals to freely cross the border and potentially carry harmful pathogens back and forth, harming the country’s tourism and economy.
It is important to recognise the looming dangers of AMR on Nepal’s wildlife. The first thing is to evaluate the degree of damage drug resistance has inflicted on wildlife populations thus far by conducting nationwide surveys to evaluate the current status of AMR in wildlife. Based on the findings, plans, and policies should be developed and amended as required.
Monitoring of healthcare, medication practices, and overall public health ecosystem is necessary as these are the root causes of AMR.
Education and raising awareness play a huge role in mitigating the risks of AMR. In Nepal, only a small section of the population, mainly those in medical or clinical fields, are familiar with AMR. This lack of awareness among the general population results in the careless misuse of antimicrobials.
A common example would be the use of pesticides by farmers to boost crop yields without considering their detrimental effects on the environment and ecosystem. Similar practices are also common in other sectors such as poultry, fisheries, and animal husbandry. Increased public awareness about the dangers of AMR among communities and individuals would help mitigate the threat.
Achieving this will not be simple, and it cannot be accomplished by one agency alone. It needs a coordinated plan to tackle a huge challenge. Government agencies, lawmakers, research persons, medical personnel, farmers and grassroots workers must take ownership.
A unified commitment to curb increasing AMR will not just save human lives, but also preserve Nepal’s success in nature conservation.
Siddhantha Pandey is a MSc Biotechnology student at Tribhuvan University and a research affiliate at Greenhood Nepal.

Nepal’s wildlife at risk from drug resistance

The monsoon has got bad press because Nepal’s tourism operators actively told visitors to avoid <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/managing-the-monsoon?%2F">the rainy season</a>. It is time to change that. The reason can be found right here in the vast alpine meadows of Central Nepal where this time of year you can walk on velvet grass of pastures abloom with delicate pink, red and yellow flowers as the mist rolls up the valley. There is no sound except the hum of bumble bees. &nbsp;&nbsp; There are dozens of places across high Nepal called Chaurikharka, which means yak pasture. But this particular Chaurikharka in Rukum East located at an altitude of 4,000m stands out for its serene beauty, rustic charm and bucolic setting. There is just the occasional chime of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/when-yaks-go-so-does-culture">yak bells</a> in the distance, and the sharp whistle of herders corralling sheep. &nbsp;&nbsp; The grass shoots are so fragile that one hesitates to step on them, the rounded ridges appear and quickly vanish in waves of mist. With the<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/before-the-next-monsoon"> arrival of monsoon</a>, these meadows are a soothing shade of green dotted with millions of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/the-anatomy-of-a-flower?%2F=">multi-coloured flowers</a>. Until very recently, it took a week or so to hike up to places like Chaurikharka, but with the expansion of the road network even to these far-flung mountains in the lap of Dhaulagiri, they are much more accessible. It is just a three-hour uphill from the Mid-Hill Highway on the border between Baglung and Rukum East.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250802130828_a0b06b494d751b2144ffbbf10894ea64b29e8aed844bc8c66171783abfaf4e16.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20250802130828_a0b06b494d751b2144ffbbf10894ea64b29e8aed844bc8c66171783abfaf4e16" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="Visit Nepal in the monsoon"> </figure>  Purists would say that such easy access devalues the sanctity of these remote high meadows, but it also means more people will be moved to treasure the experience, appreciate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/natures-fragile-gift-to-nepal">the value of nature </a>so they can take steps to protect it.&nbsp; To be sure, the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/deadly-monsoon-in-nepal-turns-deadlier">monsoon season can be challenging for road travel</a>. The roads are rough even at the best of times, and in the monsoon they become muddy and treacherous, often blocked by<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/monsoon-deluge-in-nepal"> landslides</a>. But that could be precisely the kind of adventure that the more intrepid visitors crave. Improved road connectivity has already made Chaurikharka and places like Badimallika &nbsp;and other sacred lakes in the mountains of western Nepal popular with domestic tourists. What is driving this traffic is the urge to go to exotic new places and share videos and selfies on social media. Several of Nepal’s travel vloggers have visited Chaurikharka and popularised the place, enticing followers on TikTok or YouTube to retrace their footsteps. But even as they become more popular, these fragile and once-remote places should be protected from over-tourism.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250731110736_f97110b7cdc3e7f80d5877690948fc9f4c95a09c583deb23b07355491e6c5446.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20250731110736_f97110b7cdc3e7f80d5877690948fc9f4c95a09c583deb23b07355491e6c5446" data-rendition-name="original" width="1083" height="699" loading="lazy" alt="Visit Nepal in the monsoon NT"> </figure>  <h2>INCREASING FOOTFALL</h2> Chaurikharka is located in Bhume Rural Municipality of East Rukum, near the scenic valley of Dhorpatan in Baglung district. Even in the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/monsoon-culture">middle of the monsoon</a>, there is a steady stream of Nepali hikers trooping to these high pastures – especially during festival days like Saune Sankranti which this year was on 17 July and actually marks the auspicious beginning of the monsoon here. “This year the rains have not been as heavy and there have been some clear mornings when we could see everything from Dhaulagiri to Machapuchre,” says Khageswar Bhandari, who trekked up here from the road. “The flowers, the greenery and the snowy mountain views make this an incredibly unique place.”&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250802130824_1b9e26f2e9853fdfe69154bb42a7c9ea6da4bf4940efc1da99b304dcfbd7d3d9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20250802130824_1b9e26f2e9853fdfe69154bb42a7c9ea6da4bf4940efc1da99b304dcfbd7d3d9" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1152" loading="lazy" alt="Visit Nepal in the monsoon"> </figure>  Chaurikharka is worthwhile to get to in any season, but it has a different charm during the monsoon. Word has spread and because it is now easy to get to from Baglung or even Pokhara, people have been flocking here.&nbsp; “Holidays and Saturdays see the largest crowds, with up to 500 visitors every day,” says ward chair Mankaji Pun of Bhume.&nbsp; There was a time not too long ago when local herders brought sheep, goats, cows, buffaloes, horses, and mules to graze here during the monsoon. Although there are still livestock around, animals have been replaced by visitors taking selfies. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-monsoon-and-nature-s-arithmetic">The monsoon, and nature’s arithmetic</a>, Tom Robertson Ward Chair Pun says infrastructure development is his main priority. A foot trail to Chaurikharka was built last year by the Tourism Division Office in Kohalpur, but access via the Raniwas-Koipa road section still remains challenging.&nbsp; “If we get more budget, we can improve the road and facilities to make Chaurikharka the main tourist attraction of this region,” says Bhume Municipality Chair Hom Prakash Shrestha. “After that, we hope to promote Chaurikharka as a top tourist spot.”&nbsp; Economic activity is also picking up with the arrival of visitors, but there seems to be a need to manage the makeshift sheds made of corrugated sheets that spoil the beauty of the place. Tea shops and lodges are also available but facilities are basic. Kuldeep Neupane took a three-day trip from Ghorahi in Dang to visit Chaurikharka recently, and says: “This is an ideal trip to make a quick getaway and let nature recharge your mind and body. And it is much more fun with a tent, to watch the sunrise over the Himalaya or the mist blowing in.”

Visit Nepal in the monsoon

Two weeks ago, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli announced jubilantly on social media that Nepal had achieved a historic annual growth of 81.8% in exports. He was right. Nepal’s trade did take a great leap forward compared to last year. But the dramatic rise was mainly due to processed soya bean oil.&nbsp; However, Nepal does not produce the edible oil it exports. In fact, the soya and palm oil that make up 44% of total exports are imported from Southeast Asia and South America, and simply re-exported, mostly to India.&nbsp; Under the SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Area) Agreement, Nepal can export products to India duty-free if it has at least 30% value-added. Nepal’s traders have taken advantage of SAFTA even though the edible oils they export do not reach that value addition threshold. “The 30% value addition requirement is often only on paper,” says former commerce secretary Purushottam Ojha. “It is clear that simply packaging edible oils in Nepal does not fulfil the terms of the trade agreement.” Prime Minister Oli is aware of this, and even called Nepal’s export figures “fake” at an earlier event. The government is relying on other iffy figures to suggest that Nepal’s economy is strong and getting stronger. For example, the value of imports rose by 13.25% in 2024-25 compared to the previous fiscal year.&nbsp; Some of it was due to a jump in electric vehicle imports worth Rs 31.76 billion, but mostly it was because more wholesale soya oil was imported to be re-packaged and sold in India. The very fact that the government boasts about increased imports is an indication of how much it relies on taxing them for revenue. Touting such trade figures cannot be the basis to claim an economic rebound.&nbsp; “A jump in the value of imports can be interpreted as an increase in purchasing power, but it is not evidence of a stronger economy,” says economist Keshav Acharya. “Even though imports have increased, Nepal's domestic production and productive capacity have not improved.” Nepal Rastra Bank's semi-annual economic activity study report shows that industrial production was down in the first six months of the last fiscal year. This despite an increase in the number of new industries registered and investment commitments. Out of the Rs70.2 billion proposed foreign investment, Nepal received only Rs17.9 billion last year.&nbsp; Meanwhile, the rate of capital formation was limited to 24% last year, which is lower than the year before, suggesting that new investment, job creation and economic expansion all declined. If domestic production does not improve in relation to this year’s inflated trade figures, the outflow will put pressure on foreign exchange reserves like it did three years ago. At that time, Nepal borrowed from the IMF under its Extended Credit Facility Program to kickstart the economy.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025080710084_2cdaaa5795828c4a7de93a0604ba884ef0a8b8f24cccd939f6c24e279ab6058f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2025080710084_2cdaaa5795828c4a7de93a0604ba884ef0a8b8f24cccd939f6c24e279ab6058f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1633" height="723" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal's bubble economy NT"> <figcaption>Source: NEPAL RASTRA BANK</figcaption> </figure>  The macroeconomy is on firm footing with foreign exchange reserves at a comfortable Rs2,520 billion in May, up 23% from last year. This was largely due to remittances, and partly due to a falling NPR exchange rate. Real estate transactions and the stock market index have also been climbing as a result of government policies to revive the sector.&nbsp; However, former executive director of Nepal Rastra Bank Nar Bahadur Thapa cautions: “This is not organic growth, it is the result of deliberate policy decisions to relax rules on real estate and stock markets transactions.” In reality, the sharp rise in land prices have increased the cost of production, and excessive monetisation of the real estate has become the main source of Nepal’s economic woes. The central bank has announced a slew of new policies, shifting the terms of loan repayment for industrialists and entrepreneurs, reducing interest rates, and injecting more working capital — all designed to inject adrenaline into the real estate and stock market sectors.&nbsp; When he was governor, Mahaprasad Adhikari made several financial reforms during the latter half of his tenure to stimulate the economy, including tightening credit flow.&nbsp; By the last fiscal year, additional financial reforms had resulted in a credit expansion rate of around 8%. As the pace of credit expansion slows, real estate prices have started to fall. This is actually beneficial to the economy, because it lays the foundation for improvements in land-related entrepreneurship, production, and the construction sector. Just because real estate and the stock market transactions increase, it does not indicate an economic turnaround — especially when manufacturing and productive sector continues to languish.&nbsp; “It is foolish to believe that real estate and the stock market have magically revived our economy. Agriculture employs more than half of the population, but it is in decline. Investment in the productive sector has not increased, and job creation has not increased.” Two years ago, Nepal’s industrialists, business leaders, and political leadership predicted a recession amidst a sluggish business, declining market demand, large-scale job loss, and a shrinking real estate and share market.&nbsp; Still, the economy grew by 3.36% in fiscal year 2023/24. In fact, Nepal’s economy has grown nominally over the last two decades even when all sectors of the economy are in decline.&nbsp; Says Keshav Acharya: “The growth in trade, real estate, and the stock market are bubbles. The real economy remains stagnant.”

Nepal’s bubble economy

The final investigation report on the crash of a Saurya Airlines jet on 24 July 2024 at Kathmandu airport has revealed flaws in the carrier’s technical operation procedures, poor monitoring by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) and gaps in the airport’s emergency response. Eighteen people including a child were killed, and only the captain survived as the plane plunged seconds after takeoff, crashing within the airport perimeter. This was the latest in a series of aircraft accidents in previous years, and further tarnished Nepal’s already poor aviation safety record and contributed to the country being retained in the EU’s air safety list. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The circumstances in the Saurya crash were different from the Yeti Airlines crash in Pokhara in January 2022 that killed all 72 on board, and two Tara Air crashes in February 2016 and May 2022 on approach to Jomsom that together claimed 45 lives. However, all four tragedies were a result of negligence of carriers and crew, failure to follow procedures, regulatory slackness, and overconfidence. The Saurya crash, especially, was a glaring example of how an ailing airline broke its own rules to allow passengers, including non-employees, a joy ride to Pokhara on a maintenance ferry flight. CRASH REPORT The Final Investigation Report prepared by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission and released on the first anniversary of the crash last week carried a long list of rules that were ignored or broken, and of regulatory failure. The first mistake was to cram spares, tools and inflammable chemicals needed for the aircraft’s C-Check in Pokhara into the cargo hold flouting its own ground handling procedures.&nbsp; There was no check-in of passengers, some of whom were not even employees – even though regulations say only flight and maintenance crew should be on board a maintenance positioning flight. Many brought their own luggage into the plane and stored it unsecured in the cabin. There was no flight attendant to give a safety briefing to passengers. The load and trim charts given to the flight crew were rough estimates, and the total takeoff weight of the plane was 18,300kg plus or minus 200 kg. That would still have been all right, but there was a glaring mistake in the speedchart Saurya pilots were using to calculate the minimum takeoff speed (known as VR), and it had been wrong ever since the 21-year-old aircraft entered service with the airline in 2017. FAULTY DATA&nbsp; The Commission probed Flight Data Recorder inputs from previous takeoffs of the Canadian-built CRJ200-LR in 2023-2024 and found that the undetected error in the speedchart had caused the plane to pitch up at an abnormal rotation rate at least 18 times on previous takeoffs.&nbsp; Any rotation rate more than 3°/sec is regarded as unusual. But on at least two occasions, this aircraft with tail number 9N-AME had rotation rates of 5.8°/sec and 5.5°/sec, the second one was when the pilot who survived was flying in March 2024.&nbsp; On this particular day, the plane’s rotation rate was 6.5°/sec, causing it to go into a deep stall soon after takeoff, the Commission report said. Essentially, the plane was not flying fast enough down the runway to take off safely.&nbsp; It is not yet clear whether excess weight, unsecured luggage, wrong centre of gravity were also factors, but relying on a faulty speedchart for the given takeoff weight, the captain flying pulled back on the yoke before the plane had reached takeoff speed and at a pitch angle that was too steep. The investigation report says the plane then went into a deep stall and started banking right with the stick shaking. At this point, the flight officer on the right hand seat is heard on the cockpit voice recorder saying: “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Sir, Sir, Sir…” It then banked left before the pilot flying turned the plane sharply to the right again in an evasive action to avoid the parking aprons of the international and domestic terminals. Had he not done so, there would have been a disaster of a much greater magnitude at Kathmandu airport that day. The plane scraped the runway with its right wingtip, collided with a container having helicopter spare parts, and plunged into a gully east of the runway, exploding in a fireball. The investigation also noted that the impact forces seemed to be survivable for some occupants. The fire trucks took unnecessarily long to reach the site even though it was inside the airport perimeter. The absence of an ICAO-standard runway strip, inadequate rescue drills, lack of training, and a blocked emergency service gate leading to the crash site were cited as other factors. &nbsp;&nbsp; <h2>Timestamp of a Disaster</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250731110724_39cdd04693994ce6e55a5b302905c0fa4884fe85bed21ff0779bb1439f3a5725.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20250731110724_39cdd04693994ce6e55a5b302905c0fa4884fe85bed21ff0779bb1439f3a5725" data-rendition-name="original" width="778" height="826" loading="lazy" alt="Flouting rules caused Saurya tragedy NT"> </figure>  11:10:34 - The Saurya Airlines CRJ200 on the takeoff roll from runway 02. It had a takeoff weight of about 18,300kg, but the pilot’s speedcard had a previously undetected mistake about the minimum takeoff speed. 11:10:55 -The plane with tail number 9N-AME goes into deep stall soon after takeoff because it does not have enough speed to lift its weight. The plane also has an abnormally steep nose-up attitude.&nbsp; 11:11:03 - Without enough speed to generate lift, the plane banks right, then left and right again in CCTV photos taken from the domestic apron (below). If it had not banked right, it could have hit the aprons and terminal buildings. Seen parked is Saurya’s other CRJ200 with tail number 9N-ANM.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250731110732_608132f7225c649125cca2691dd6a6bf930984c5b359e888d7ad9e5eacce3afd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250731110732_608132f7225c649125cca2691dd6a6bf930984c5b359e888d7ad9e5eacce3afd" data-rendition-name="original" width="770" height="555" loading="lazy" alt="Flouting rules caused Saurya tragedy NT"> </figure>  11:11:08 - The plane scrapes the runway with its right wingtip, and falls into the gully. The captain is thrown off the left side of the cockpit and survives. 11:11:15: Plane explodes in a fireball inside the airport perimeter. Firefighters take time to reach the site because of lack of access road and a blocked gate. Read the full investigation report <a href="https://www.tourism.gov.np/files/9N-AME%20AIC%20Final%20Report.pdf">here</a>.

Flouting rules caused Saurya tragedy

American artist Peter Makela was in Nepal in 2022 on a Fulbright scholarship when he experienced the Matya festival in Patan in which devotees made the rounds of the city’s shrines.&nbsp;
He joined the procession, walking through 2,600 stupa and 140 bahal of the town. That immersion left a lasting impression.
As part of Gallery Mcube’s international residency program in Patan, he put his inspiration to canvas in the exhibition Yala Yatra: Walking, Working, Worshipping. The exhibition also coincides with this month’s Matya festival.&nbsp;
Makela has visited Nepal often in the past 11 years but he mostly stayed in and spent his time around Boudha. “This time I stayed in Patan, put the sites I wanted to visit on my map, and off I went,” he tells us. “Each of my artwork is inspired by the stupas and shrines in Patan that I visited.”
The stupa and Ganesh are recurring motifs in his watercolours, and the elephant gods are located in chaityas — reflecting the interplay and blending of the Hindu and Buddhist faiths in Kathmandu Valley.&nbsp;
The stupas and Ganesh are painted in vivid red, yellow, blue and green against abstract backgrounds meant to represent the sky.
“I use the sky as a backdrop because the sky has no border,” says Makela. “The four colours represent the four elements, the different Buddha families and also lights bouncing off of a rainbow.”
The use of just four colours for all the artwork stands out, and combined with the absence of heavy canvases, frames or stands render Makela’s art striking in its simplicity.&nbsp;
The Ganesh is always holding something and the art also portrays the elephant god’s sacred vehicle, the mouse.
While his vibrant stupas and Ganesh reflect the tangibility of Patan’s tradition and heritage, it is as if the backdrops with their shades of grey and red and yellow capture the soul of the city’s shrines.
“If you look closely, there is a sense of form and formlessness at the same time,” he says.&nbsp;
Makela walked 108 kora around the shrines during his exploration of the town, and in the process developed a spiritual connection with Patan’s heritage and traditions.&nbsp;
The exhibition connects with visitors on a deeper, more spiritual, level as well. And with it, they feel a sense of pride as well as the need to urgently preserve Patan’s heritage for future generations.
“Peter’s inclination and approach towards Nepali art and culture is fascinating, and it reflects in his work,” says Mcube curator Manish Lal Shrestha, whose international artist residency program promotes Nepal’s cultural heritage. &nbsp;&nbsp;
Yala Yatra: Walking, Working, Worshipping
1-5 August&nbsp;
10AM-7PM
Gallery Mcube, Patan