Katrin Hagen was poring through photographs that her father <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/So-far-so-good/a-serious-swiss-toni-hagen-nepal,888">Toni Hagen</a> had taken of western Nepal for geological research, when she was astounded by how much of this remote region had changed – and how much remained the same 70 years later. She dug deeper into the photo archives with some of the earliest colour prints and slides of Nepal to find some gems. Some were later published in 1960 in his classic hardcover book, <a href="https://himalbooks.com/product/toni-hagens-nepal-the-kingdom-in-the-himalaya/">Toni Hagen’s Nepal</a>, that introduced the country to the world.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240228120252_6d7921f767904775a139b059fa3efcab0772548b1cb9e4b8aa5ad710906fdb52.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20240228120252_6d7921f767904775a139b059fa3efcab0772548b1cb9e4b8aa5ad710906fdb52" data-rendition-name="original" width="884" height="431" loading="lazy" alt="Toni Hagen's western Nepal routes"> </figure>  Toni Hagen first came to Nepal in 1950 as a United Nations adviser to carry out a geological survey to find mineral potential, and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/tony-hagen-kathmandu-exhibition,3946">crisscrossed Nepal on foot over 12 years</a>, traversing 15,000km. Along the way, he became less and less interested in geology and more in finding ways to enhance the living standards of Nepalis, especially in the more remote parts of the mountains. “I found people more important than rocks,” he once said.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240228120248_b567c07836388e6af9602f7af1a8e2f557afda1b6a157ffc14fd14b6536b7e71.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20240228120248_b567c07836388e6af9602f7af1a8e2f557afda1b6a157ffc14fd14b6536b7e71" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="Toni Hagen western Nepal"> <figcaption>Young woman in Simkot, where the dress style has not changed much.</figcaption> </figure>  Nepal’s average lifespan then was 40 years, and it was even less in the Karnali and far west. Nearly four in every ten babies did not survive to age five in the 1950s. Malnutrition was widespread. Karnali and Sudur Paschim Province are now doing much better, but still lag behind the national average in all <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/not-rising-nepal">development parameters</a>.&nbsp; There are now roads even to the remotest valleys that Hagen trekked weeks to get to. Even the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/time-catching-up-with-timeless-dolpo">trans-Himalayan district of Dolpo</a> is now connected to the Chinese border by road, and will soon have roads to Mustang and Rukum West.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240228120248_32b730a1d8549f79db753a252077f4e109625382b03e14f31fdeebb980b90468.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20240228120248_32b730a1d8549f79db753a252077f4e109625382b03e14f31fdeebb980b90468" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Toni Hagen western Nepal"> <figcaption>Upper Kuwadi Valley towards Sankha La in nothern Humla.</figcaption> </figure>  The other urgent need he saw for Nepal was connectivity. Walking across the country, he found the lack of bridges to be a major obstacle to getting around. Nepal seemed to be an archipelago of islands separated not by sea, but by rivers. This presaged the decades long Swiss involvement in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/10-000-bridges">building thousands of suspension trail bridges all over Nepal</a>. Hagen proposed a series of tunnels on a highway to connect Kathmandu to the Tarai across another one of his survey ideas, to build a reservoir on the Kulekhani River. The Kulekhani dam was built in 1984, but the Kathmandu-Fast Track is on the slow track and still only a dream. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240228120248_7963aa60e4a63a7f2e4d51a0e7aae211c174ba0c9f2bb0587ebe06a9ccdc555e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20240228120248_7963aa60e4a63a7f2e4d51a0e7aae211c174ba0c9f2bb0587ebe06a9ccdc555e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Toni Hagen western Nepal"> <figcaption>Men paddling across the Karnali River in inflated buffalo skins.</figcaption> </figure>  A selection of Hagen’s photographs from western Nepal are being shown in a series of exhibitions in Patan, Surkhet, Mahendranagar and Jumla in the coming months. What is most striking about the images is the stark contrast between the scenic beauty of the region and its underdevelopment. Toni Hagen took almost as many portraits of people as of the landscape, and in the faces of the people of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/a-karnali-portrait">Karnali</a> we do not see poverty, but frugality. The wrinkles indicate the hardships of everyday life, but they are also smile lines. The clothing is all made from local wool, the houses are stone, thatch or slate surrounded by terrace farms of ripening buckwheat.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240228120248_b5e2deedb3a599880b69b37efc2fdec4377aadb948d081629e11759c0082f8b4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20240228120248_b5e2deedb3a599880b69b37efc2fdec4377aadb948d081629e11759c0082f8b4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Toni Hagen western Nepal"> <figcaption>Toni Hagen's porters below Murma Top overlooking Rara Lake, the shores of which are today covered in thick forest.</figcaption> </figure>  Surkhet Valley which today is all urbanised, was a patchwork of paddy fields then. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/rara-s-rare-beauty">Rara Lake</a> is resplendent in turquoise, and to think that it took Toni Hagen a month’s trek from the Indian border to get there. Today, there is a road connecting it to Jumla and Surkhet. The lake’s shores, barren 70 years ago, is today thickly draped in pine forests after the villages were evacuated to create a national park. &nbsp; <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19173">Toni Hagen</a> died in 2003 in Switzerland after many visits to Nepal during which he saw the changes, both good and bad, sweeping the country. Katrin Hagen accompanied her father in many of the trips, and still conducts orthopaedic surgical camps in remote parts of Nepal where her father once walked.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240228120248_bcd3d8fcefb27909641e0f0688c3daaccdfb05f99557a30516721226fcd5f574.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="20240228120248_bcd3d8fcefb27909641e0f0688c3daaccdfb05f99557a30516721226fcd5f574" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Toni Hagen western Nepal"> <figcaption>Village in Humla.</figcaption> </figure>  And through books, special exhibitions and collaborations with organisations such as the Nepal Geological Society and the Nepal Heritage Society, Katrin ensures that her father's work continues to be celebrated and shared with audiences in Nepal and around the world. The <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=11274">significance of Toni Hagen's work</a> extends beyond its aesthetic appeal. His research and documentation have played a crucial role in advancing our understanding of Nepal's geology, particularly in Western Nepal. The Nepal Geological Society now uses Hagen's photographs in its research.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024022905020_b8cda063d9ca15932567cbd491d4b5725b22bf31074b07ae63f6189b0dc84cc8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="2024022905020_b8cda063d9ca15932567cbd491d4b5725b22bf31074b07ae63f6189b0dc84cc8" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="981" loading="lazy" alt="Toni Hagen western Nepal"> <figcaption>Toni Hagen in his tent with curious onlookers, somewhere in western Nepal in 1952, flying the United Nations and Nepal flags.</figcaption> </figure>  ”My father’s work helps bridge the gap between the past and the present,” Katrin Hagen said at the inauguration of the first exhibition of Western Nepal in the 1950s at Yala Maya Kendra on Tuesday. “The pictures allow Nepalis to see Nepal through his eyes and appreciate the changes that have occurred over time.”&nbsp; Western Nepal in the 1950s, an exhibition of Photos by Toni Hagen&nbsp; Yalamaya Kendra, Patan 27 February - 2 March Patan Museum, 4-13 March&nbsp; Surkhet, Mahendranagar, Jumla (to be announced)  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024022813020_3bcea5e7bc2ba14a584e6fda40a556167804d599ea5bad5f4df044748396acfc.jpg" data-media-id="editor_17" data-image-id="2024022813020_3bcea5e7bc2ba14a584e6fda40a556167804d599ea5bad5f4df044748396acfc" data-rendition-name="original" width="1263" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Toni Hagen's Nepal"> </figure>

Alisha Sijapati

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West is West

The death toll in the 6.4 magnitude earthquake that struck western Nepal on Friday at midnight has climbed to 157, and it is becoming clear that most of the fatalities are of women and children. Of the 36 initially reported killed in collapsed buildings in Rukum West district, 19 were children, some of them babies as young as 10 months old. It is the same story in neighbouring Jajarkot, nearer to the epicentre of the earthquake where more than 110 people died. Read Also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/deadly-earthquake-hits-w-nepal">Deadly earthquake hits W Nepal</a>, Nepali Times&nbsp; The mountainous region is one of the least developed and most remote in Nepal, and families depend on subsistence agriculture. Most of the men folk have traditionally migrated to work in India, or more recently to the Gulf or Malaysia to support families back home. Rukum West is also from where many young people have paid human traffickers to take them to the United States.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231104141112_57bc3667d3c96a8fa092654b3a0f653766148c91cd23fc392d08198045f527fc.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20231104141112_57bc3667d3c96a8fa092654b3a0f653766148c91cd23fc392d08198045f527fc" data-rendition-name="original" width="3600" height="2400" loading="lazy" alt="W Nepal earthquake 2"> <figcaption> </figcaption> </figure>  Although the earthquake was of moderate intensity and hit a sparsely populated area, the death toll was high because it struck at night when most people were sleeping at home. Also, houses here are flimsy, traditionally built with stones and mud mortar. Most of the reinforced concrete structures in the main market areas seem to have survived the shaking. The shallowness of the earthquake below the epicentre at Barekot of Jajarkot also seems to have meant that the heaviest damage is concentrated mainly in the two districts. Only one person was wounded in the neighbouring Rolpa district. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231104141116_3b45bbe69d386bc74ac3263b2e99c6d838a11aec2e48b71a9cfa48c1303ebbf7.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20231104141116_3b45bbe69d386bc74ac3263b2e99c6d838a11aec2e48b71a9cfa48c1303ebbf7" data-rendition-name="original" width="1800" height="1350" loading="lazy" alt="W Nepal earthquake 3"> </figure>  In Barekot itself, chair of the rural municipality Bar Bahadur Giri said the destruction was beyond his town’s ability to handle it on its own. “Every house here is damaged, there are aftershocks, and people are camped out in the open to spend the second night,” he said by phone. After the first jolt, Giri and his staff started calling around and drove out on their motorcycles to the most affected areas to help dig people trapped under the rubble. Luckily, no one was killed in the municipality and there were only four injured who were taken to hospital. “Of the 3,587 houses in the municipality, 2,000 of them have completely collapsed,” Giri said. “The schools and health posts are also damaged. We urgently need tents, food for those who are out in the open.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231104141120_abcd10569e2da645684281bd1088f5272758c269c810924d883555da98851cc1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20231104141120_abcd10569e2da645684281bd1088f5272758c269c810924d883555da98851cc1" data-rendition-name="original" width="3600" height="2400" loading="lazy" alt="earthquake Surkhet "> </figure>  Jajarkot and Rukum West are so remote that medical are is difficult even in the best of times. The two districts have some of the highest child and maternal mortality rates in Nepal. Now, with the roads blocked by rockfalls, it is even more difficult. In 2008, a cholera epidemic caused by feral contamination of springs after a long drought killed at least 47 people in Jajarkot, many of them children. Jajarkot falls under the Health Service Directorate based in Surkhet that looks after 10 districts in Karnali. Its head Rabin Khadka says his office has sent 26 additional medical personnel, equipment and medicines to the affected areas by road since Saturday morning. Nurses and surgical teams have also been sent from hospitals run by the APF, Army and Police.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231104141116_93f4311f095f8cd59b6f32c09fa59e1403eeb02a644182d6fc93872907375b92.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20231104141116_93f4311f095f8cd59b6f32c09fa59e1403eeb02a644182d6fc93872907375b92" data-rendition-name="original" width="1800" height="1350" loading="lazy" alt="earthquake hospital"> <figcaption>Injured being treated at Jajarkot District Hospital.</figcaption> </figure>  “Whatever human resources and equipment and medicines we have here is not enough, we have asked Kathmandu to rush help,” Khadka said. “We also lack information about where the need is greatest, and what type of help is needed the most. We are just assuming that the requirements are great everywhere. We are also trying to send a surgical team to avoid long bumpy rides to hospital for the seriously injured.” Surkhet’s Bheri Hospital, Police and Army hospitals also have reared 105 beds for referral patients from the mountain districts. Seven severely injured have been medevaced to Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231104141120_28cea638ef250da3b6e4ddc7a3137c6db4b11650e419bc6d464c353e071b9811.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20231104141120_28cea638ef250da3b6e4ddc7a3137c6db4b11650e419bc6d464c353e071b9811" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1200" loading="lazy" alt="earthquake "> <figcaption>Seriously injured people have been taken to Bheri Hospital, Nepalganj.</figcaption> </figure>  According to Nepal police, as of Saturday evening105 people in Jajarkot, the epicentre of the earthquake and 52 in adjoining district of West Rukum have died, and 202 others are injured. Among the dead included Sarita Singh Thakuri, the Deputy Mayor of Nalgad Municipality, Jajarkot. Six districts in Karnali and Far West have been affected by the earthquake. This is the highest death toll since the 2015 earthquake which killed nearly 9,000 people. The Nepal Army has dispatched five helicopters and an aircraft for the rescue and relief operations.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231104141124_aa5b0d42f91e1d9d2a54af6c748bef7babe433bf312b56bd229c2de1c52c5956.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20231104141124_aa5b0d42f91e1d9d2a54af6c748bef7babe433bf312b56bd229c2de1c52c5956" data-rendition-name="original" width="1030" height="760" loading="lazy" alt="Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal"> <figcaption>Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal in Rukum.</figcaption> </figure>  Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal had visited Jajarkot district hospital this morning to meet survivors, and brought some of the severely injured with him in his Army helicopter to Surkhet. To ensure effective response, the Home Ministry has decided to entrust the District Disaster Management Committee the responsibility of streamlining rescue and relief through its Surkhet and Nepalganj hubs. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231104141124_e330974abe84edf98b39caf71b55efd42193ed7ae2abfa508679dafe146ccedf.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20231104141124_e330974abe84edf98b39caf71b55efd42193ed7ae2abfa508679dafe146ccedf" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1200" loading="lazy" alt="Earthquake"> <figcaption>Injured being taken to Nepalganj.</figcaption> </figure>  The government has also decided to send Rs50 million to the disaster management fund of Jajarkot and West Rukum from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority. Seismologists have long warned that a mega earthquake is due in western Nepal as there has not been one to release the tectonic pressure for over 600 years. But experts warn that the tremor on Friday may not have been enough to release the built-up tension.

Demographics of disaster in Nepal quake

<figure><img width="1366" height="630" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410118/637205d89c7e80680e0b28dbjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Jaglal Dagaura Tharu tends to his nursery in Kailali district.</figcaption></figure>After living most of his life as a bonded labourer, Jaglal Dagaura Tharu is building a home on a plot of land that he can finally call his own. Having started a successful nursery, the former landless family is now financially independent.Jaglal, 57, was born into a life of indentured servitude with his parents who were <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nothing-to-lose-but-their-chains/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">bonded labourers</a> at the house of a local zamindar landlord. This traditional system of modern-day slavery known as the kamaiya system was widespread in Nepal’s western plains until it was abolished twenty years ago.The young Jaglal grew up working all day long looking after the zamindar’s livestock at the edge of the forest. At age 12, he was ‘lent’ to a neighbour’s household to slave away for three years before returning to his original ‘owner’ Shyamlal Chaudhari.He got married, had a family of his own, but continued working for the landlord with four other brothers who were all also <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Modern-day-domestic-slaves-domestic-workers,3785" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">bonded labourers</a>. With no income or property of their own, they had no way of freeing themselves from a life of slavery.But in 1979, when the Nepal Punarvas Company started distributing land to landless squatters, Jaglal’s father filled in an application. Three years later, the family received a 0.3 hectare plot in Kailali. It was a start.“We made a small hut but we did not have enough to eat so I remained a <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19418#.YfeHIy2B3-Y" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">kamaiya</a> for a few more years,” says Jaglal but he had already started looking at how to put the land to the best use.In 2000, he joined the District Forest Office to work in its nursery with a salary of Rs1,500 a month. Two years later, he was contracted to set up a new nursery for the office. There, for every sapling, he used to get Rs2 and his monthly income rose to Rs25,000.For the next 13 years, he worked at the Kailali District Forest Office, sent his son to a school with his earnings and even bought a piece of land. Jalal gets four batches of seeds every year in his nursery and makes up to Rs150,000 selling the seedlings. In 2018, he bought a motorcycle with the money he made from selling the seeds. <figure><img width="1366" height="630" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410118/637205db9c7e80680e0b28dcjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“When you have your own land, you reap all the benefits of your labour too, the result of my hard work is mine alone unlike when you slave away at someone else’s farm,” says Jaglal, who has managed to send a son to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/europe-now-favoured-destination-for-nepalis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Romania for work</a>, and bought another plot where he is finally building a home of his own. In July 2000, the Nepal government abolished the kamaiya system and liberated some 32,500 bonded labourers from districts in the western plains including Dang, Banke, Bardia, Kailali and Kanchanpur. Many of the former bonded labourers now have land in their own name thanks to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/ground-reality-of-landlessness-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">state sponsored land distribution</a>. With better access to education and healthcare, their lifestyle has also improved. Ramkumari Chaudhari, 45, was also born into a bonded labourer family near Dhangadi. Her parents married her off when she was young to a man who was also forced into a life of indentured servitude. Ramkumari with her husband Sanjay managed to sharecrop on land from the zamindar for vegetable farming. But when the landowner saw their success, he nullified the agreement and decided to farm himself. “If you want to make something of yourself in this country and be independent, you need a land of your own,” says Ramkumari, and the couple has managed to buy a small plot for their farm with a government grant. What started as a small business with two pigs has now expanded into a large swine farm spread in 0.2 hectares of land which earns them Rs40,000 a month. Ramkumari also runs a profitable vegetable farm on the side so the pigs get to eat the excess vegetables and the farm benefits from fertiliser from the sty. “We just had a hut before, but now we have a nice house. We have also bought a tractor for our farm,” says Ramkumari. “We no longer face the kind of hardships and mistreatment we did when we were kamaiya, we work without a worry. And the best thing is that your hard work earns you money.” Ramkumari and Sanjay can now afford to send their two sons to college, but the fact that many other neighbourhood children have not been able to continue their study worries her. They risk falling back to leading a l<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/from-slave-to-entrepreneur/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ife of indentured servitude</a>, she points out. Radha Chaudhari, 36, of Dhangadi municipality is also getting ready to build her own house. Her husband Navaraj was a bonded labour from birth in Rajapur of Bardia and came to this town after being freed. <figure><img width="1366" height="630" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410118/637205df9c7e80680e0b28ddjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>But when the family did not receive any land, Navraj and Radha worked odd jobs to support their family. Navraj trained hard and is now a much sought-after mason.The government finally gave them a tiny plot of land near Dhangadi bazar, a prime location where they are planning to build their house and rent out the rest. “Our place is close to the market, which means better access to education, health facilities and jobs, we couldn’t be happier,” says Radha.In the two decades since they were freed, many <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Book-Review/Book-review-from-kamlari-to-lawmaker,690" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">former kamaiya</a> have found their feet. This is a success story of how former slaves have struggled to find independence, dignity and self-respect. But there are still some families who have fallen between the cracks.With the new federal system, the rehabilitation of kamaiyas was handed over to the local governments and many families found the paperwork too confusing and complicated and faced confusion and delays.There are 8,910 freed kamaiya families in the Kailali district, and most of them have been rehabilitated. But some 380 families are still waiting despite having an ID and land ownership documents.

Owning land gives former slaves self-respect

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109171144/636bd8e39c7e80680e0801e5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1333"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>It was bitterly cold up at 2,800m in a village in the mountains of western Nepal as a cold rain fell, and the forested ridges above were covered in snow.Chandu and Makar were waiting for the rain to stop, and night to fall. They are descendants of villagers whose profession was to hunt for game, and sell meat. It was seven days before the full moon, and perfect for night hunting because the moon was not so bright yet.They were going to be out in the wilderness for a week at a time, and had to carry food to last the trip. They also lugged two long barreled muskets, gunpowder, locally made ammunition, and a ramrod to load the rifles.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109171144/636bd8e79c7e80680e0801e6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1333"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109171144/636bd8ea9c7e80680e0801e7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1333"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Nepal’s royalty was known for its elaborate hunting trips in Chitwan and the Tarai jungles, where they bagged hundreds of tigers, rhinos, leopards, bears and even crocodiles at one go. It was more of a leisure activity, and an attempt to play hunting diplomacy with high profile British visitors in India.But for the past 50 years, hunting has been completely banned in Nepal – except for the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve where trophy hunting of Himalayan tahr or ghoral is allowed. The license costs a hefty sum, but there are enough people around the world who can afford to fly in private jets all the way to Kathmandu, charter helicopters out to Dhorpatan.Hunting used to be a legitimate profession in rural Nepal till recently, and unlike the royal hunts, there was no overkill. The country’s forests in those days were teeming with pheasants, small mammals and deer, and the culling was important to keep the animal population in balance.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109171144/636bd8ee9c7e80680e0801e8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1333"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109171144/636bd8f29c7e80680e0801e9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1333"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Chandu and Makar are descendants of these professional hunters, and they still cater to the demand for wild game in the districts, although they have to do it clandestinely now. Knowledge about hunting, prey habits, stalking skills have all been passed down from generation to generation.But this is a dying breed, and Chandu and Makar are among very few hunters who secretly still carry the tradition in their village (which we cannot name), and they could possibly be the last ones.That afternoon, the phone rang. It was Chandu’s father, and Chandu told him that since it was raining there was no point going up the mountains because of the rain and snow. His father told Chandu to stick to the plan, and the weather may actually favour animal sightings.“How can you even call yourself a hunter? When I was your age, we used to go hunt even in the snow. Don’t be a coward,” his father's loud voice could be heard on his son’s mobile.As soon as he hung up, Chandu told Makar to get ready, and that they were moving out then and there. That night they stayed in a house up the ridge from the village. They tested their guns, but one of the muskets was not shooting properly. Instead of firing once with one big bang, it went “chhyat-tadyang-ga”, as Chandu put it, imitating the sound it made.  Eventually the musket was repaired, and the barrel cleaned. It was better than before, but still the gunshot sounded off every once in a while.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109171144/636bd8f59c7e80680e0801eajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1333"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The journey from the hut started early next morning before the sunrise to avoid detection. It was still dark and the path to the mountain forest was long and difficult with their destination at an altitude above 3,000 m.It is said that hunters make their own way, and it is true. There was no path. The undergrowth was so dense that thorns scratched the faces and hands. They had to stoop to avoid the lower branches, and sometimes crawl on all fours. They went deeper and deeper into the forest, and the ridgeline came into view.They were trying to move quietly, and Chandu suddenly stopped and signaled Makar to keep quiet and remain still. Slowly, he took off his backpack and lay it on the ground. Swiftly yet quietly, he took aim with his musket and fired. The sound reverberated through the forest, and echoed from the crags.Chandu disappeared into the undergrowth in the direction of his shot. He reappeared a few moments later with a pheasant dangling from his hands. He closed his eyes, bowed his head and muttered a prayer for the life he had taken.They stopped in a clearing further up, unpacked their bags and started to prepare lunch. It started raining, and they had three more hours to walk to the Odar overhang which would be their base camp for the next four days.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109171144/636bd8f99c7e80680e0801ebjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1002"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The rain turned to sleet and then snow as they climbed higher. The trail was now ankle deep in fresh snow. As darkness fell, they reached the overhang, the only shelter from the snow and wind on this mountain.After settling down in the cave, the two hurried off to collect firewood as it was getting darker. This was not easy since the wood was all wet, but they came back carrying a dry log on their shoulders. This should burn all night and keep them warm.Night does not mean sleep for hunters. It is the time the nocturnal animals are out, and off the two went to stalk and find prey. They walked slowly not making a sound, but there no sign of any animals. Hungry and tired, they returned to the cave and started preparing dinner.It took a long time for the fire to get going, but they managed it and melted some snow for water. Still the meal of rice and lentil took three hours because of the cold, and the altitude. The rice tasted a bit raw.It was a bitterly cold night. Chandu and Makar snuggled for warmth under a single sleeping bag beside the fire. They took turns to add wood to keep the fire burning throughout the night. By morning, there was no firewood left, and this was just the first of four nights.Chandu had given Makar strict instructions not to speak in the jungle unless absolutely necessary. They would whisper, or whistle instead and remain as quiet as possible. They saw some deer and impeyan pheasants, but they were too far to shoot accurately. The old muskets did not have the range.Chandu crouched towards his prey, hiding behind the thick undergrowth, to get closer. But no luck. The animals would either take flight, or simply disappear. He went into the surrounding forest several times a day, even at night with a torchlight pointing up at the branches, but always came back empty-handed. Hunting is like that, it is a matter of skill, training, patience, and lots of luck.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109171144/636bd8fe9c7e80680e0801ecjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1333"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109171144/636bd9029c7e80680e0801edjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1333"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109171144/636bd9069c7e80680e0801eejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1333"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Chandu was getting worried that his luck had run out. He has been coming to these forests with his father ever since he was a child, and knows all the nooks where the animals like to hide. But even then there were days when they had to return empty-handed.After five days in the jungle, they headed down to the village with just a pheasant to show for their effort. Makar was looking forward to going back to home food, and a warm bed. Chandu could not hide his disappointment because this was the first time he was returning empty handed. They returned exactly the way they had left, slipping into the village without anyone noticing the muskets they were carrying.This photo story was made during the International Storytelling Workshop 2020, hosted by photo.circle (Nepal) in collaboration with Oslo Metropolitan University (Norway), Pathshala South Asian Media Academy (Bangladesh), and VII Academy (USA).

Carrying on the hunting legacy in Nepal

<figure><img width="800" height="400" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141112/636ba7939c7e80680e07378fjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>File photo: RADIO NEPAL</figcaption></figure>A massive thunderbolt in Nepal’s remote Jumla district on Sunday killed at least 500 sheep grazing in pastures high in the mountains, according to belated reports from the remote mountain region of northwestern Nepal.
The lightning struck during a monsoon storm on 23 August in Masimarema grazing land of Patrasi Rural Municipality and the sheep belonged to Bishnu Buda and Jaya Bahadur Buda of the Bagjalem Community Forest.
Because of the remoteness of the area, villagers have not been able to reach the site yet, said Ward Chair Kali Bahadur Rawat. The high pasture is the traditional grazing ground for the region’s livestock and dairy farmers during the monsoon months. 
Jumla’s chief district administrator Tek Bahadur Budathapa said the lightning strike was a major blow to the villagers of Patrasi whose main source of income is their livestock, and the sheep were being readied for sale during the Dasain festival in October. 
“The farmers were already hit by the economic crisis caused by the lockdown, and now this has happened, it is going to be difficult for them to survive and the government will do what it can to provide rehabilitation,” Budathapa said. 
This is the second worst disaster to hit the district’s animal husbandry in recent years. In 2013, more than 700 sheep were killed in winter blizzards.
With nearly <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/lightning-kills-more-people-than-floods-in-nepal/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/lightning-kills-more-people-than-floods-in-nepal/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1598442050550000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHl9gBpLKCjqD-TMmGcoHGyqCoONA">900 human fatalities in the past ten years</a>, lightning accounts for the highest number of deaths in natural disasters – second only to the 2015 earthquake. Nepal in fact tops the list of countries with the most lightning fatalities per unit area. More people die every year in <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-if-it-roars-go-indoors,529" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-if-it-roars-go-indoors,529&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1598442050550000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFFX7COUVh1LjHmebdOJbW-vcv5xA">electric storms</a> in Nepal than in the whole of North America, according to statistics. 
Every year, an average of 100 people are killed by thunderbolts, and meteorologists say freak electrical storms are also occurring during unusual times, such as early mornings. Studies have linked the increase in intensity and frequency of thunderstorms to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/the-new-normal-2/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/the-new-normal-2/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1598442050550000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE0AK7Jt2l1xAZ_LEvl9VmY4YUxtw">climate change</a>.    
Nepal is also the most densely populated mountainous country in the world, and lighting in the mountains are also deadlier because the flashes have to travel less distance. Within Nepal, Makwanpur district south of Kathmandu has the highest death rate from lightning strike with 70 deaths in the past seven years. In the same period, Jumla only had three fatalities from lightning. 
Update: District authorities at the Livestock Support Department said on Tuesday that 217 sheep were killed.

Lightning kills 500 sheep in western Nepal

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121112/636b8b0b9c7e80680e06b278jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="854" height="641"/><figcaption>A doctor in Hima Village Council in Jamla collects swab of a patient on Tuesday. Photo: DHIRAJ GURUNG</figcaption></figure>After being in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/unto-the-third-week-of-nepal-lockdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lockdown now for nearly three weeks</a>, Nepal has started testing vulnerable groups in high-risk areas, but so far there have been no new COVID-19 positive cases. The numbers still stand at nine cases, one recovered and no fatalities.The government is focussing its tests on <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/returnees-may-be-taking-coronavirus-to-rural-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">western Nepal</a> and tarai districts where there have been returning migrant workers from India. Although the border is <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-and-india-stop-nationals-in-each-others-countries/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">supposed to be closed</a> it is still possible for people to slip through.So far 3,524 tests have been conducted all over the country. 630 new tests (samples mostly from Kathmandu Valley) conducted in the last 24 hours did not show any positive case. Of the rapid diagnostic results conducted in Kailali, Kanchanpur, Kavilvastu and Baglung districts this week, 516 have come out negative.However, over 800 samples collected from <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/western-nepal-potential-covid-19-outbreak/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">western Nepal</a> have yet to be tested at the National Public Health Laboratory in Kathmandu and public health experts are expecting the number of positive cases to climb over the weekend.At least 120,000 Nepali workers have returned from India without screening before both countries went into lockdown, and people from western region make up the highest number of returnees.“We have to assume there are more cases out there, especially in hotspots along the Indian border, and even in remote areas where migrants have moved back. Local communities and ward committees there are strictly monitoring residents for symptoms,” says Sameer Dixit, researcher at the Centre for Molecular Dynamics in Kathmandu.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/western-nepal-potential-covid-19-outbreak/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Western Nepal potential COVID-19 outbreak</a>In Jumla, medical officers are on standby for a rise in the number of positive cases, as local officials move house-to-house to check if any new arrival has a fever. Families in quarantine and deemed to be at higher risk have been tested even if they do not show symptoms.“Many of those tested had recently come back from the most affected parts in India and we already have a case of local transmission in the country, so there may be some positives there,” said Dhiraj Gurung of Karnali Academy of Health Sciences (KAHS).<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121112/636b8b0e9c7e80680e06b279jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3088" height="2056"><figcaption>A Nepal Army helicopter at Bayalpata Hospital in Achham district in western Nepal on Tuesday from where it collected 51 swab samples for COVID-19 tests. Photo: BIKASH GAUCHAN</figcaption></figure>Over 1,300 samples have been collected over the last two days from from Jumla, Achham, Baitadi and Dadeldhura districts in western Nepal. Some 324 oral and nasopharyngeal swab samples from three different locations in Jumla were collected on 7 April: 150 at Chandanath airport, 124 from Hima Village Council and 50 from Kanaka Sundari in Sinja.Another 232 samples were collected from Achham district, 199 from Dadeldhura and 425 from Baitadi. Recent returnees from India, their immediate family members and those in quarantine were prioritised for the rapid diagnostic tests. Samples were flown in Nepal Army helicopters to Nepalganj, from where collected samples are taken every evening by military plane to Kathmandu for testing.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/returnees-may-be-taking-coronavirus-to-rural-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Returnees maybe taking coronavirus to rural Nepal</a>, Mukesh Pokhrel and Sonia AwaleInitially, hospitals in western Nepal had collected only a handful of samples because there were not enough Viral Transport Medium (an equipment to transport the samples to the lab). Mass testing is now being carried out with 11 laboratories across the Nepal set up for Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).The PCR amplifies tiny bits of genetic material in the sample, enabling the detection of the virus. But there has been significant number of false positive and negative test results since the outbreak.Rapid diagnostic test kits have been controversial because of their reported unreliability in Europe, but health experts here say they have 86%, and those testing positive will be tested again with PCR. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-to-test-covid-19-test-kits-from-china/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Chinese kits</a> are being used in Kailali, Kanchanpur, Baglung, Myagdi and Parbat districts for people in quarantine. The government has some 75,000 rapid test kits, and has dispatched 5,000 to each each of the seven provinces.In Jumla, KAHS has over 47 staff and 100 nurses on call and 10 adult ICU beds have been added in anticipation of new cases. In Achham, the district hospital has been designated as a COVID-19 only hospital. Province 5 is trying to procure 20 ventilators. But despite preparedness, hospital staff say the region’s rudimentary healthcare system will be overwhelmed if there is a COVID-19 outbreak. The Health Ministry is therefore mobilising medical students on scholarship programs and retired medics to assist to fight COVID-19.“We do not know the exact number of people who have returned from India and even less about how many of them have symptoms, and where they are. We have to continue to work in prevention and control as well as increase mass testing,” explains Bikash Gauchan of Bayalpata Hospital in Achham which has set up a fever clinic and a separate ward.Four months into the pandemic, Nepal has been largely spared with only handful cases and only one community transmission. Public health experts are puzzled by this, and say possible theories like <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/western-nepal-potential-covid-19-outbreak/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BCG vaccine immunity</a> warrant further investigation.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/could-an-anti-tb-vaccine-be-protecting-nepalis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Could an anti-Tb vaccine be protecting Nepalis?</a>, Prabhas PokharelThe main worry is the continued spread in India where there were 30 new COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking the total to 199. The case load in India have been rising at 567 per day.“There are sure to be more imported cases. But where are they? There is no severity, and only one community transmitted case. So something is going on,” says Sameer Dixit.Dhiraj Gurung who was involved in the Jumla testing said a larger than expected number turned up for the test, which may mean there are hidden cases. “But when we asked people to come for quarantine, very few showed up. This could mean there are individuals with mild symptoms, but there are not coming forward for fear of being ostracised.”The government has extended the nationwide lockdown till 15 April because it does not want families to gather for Nepal’s New Year Day on Monday. Experts say partial lockdowns will continue in areas at higher risk, and international flights may have to be suspended for another two weeks after 30 April.Says Sher Bahadur Pun at the country’s infectious disease centre in Kathmandu: “We are already in the second stage of COVID-19 transmission and the next stage will be serious. We cannot be complacent, and our only chance of containing it is to stop hidden cases from infecting others with an even stricter lockdown.”

Nepal extends COVID-19 testing but no new cases

<figure><img width="1500" height="1125" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110912118/636b8ab19c7e80680e06b255jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Sodasha Higher Secondary School in western Nepal is undergoing retrofitting as an earthquake preparedness model for future quakes in the region. Photo: NSET</figcaption></figure>With the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/western-nepal-potential-covid-19-outbreak/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">detection of three new COVID-19 cases</a> in Kailali district on Saturday, one of them the country’s first case of community transmission, western Nepal could be the epicentre for two disasters: a coronavirus hot spot, and a ticking time bomb for a mega-earthquake.This is not scare-mongering. Public health experts say western Nepal’s rudimentary healthcare system will be overwhelmed by a possible COVID-19 outbreak because at least 120,000 Nepali workers have returned from India without screening before both countries went into lockdown.   The government is extending rapid diagnostic testing to hospitals in Nepalganj, Dhangadi, Surkhet and Dadeldhura and there may be a surge in positive cases in the days ahead.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/returnees-may-be-taking-coronavirus-to-rural-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Returnees maybe taking coronavirus to rural Nepal</a>, Mukesh Pokhrel and Sonia Awale<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/rebuilding-five-years-after-2015-quake/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rebuilding five years after 2015 quake</a>, Alisha SijapatiHowever, there is another Damocle’s Sword that has been hanging over the region even before novel coronavirus – the likelihood of a catastrophic mega-earthquake. As Nepal marks the fifth anniversary of its 2015 earthquake, seismologists have warned that an even bigger megaquake is not a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110912118/636b8ab39c7e80680e06b256jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="252" height="128">The region between Pokhara and Nepal’s western border with India has not had a major earthquake since 1505 when an estimated 8.9M temblor killed one third of Kathmandu Valley’s population including the king, devastated north India, and created the debris fan from a cataclysmic flood on which Pokhara city is situated today.Speaking with Nepali Times, seismologist <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/aint-seen-nothing-yet/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Roger Bilham warned</a> five years ago that the 2015 was not the Big One. He said the seismic gap in western Nepal had accumulated tremendous tectonic energy that had not been released for 500 years, and an earthquake was long overdue.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/past-disasters-foretold/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Past disasters foretold</a>, Om Astha Rai<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/aint-seen-nothing-yet/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ain't seen nothing yet</a>, Editorial“There’s a plenty of stress stored for an earthquake above 8 magnitude in western Nepal, and it could kill at least 100,000 people in Nepal alone,” says Surya Narayan Shrestha of the National Society for Earthquake Technology (NSET). “But despite being the most at risk, western Nepal is less prepared and has relatively low awareness about earthquake safety, and this doubles its vulnerability.”In two weeks, Nepal will mark the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/rebuilding-five-years-after-2015-quake/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fifth anniversary of the 25 April 2015 earthquake</a> yet neither the government nor the people seem to have learnt the lesson. Western Nepal, in particular, is ill-equipped to handle another major earthquake. <img width="640" height="480" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110912118/636b8ab49c7e80680e06b257jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figure><img width="640" height="360" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110912118/636b8ab79c7e80680e06b258jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>A major earthquake of greater than An 8M quake in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/past-disasters-foretold/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">western Nepal</a> would be felt even more strongly in Kathmandu Valley than the 7.8M disaster five years ago. Still, disaster preparedness experts say attention should now turn from the 14 districts in Central Nepal affected in 2015 to western Nepal.Before the COVID-19 lockdown, Nepal had begun to retrofit 2,200 classrooms in around 200 schools in four western districts Bardia, Surkhet, Jumla and Achham to be completed in four years with funding support of DFID UKAID under the Nepal Safer Schools Project (NSSP). NSSP is being implemented by a consortium led by Crown Agents together with NSET, Save the Children and Arup International and is aligned with and contribute to the Government of Nepal’s School Sector Development Plan (2016-2023) which includes a focus on School Safety and Disaster Risk Reduction. Prior to 2015, NSET had similarly retrofitted around 300 schools in Kathmandu Valley and surrounding areas which survived the earthquake and served as emergency shelters. However, <a style="letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/earthquake-an-opportunity-to-rebuilt-education-system-not-just-fallen-schools,2336" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nearly 8,000 schools were completely destroyed</a> in 2015, and colossal loss of lives was averted only because the earthquake struck on a Saturday.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/quake-was-a-learning-experience-for-nepals-schools/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Quake was a learning experience for Nepal's schools</a>, Prakriti Kandel“We selected the schools in western based on vulnerability, potential for replication, availability of masons and enthusiasm of the school management committee,” adds Shrestha. “Next step is to scale this up and this means more investment, technical support and massive mobilisation of human resources.”Hospitals in western Nepal at the moment are all on red alert for a possible outbreak of COVID-19 in the region and healthcare workers are keenly aware of shortages of live-saving medical equipment such as test kits, ventilators, ICU beds, oxygen and personal protective gear. In an event of a major earthquake, this situation will be even worse because the hospital buildings themselves may be damaged.Three components within a healthcare facility determine if a hospital will be functional during an earthquake: seismic resistance of the building, state of power supply and medical equipment, and an emergency preparedness system with health workers trained for mass casualties.Dadeldhura hospital has been identified as a disaster management hub in Far West Nepal with satellite facilities in other district hospitals.“For the kind of earthquake projected here, none of us is prepared, western Nepal the least of all. We might have big hospitals in city centres but can the buildings withstand the quake is the real question,” says Bikash Gauchan of Bayalpata hospital in Achham.Few weeks before the earthquake struck in 2015, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/this-is-how-to-upgrade-nepals-rural-health/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bayalpata hospital had undergone reconstruction</a> to turn the institution into an eco-friendly, earthquake resistant facility. A disaster management protocol was also drawn up for triage in its emergency, as well as in and out patient buildings.Gauchan says hospitals in the Far West have to be prepared for multiple disasters: “We can’t overhaul our system every time a disaster strikes, be it the coronavirus or an earthquake. We need a standard operating protocol based on concrete national guidelines.”Back in 2003, Nepal government in collaboration with WHO had conduced earthquake vulnerability assessment of 15 major hospitals across the country that recommended they all be retrofitted. More than 15 years later, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/preparedness-saves-lives,2264" target="_blank" rel="noopener">except from minor strengthening of health clinics</a>, nothing has been done.Hope now rests on the newly formed National Risk Reduction and Disaster Management Authority (DMA) which will replace the National Reconstruction Authority set up after 2015. Experts hope the focus will now shift to strengthening infrastructure of public buildings, transmission lines, telecommunication, sewage and water supply.Says Surya Narayan Shrestha at NSET: “We spent the last fives years mostly in the reconstruction of residential building and heritage sites in Central Nepal. Our priority now is on reinforcing infrastructure and ensuring essential services are better equipped to survive the next big one.” <h2>Preparing to be prepared</h2> <img width="1754" height="1146" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110912118/636b8aba9c7e80680e06b259jpeg.jpg" alt="">Nepal was just beginning preparations for risk reduction and management of disasters like earthquakes, floods, landslides and epidemics when the 2015 earthquake struck. This year, the Disaster Management Authority (DMA) has been formed which has listed 22 different kinds of disasters Nepalis are exposed to.The winter of 2017 saw 48 fatalities in a cold wave in the Tarai. Two years later, no one died in a similar cold wave. The Home Ministry’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Working Committee is credited with such pre-preparedness for blizzards, cold and heat waves, and monsoon floods.An average of 700 people die every year in Nepal due to disasters, most of these are weather related. The climate crisis is exacerbating extreme rainfall events, and the ministry has drawn up a Monsoon Emergency Workplan to address increased frequency and intensity fo floods.“We have to be prepared, and preparation is most effective when it is at the local level since they are the first responders,” says Anil Pokhrel of the DMA. With the help of the British aid agency DfID and the world Food Programme (WFP) the government is setting up Humanitarian Staging Areas in all seven provinces for stockpiling food and relief material for disasters. The central station was in operation at Kathmandu airport during the 2015 earthquake.New staging areas  in Dhangadi and Nepalganj were inaugurated by British Ambassador Nicola Pollitt and WFP’s Pippa Bradford recently (pictured above). Western Nepal is important because of the special seismic risk there. Each staging area can address the emergency needs of up to 70,000 people at a time. The staging areas house tents,  health and sanitation kits, water purifying equipment, fuel storage, satellite phones, search and rescue equipment and pre-positioned water supply.Proximity to the airport allows the relief material to be helicoptered out to the affected areas, and also to be resupplied from Kathmandu, quickly.Laxmi Basnet in Dhangadi

Sonia Awale

Epicentre of two disasters in West Nepal

<figure><img width="765" height="437" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110912118/636b8a149c7e80680e06b21fjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Nepalis returninghome from India. Photo: DINESH KHABAR</figcaption></figure>The detection of three new cases of coronavirus in Dhangadi on Sunday has led public health experts to urge more widespread testing and stricter quarantine for people returning from India to their homes in western Nepal.Nepal closed its border with India nearly two weeks ago leaving thousands of Nepali workers stranded on the Indian side, as both countries went into <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-covid-19-lockdown-extended-till-7-april/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-covid-19-lockdown-extended-till-7-april/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1586092619999000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEtgqzv2nOyVF9gAhSRqdZVGELQ7g">lockdown</a>. However, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/returnees-may-be-taking-coronavirus-to-rural-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/returnees-may-be-taking-coronavirus-to-rural-nepal/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1586092619999000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGsarZsMXGEz_I960Sf7g8JcCLNCA">many thousands of others returned to their villages</a> through the porous border.The three new patients bring the total of infected people in Nepal to 9, although an earlier patient recovered. Two of the new detections were men aged 21 and 41 who had recently returned from India.The third person is a 34-year-old female relative of a man who had flown in from Dubai two weeks ago, and travelled from Kathmandu to Kailali in western Nepal. She is the first community transmission case detected in Nepal, all other eight patients had come to Nepal from Europe, China or India. A Cabinet meeting on Saturday decided to conduct rapid diagnostic testing in the three districts where new cases have been found: Kailali, Kanchanpur and Baglung. “We are going in for mass-testing in the three districts through contact tracing and of all individuals suspected of being infected,” government spokesman and Finance and Information Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada told a press briefing.The Cabinet also decided to ban with immediate effect all inter-provincial travel, and people going from one district and local government unit to another. It also decided to enforce more strictly the lockdown.Public health experts had said in-country infections were inevitable, and they are actually surprised that it has taken so long for it to appear. One reason could be that Nepal has only now <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/lockdown-fallout/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/lockdown-fallout/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1586092619999000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH4DjzpJtVpEA9KKKNs2GWuB7lMaQ">expanded its testing</a> to places beyond Kathmandu. This would mean that the country’s case load which had so far been relatively low compared to neighbouring South Asian countries, will go up in the coming week.They expect western Nepal to be a hot spot for a possible future spread of the virus because of the large number of Nepali workers returning home without screening from India after the lockdown there. <a href="https://corona.health-check.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://corona.health-check.in&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1586092619999000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEtn78BJWNgE4E-ky3rY7dZSbyWJw">India reported 355 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday</a>, pushing the total to 2,902, and there have been 68 fatalities so far with 184 patients have been discharged after treatment. Of the four Indian states bordering Nepal, the most populous Uttar Pradesh has 174 official infections and has recorded two deaths, while Bihar has 29 cases and one death. Uttarakhand, from where one of the cases detected in Nepal on Sunday came from, has 16 cases.Police records in Darchula show that 128,022 people entered Nepal before the border was sealed. Many of those trapped on the Indian side have been swimming across the Mahakali river, or using tyre tubes to float over to the Nepali side. The India-Nepal border is mostly open and porous, and even at official checkpoints health desks are only equipped with thermometers. The mountainous districts of western Nepal are considered to be the most vulnerable because every family has at least one worker in India who has now returned.“If anyone is infected here, it is going to be a disaster. All we have are thermometers,” says Padam Giri, mayor of the Budhinanda municipality in Bajura, one of the remotest districts in northwestern Nepal. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/poverty-the-real-pandemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/poverty-the-real-pandemic/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1586092619999000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFoWz2zCWh8hg2ryY6zMKdGEFhMlw">Bikash Gauchan at the Bayalpata Hospital</a> in Accham district says many thousands of Nepalis have returned to western Nepal from Maharastra, Delhi and Bihar, which are the hardest-hit COVID-19 states in India. He adds: “We have a few ventilators in the entire western Nepal, and a limited stock of oxygen. We will not be able to do anything if the situation is to turn for worse.”

Western Nepal potential COVID-19 outbreak

https://youtu.be/W4CZxpM1mrITen years after the government finally abolished bonded debt labour, tens of thousands of Haliyas in western Nepal continue to suffer from this form of modern-day slavery.A person became a Haliya if the family could not pay back money borrowed from loan sharks at exorbitant interest rates. They were forced to work for free to pay back the debt, but many spent their whole lives in slavery because the interest kept piling up. The loan was then passed down to the next generation.Even though the practice is now banned, activists say that there are about 25,000 still working as bonded labourers in some of the most remote and underserved districts of western Nepal.Parmaram Tiruwa of Tirgaun of Baitadi was not on the list of about 17,000 Haliya who were ‘freed’, and today makes a living breaking stones by the roadside and working for his employer for a minimum wage.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171120/636930529c7e80680e03c0f1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="933"/><figcaption>Janaki and Parmaram Tiruwa of Tirgaun, Baitadi, still make their living through bonded labour. Photos: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>“There was serious under-counting while identifying Haliya, and since the government only counts those with official IDs, there has to be another data collection drive urgently,” says Rajuram Bhul, former president of Federation of National Haliya Liberation Societies. The government admits there may have been omissions, but is not inclined to do anything about it for now. “There may be people missing in our list but we are first resettling those identified as Haliya in the first phase. We do not want to take both processes forward simultaneously,” says Gopal Giri who heads the Settlement Management Department in Kathmandu.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-fake-poor/">Nepal's fake poor</a>, Nimendra Shahi in Baitadi<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=14182#.W9KyHXszbIV">Slave labour</a>, Madhav Dhungel<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171120/636930559c7e80680e03c0f2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>But even those identified as Haliya in the first count are not happy with their resettlement packages to build homes. Half of them are still waiting for compensation. The government has set the unrealistic target of resettling all remaining Haliya by the end of this fiscal year, but few are convinced.Those who got compensation packages of Rs150,000-500,000 say the amount was insufficient to get them started in life. Ram Bahadur Parki of Dadeldhura is well known because he was the first Haliya to be freed 10 years ago.“It is good to have my own place to live in, but with the money the government gave, I could only afford this barren land,” lamented Parki, who is luckier than most because he has a salaried job with the Federation.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171120/636930589c7e80680e03c0f3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The government says it is concentrating on providing land, not livelihoods for freed Haliya, but this threatens their health, education, employment and very survival. Matadevi Damai of Dipayal received seeds, hen, sewing machine and tailoring training from various charities, but life is still a struggle.Sabitri Bhul in Sanfebagar of Achham has two sons, one of whom sends money home from India, while another studied to be an agriculture technician, but is jobless. She asks: “What is the use of education, if nobody trusts us?”Then there are reports of some Haliya lapsing back into debt slavery, and going back to work for their old masters out of sheer desperation.“Much progress has been made in the past ten years but it is very slow, and one reason could be because they are Dalit,” says Hari Shreepaili, former CA member and coordinator of the Committee on Haliya Rehabilitation. “Indeed, up to 94% of Haliya are Dalit, and caste discrimination adds another layer of injustice to their lives. Back in Baitadi, Basanti Tiruwa automatically splashes her feet and drinks water from a tap set aside for Dalits, and does not touch a tap meant for the ‘upper’ castes.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171120/6369305c9c7e80680e03c0f4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>In this village, there have always been two springs: one for the Dalits and one for the others. "Even today we are not allowed to touch the other water source,” Tiruwa explains.Among Tirgaun’s 20 families, only one person has passed Grade 10. Most make a living through wage labour, and the village suffers from water scarcity. Tea shops in the bazar still do not buy their milk, victims of rape are overwhelmingly Dalit and the perpetrators from outside the community. The town has always had two temples: both called Jagannath, and even the temple of the Dalits looks dilapidated.Says Dalit rights activist Karan Dayal: “We should evaluate the resettlement packages already handed out, and the next phase of identifying the remaining Haliya needs to start immediately.”Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=14182#.W9F7GHszbIU">Slave labour</a><a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/guest-editorial/leapfrogging-poverty-in-Nepal-guest-editorial,960">Leapfrogging poverty</a>, Vidyadhar Mallik<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171120/636930609c7e80680e03c0f5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171120/636930639c7e80680e03c0f6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">The two Jagannath temples of Gothalapani, Baitadi. Dalits cannot go to the big Jagannath temple (left), while their own small temple looks more dilapidated.

Nothing to lose but their chains

https://youtu.be/4adGA4P0k54The buses to <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2013/06/17/distress-call-from-darchula/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Darchula</a>, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=10816#.W5EAds4zbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Baitadi</a>, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16115#.W5D_Ss4zbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Doti </a>or <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2013/03/13/not-so-far-west/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dadelhura </a>were all packed last week for the annual Gaura Festival of womanhood, celebrated in Western Nepal, and wherever people from the west of Nepal live.Across the districts of Far Western Nepal, towns are deserted and villages are abuzz with women engaged in weeklong fasting, feasting and revelry. This religious festival has deep agrarian roots, and celebrates the closes ties women have to the land and their crops.Saraswati Bhatta is shaping an image of the Goddess Gaura from rice stalks and decorating it like a bride with a red dress and jewelry. The doll god is then treated like a woman visiting her maternal home for her family’s pampering.Gaura is another name for Gauri, Shiva’s consort. Unlike Tij, which is marked on 14 September in the rest of Nepal, the Gaura Festival is more ritualistic with women soaking grains, fasting and then eating the sprouts. Unlike Tij, on the main day the men fast too until their wives’ puja ends.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107161116/6369215f9c7e80680e03a0cajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>A woman throws down her walking stick to join hands with other women and sing along. All pics: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>But like Tij, Gaura is essentially a festival of, by and for women. Gaura songs are performed at predetermined times encapsulating the lifestyle and values of the entire community here in the remote mountains of western Nepal. The songs are about the courtship of Gaura and Maheswor (Siva and Parvati for easterners), a woman’s experience of childbirth, and many other social events.The lyrics outline social customs like the dates of festivals, and behaviour expected from men and women. Some songs describe which food is found in what season, and even where to find water. The festival serves as an elaborate information and communication system set in song long before mass media served that purpose. The songs instill a knowledge of roles, values, and social mores, and help people feel rooted in the community.The Gaura platform still gives women in a society steeped in patriarchy a rare chance to voice their perspective and provide valuable insight into women’s lives and thoughts. On the fourth day of the festival, women dance with the image of Gaura and send her off to her husband’s home, singing songs of bereavement.However, the Gaura Festival, like Tij, while allowing women to let off steam hand serve an emancipating role, also establishes the gender status quo, instructing women them about their place in society.Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18795#.W5EfLM4zbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Songs of our past</a>, Amar Gurung<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107161116/636921629c7e80680e03a0cbjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="960"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The festival is followed by popular mela, and people from all over the region congregate here in Malikarjun of Darchula situated amidst lush mountains above the clouds. Food stalls and shops line the site, damaha players strike drum beats rousing people with deeply devotional music. The strong feeling of community is enhanced by women in traditional clothes and jewelry who do slow walk-dances while singing in circles for hours.“Both men and women sing songs of local histories and epic poems, and express their feelings spontaneously, this might seem like just entertainment, but it is also a way of preserving and passing down our history,” says Mohan Dhami, an expert of local culture.Despite its continuing popularity, the significance of Gaura in communicating the spirit of community is losing out to modern lifestyles with mobility and mass communication. However, it still carries a strong sense of identity for the people of Western Nepal wherever they may live.Read also: <a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16252#.W5Eeys4zbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Re-inventing Tij</a>, Mallika Aryal<a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em; font-size: 15px;" href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/songs-of-rebellion,3249" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Songs of rebellion</a>, Smriti Basnet<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107161116/636921659c7e80680e03a0ccjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107161116/636921689c7e80680e03a0cdjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107161116/6369216c9c7e80680e03a0cejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107161116/6369216e9c7e80680e03a0cfjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107161116/636921729c7e80680e03a0d0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1010"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107161116/636921759c7e80680e03a0d1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107161116/636921789c7e80680e03a0d2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3000" height="2000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107161116/6369217c9c7e80680e03a0d3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3000" height="2000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>

Fasting, feasting and festivities of Gaura

Born in Khandbari in eastern Nepal, Parashuram Pathak helped his family around the farm, sold what they grew in the market and lent a hand in the kitchen.&nbsp; After working as a chef in Dubai, San Francisco, Denmark, Australia, and on cruise ships, Pathak has now brought back what he has learnt to the Tusa Restaurant in Bhaktapur that opened on Nepali New Year on 13 April. Tusa uses fresh indigenous ingredients from various parts of Nepal, and fuses them with international methods to produce unique dishes. Pathak is a global Nepali, and is introducing global Nepali cuisine to his homeland. Pathak left an executive chef job to intern at three-Michelin-starred Noma in Denmark, named the best restaurant in the world five times. Noma runs on a philosophy of foraging to rediscover wild local ingredients, and Tusa’s mission is similarly noble: preparing dishes with Nepali ingredients using modern techniques and equipment. “We are taking Nepali food beyond dal-bhat and momo, we are taking it international,” Pathak said on the phone from Sydney. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepali-baker-rises-to-the-top-in-denmark">Denmark’s best baker is a Nepali</a>, Vishad Onta  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240419180424_1312bc016cbb2fe59c6d4a78d1f8b463af4a10b3f79559a2405fd54ea5b3197a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20240419180424_1312bc016cbb2fe59c6d4a78d1f8b463af4a10b3f79559a2405fd54ea5b3197a" data-rendition-name="original" width="801" height="802" loading="lazy" alt="The return of the natives Page 12 NT #1208"> <figcaption>Photo: PARASHURAM PATHAK/FACEBOOK</figcaption> </figure>  Pathak’s team in Nepal includes chefs Rupesh Bohara and Sagar Shrestha who have also worked extensively in Dubai and Australia, and share his vision. The three realised they shared the same dream, and over the past five years have travelled across Nepal to research their menu, collecting ingredients and ideas from homestays, food carts, and nature. The team then scouted for Nepal’s best architect, and zeroed in on Bhaktapur-based heritage conservationist Rabindra Puri who designed the Malla-era house for Tusa in the Nag Pokhari neighbourhood. Bohara and Shrestha have moved back to Nepal for good, and Pathak arrives in September. “I made dishes from all over the world, but when someone asked what Nepali food was like, I had no answer,” says Bohara, “I came back to find out.” &nbsp;“You can get citizenship, a green card, big houses and cars, but where is the self-satisfaction?” asks Shrestha, who has a red-and-blue chef’s knife with the sun and moon of the Nepali flag tattooed on his right forearm.&nbsp; Read also:<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/diaspora-diaries/the-return-of-a-master-baker"> The return of a master baker</a>, Raju Pakhrin  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240419180424_c601264463e5a28d4e71a46781f340a53619a08d00949a7aaebfef84e75a319d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240419180424_c601264463e5a28d4e71a46781f340a53619a08d00949a7aaebfef84e75a319d" data-rendition-name="original" width="6000" height="4000" loading="lazy" alt="The return of the natives Page 12 NT #1208"> <figcaption>Photos: TUSA</figcaption> </figure>  Bohara and Shrestha passionately recount stories of their trips across Nepal, speaking of generous lodge owners who introduced them to local ingredients. Tusa can seat 28, and dining here is a sensory experience with a live kitchen. The chefs cook and place dishes on a large granite countertop with induction sections built in. Behind the counter is a grill on an indoor fire with pulley control to adjust the fire. Everything that can be made in Nepal — chairs and tables, ceramic dishes, the grill — is locally sourced. The executive kitchen/laboratory is downstairs. It is spacious, spotless, and contains appliances rarely seen in restaurants here: a sous vide machine that cooks vacuum-sealed packets at consistent temperatures, and a dehydrator for sisnu nettles. A fresh batch of deep purple kimbu (mulberry) muffins has just come out of the oven. Fridges have dry-aged fish and marigold kombucha. Fermentation seems to be the theme at Tusa, and Pathak explained: “Fermentation takes away the natural sugars in food, leaving behind a true, umami taste.”&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/vikings-khukri-passion">Viking's khukri passion</a>, Alisha Sijapati  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240419180424_c59e2b4230864f646bc36108adb951e95ec85da6156740294b1ec715b86acf89.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20240419180424_c59e2b4230864f646bc36108adb951e95ec85da6156740294b1ec715b86acf89" data-rendition-name="original" width="5895" height="3930" loading="lazy" alt="The return of the natives Page 12 NT #1208"> </figure>  Tusa itself means ‘shoot’ in Nepali, and can be a dish of fermented bamboo shoots. The restaurant serves a tasting menu with six courses, plus surprises. It starts with a fermented potato and millet roti with charred green garlic and tomato chutney. The bread tastes like a mix of alu paratha and kodoko roti with a satisfying, mild flavour. The chefs do not show off, and overdo it. Dishes are tastefully simple and faithful, a theme that runs through the meal. The second course is a filet of fish charred on one side and placed in a broth. It is delicate and smokey, and does not mask the character of the fish.&nbsp; The next is Batuk Chukauni, a Magar dish with a lentil snack and a yoghurt-based potato achar. The batuk, made of lentil batter, is light and the chukauni has potatoes and peas. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/money-is-not-everything-but-you-need-money-for-everything">"Money is not everything, but you need money for everything"</a>, Rohit Shrestha  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240419180424_e3f51228ff792e8d4297f81f8e67d138584e922ae035d131977494219e5e85c5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20240419180424_e3f51228ff792e8d4297f81f8e67d138584e922ae035d131977494219e5e85c5" data-rendition-name="original" width="1333" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="The return of the natives Page 12 NT #1208"> <figcaption>Batuk Chukauni. Photo: VISHAD ONTA</figcaption> </figure>  Next is a skewer of jackfruit with a tamarind and mustard glaze that has the texture of a slice of sausage and melts in the mouth. Then comes the first off-menu item: a steak of watermelon, glazed and grilled, tasting sweet, sour and smokey. After that a palate cleanser sorbet made with laligurans syrup adorned with a frozen candied rhododendron petal. Finally the main course: barbeque chicken and chyakla coarse corn grits. The chicken has been brined, marinated, cooked sous-vide and seared on the grill. The delicate consistency of the chicken stands out. Desert is a smooth, creamy cheesecake that uses the local juju-dhau yoghurt. And the last course is a moist, moss-green sisnu cake laced with mulberry jam and cream.&nbsp; There is nothing gimmicky about Tusa. It is the coming together of skilled Nepalis with international exposure who have mixed what they have learnt abroad with the flavours of home.&nbsp; The tasting menu is Rs3,500, and it may take some time before Nepalis develop a predilection for some of its items. The chefs are excited, vindicated, and relieved. Coming back to Nepal, uprooting successful careers abroad to take a chance on Nepal must not have been easy.&nbsp; Tusa had a soft launch on New Year’s day with Kathmandu-based diplomats. Australian Ambassador Felicity Volk was one of them, and wrote on a Facebook post: ‘Chefs who honed their skills in Australia and returned to Nepal to give back. We call it fine dining, they call it #cominghome.’ Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-baker-of-barpak">The baker of Barpak</a>, Tara Aryal Pandey

The return of the natives

For a year or two after the 25 April 2015 earthquake, the residents of Kathmandu were too terrified to return to their high-rise apartments. None of them collapsed in the 7.8 disaster, but many sustained serious structural damage. &nbsp;
Fast forward nine years, and they have all but forgotten that frightful day. Kathmandu is back to building substandard structures, even as land prices drive developers to build taller.&nbsp;
With no more space to spread horizontally, Kathmandu is going vertical. But structural engineers say most of the high rises do not take into account seismicity, soil condition, construction methods, quality of raw materials, fire hazard, and search and rescue in collapsed concrete structures.
“Much of our focus since the 2015 earthquake has been on building and construction, but not as much on where we are building,” warns Sangeeta Singh, Professor of Urban Planning and Deputy Director of Centre for Disaster Studies at the Institute of Engineering.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/in-a-disastrous-state">In a disastrous state</a>, Sonia Awale
She adds: “Kathmandu is not really suited for high-rises. We have to first test the condition of the soil, but building permits are being issued without this fundamental step.”
Kathmandu Valley is a former lakebed with soft topsoil prone to liquefaction and excessive shaking, as seen during the 1934 megaquake. Many ruptures tore up the surface in 2015. &nbsp;
During an earthquake, the rock layers below Kathmandu ring like a bell and the vibrations on the surface take between 0.5 to 2 seconds for one oscillation. Buildings also vibrate, but at different frequencies depending on their height, construction material, and arrangement of their structural components.
At five floors, the vibration period of a building is 0.5 seconds, which is the same as that for Kathmandu Valley, and this could cause more damage, says structural engineer Surya Narayan Shrestha at the National Society for Earthquake Technology - Nepal (NSET).
“Building anything that is five storeys or higher in Kathmandu needs special design and structural considerations,” says Shrestha.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/shaking-things-up">Shaking things up</a>, Editorial
Technologies exist to reduce seismic risk in high-rises, and these are used in earthquake-prone cities like Tokyo, Los Angeles, Jakarta or Mexico City.&nbsp;
Base isolation, for example, separates the vibration of the land and the building, reducing damage from soil-building resonance. Base isolators move and stretch under pressure, absorbing much of an earthquake's impact by reducing swaying and shaking. &nbsp;
Seismic dampers change the pattern of vibration altogether, dissipating energy as vibrations move across a structure. But these are all expensive technologies, and none of the high-rises in Kathmandu use them.
However, Nepali engineers who can help with technology transfer are working in the field in Nepal and overseas. Kathmandu’s high-rises are already very expensive, and making them seismic-resistant would be an incremental cost.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/learning-from-jajarkot-what-we-didnt-after-2015-695vpzle">Learning from Jajarkot what we didn't after 2015</a>, Sushil Gyewali
The shape of high-rises also matters. Reinforced concrete buildings with asymmetric designs of the kind that are seen in newer structures in Kathmandu experience more torsion and shear during quakes. High-rises with regular geometry are stronger. &nbsp;&nbsp;
An even bigger concern is that of emergency evacuation and rescue in case of fire or earthquake. Kathmandu fire services do not have ladders that reach the higher floors of most new structures.
“High-rises mean more people and potentially higher casualties,” explains Shrestha. “We need immediate evacuation routes, fire escapes, emergency ladders, and fire trucks that can reach higher. Right now, safety features are voluntary and not mandatory.”
The street access, shelters, open spaces, and evacuation routes are integral to disaster preparedness and the safety of neighbourhoods and not just buildings. Most new high-rises in Kathmandu have narrow access roads.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/rebuilding-resilience-7-years-later">Rebuilding resilience 7 years later</a>, Anil Pokhrel
Since most of the buildings that survived the 2015 disaster were reinforced concrete structures, it fed the misconception that they are safer. But Himalayan seismologists say that if the intensity and duration of the shaking had been just a little higher, many substandard concrete structures would have collapsed.&nbsp;
And that is the final gap: Nepal’s limited expertise and equipment for search and rescue inside collapsed concrete structures. Kathmandu’s high-rises need to be better prepared for the next Big One.
“Structural safety and design were at the front and the centre after the 2015 earthquake, we also revised some building codes but we are back to square one with contractor-driven construction, especially in peri-urban areas,” says Sangeeta Singh, who is also with the National Planning Commission. “We need to monitor construction as much as design.”&nbsp;
Shrestha at NSET agrees there have been improvements in building practices in the past nine years, but adds, “We have both learnt and unlearnt lessons from 2015. The awareness hasn’t yet translated into action on safety.”
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lessons-not-learned-from-2015-o2etq6zu">Lessons not learned from 2015</a>, Sonia Awale

The rise of high-rises

Midway along the stretch of the ancient trade route between Tibet and India lies the Kel Tol neighbourhood. The name is derived from the original Koligrām, and it is believed the Koli people, who were originally from Rāmagrām in present-day southern Nepal near the Indian border, settled here. The Koli were the maternal ancestors of none other than the Buddha. Kel Tol is famous for the Buddhist monastic complex of Kanak Chaitya Mahāvihar, featuring the majestic two-tiered gilded temple of the white god Karunāmaya.&nbsp; This elaborately decorated courtyard is a bustling centre of the Vajrayāna sect of Buddhism, practised widely by the indigenous Newā people of Kathmandu Valley. Karunāmaya, also known as Ārya Avalokiteshwor, is defined in great detail in the 1st century CE Buddhist text Sadharmapundarikā where he liberates all sentient beings from suffering. He helps rid the eight external fears metaphorically equated with their equivalent internal states of mind: lions (pride), wild elephants (ignorance), fire (anger), snakes (jealousy), floods (attachment), imprisonment (miserliness), thieves (wrong views) and cannibals (doubt).  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240418130432_fe370cbee75003cd3eb5dccc7c3b2671630da193b0744db2aeac1bab3ff4a85c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20240418130432_fe370cbee75003cd3eb5dccc7c3b2671630da193b0744db2aeac1bab3ff4a85c" data-rendition-name="original" width="1338" height="2000" loading="lazy" alt="Seto Machhindranath"> </figure>  In the Pancha Rakshyā Sutra, a Buddhist scripture from 200 CE, Ārya Avalokiteshwor was counted among the eight major deities. Followers of the Brāhminical god Shiva worship Ārya Avalokiteshwor as Seto Machhindranāth. For Shaivites, Machhindranāth is the Indian saint who founded the Nāth cult in the 10th century CE. He is the guru of saint Gorakhnāth. During the reign of Yakshya Malla (1428–1482 CE), a beautiful image of Ārya Avalokiteshwor was dug up by a farmer in present-day Jamal, which was then a cultivated area outside the city. The farmer, known as a Jamami (meaning the one from Jamal) took the image home for safekeeping. That night, Ārya Avalokiteshwor appeared in the farmer’s dream and told him that the proper place for him to reside is at the confluence of two rivers. The nearest confluence was at present-day Wongha (Indrachok) and the image was installed in the Kanak Chaitya Mahāvihar complex in Kel Tol near Wongha. This made it easier for city residents to pay homage to Ārya Avalokiteshwor and spread compassion. Soon, the deity came to be revered highly as Jamaleshwor, the one found in Jamal. Eventually, the name got corrupted, as happens often in Nepāl Bhāsā, to Janabahā Dyo. The courtyard where his temple is located is now popularly known as Janabahā.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240418130432_5c9b219530e400445ef4e7f64856b43e7cdb756be26d9ed4565c84044c178a7e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20240418130432_5c9b219530e400445ef4e7f64856b43e7cdb756be26d9ed4565c84044c178a7e" data-rendition-name="original" width="2500" height="1668" loading="lazy" alt="Seto Machhindranath"> </figure>  The gilded temple of Janabahā Dyo, first built in the early 16th century CE, is adorned with wooden and metal artefacts that symbolise 108 forms of Ārya Avalokiteshwor. It stands out as the most decorated temple of its kind in Kathmandu. Today, Janabahā is a living heritage site where many ancient customs and rituals are widely practised as per Vajrayāna Buddhist tradition. Devotees throng the Janabahā Dyo shrine for daily worship and to receive Karunāmaya’s blessings. Being the compassionate one, Ārya Avalokiteshwor goes around town every year in his tall wooden chariot to allow sick and physically disabled devotees to pay homage to him from the comfort of their homes. One could say it is a door-to-door visit by the Compassionate One.&nbsp; For the pragmatic minded, the chariot festival is an annual renewal of communal harmony, validation of our ancient mathematical supremacy and demonstration of the need to keep practical skills alive, including the craft of building earthquake resilient houses.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240418130432_fc8b234ceca87dee4b99e897a485cef121fb953857fb61492a413fbfcc48360c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20240418130432_fc8b234ceca87dee4b99e897a485cef121fb953857fb61492a413fbfcc48360c" data-rendition-name="original" width="2500" height="1667" loading="lazy" alt="Seto Machhindranath"> </figure>  The Janabahā Dyo chariot is pulled from Jamal, where his image was found by the farmer, through the historic heart of Kathmandu in a gala parade every year. The procession, accompanied by folk music ensembles and revellers, starts on the eighth day of the bright half of the month of Chaitra, and lasts up to a week (ending on Saturday this year). Hundreds of devotees pull the chariot along the streets as a way of expressing their gratitude to lord Karunāmaya for blessing them with compassion and well-being. Purna Ratna Vajrāchārya is an ordained priest who belongs to the clan responsible for taking care of Janabahā Dyo. He has been studying the design and architecture of the chariot for the past 40 years, and overseeing its construction for the past 15. He has learnt that the engineering principles of building the chariot are based on the mathematical system in which Buddhism is taught. For example, 365 pieces of wood are used in the chariot, each representing a day of the year. Each of the four wheels consist of 25 pieces of wood, totalling 100, representing completeness or fulfilment. The chariot is vertically divided into 13 sections, a parallel to the Buddhist concept of Trayodashi Bhuvana that describes the 13 steps that one must take to achieve the state of Nirvana.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240418130432_36d9964c9845f6d9a074786361fc5ab7d49138503ad162086998b731349b0ec0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240418130432_36d9964c9845f6d9a074786361fc5ab7d49138503ad162086998b731349b0ec0" data-rendition-name="original" width="2500" height="1668" loading="lazy" alt="Seto Machhindranath"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240418130432_2662753a9514a682ccdfd17bf05e2be3771183a68dc86b717ab67d9aad894563.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20240418130432_2662753a9514a682ccdfd17bf05e2be3771183a68dc86b717ab67d9aad894563" data-rendition-name="original" width="1668" height="2500" loading="lazy" alt="Seto Machhindranath"> </figure>  &nbsp;Exactly nine types of wood are used, which is the sum of the four base elements that make up the universe (earth, water, fire and air) and the five human senses. The height and length of the chariot is 32 arm’s length (hāt in Sanskrit), 14.8m. The number 32 represents the maximum number of auspicious and physical qualities one could possess to be considered an outstanding human being.&nbsp; Says Vajrācharya, “Observing how the chariot is built helps one learn the fundamental pillars of the Buddha’s teachings, and find an easier path to Nirvana.” The structural design of the nearly 15m wooden chariot is not only awe-inspiring but also gravity-defying. It leverages the pliancy of the materials used in its construction -- flexible joints tied with cane soaked in water for several days. The precise proportions of the chariot ensure great manoeuverability in the narrow streets along the route of the chariot procession that include some 90° bends, without colliding into houses.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240418130432_9f5c2943f5d6b3f0010d3d5213697549945e87a6f7d3d8cbadd69f0dea6c6e2c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20240418130432_9f5c2943f5d6b3f0010d3d5213697549945e87a6f7d3d8cbadd69f0dea6c6e2c" data-rendition-name="original" width="2500" height="3750" loading="lazy" alt="Seto Machhindranath"> </figure>  Driving and steering the chariot with brute muscle power of the mirthful crowd is a seemingly impossible task. But this has been achieved year after year, despite the fact that the devotees who tug wildly at the ropes lassoed to the two front wheels, are most likely in high-spirits (pun intended). Sanjay Manandhar, a US-based technology entrepreneur, recounts how his high school physics teacher from Canada asked his students to go observe the locals build the chariots of Karunāmaya if they were interested in becoming engineers in the future.&nbsp; “That made no sense to me then, but, after all these decades, I now see clearly how the structural design of the chariot, adopted early on by our ancestors is full of earthquake-resilient properties that need to be applied in building houses in an earthquake-prone zone like Nepal,” says Manandhar. A highlight of the chariot festival is that human goddess Kumari makes an appearance at the final destination in Lagan, usually on the third day. This is only one of the 13 times that people get to see the Kumari outside her temple abode.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240418130432_08aa39f3f004a212b33c60a2840d6013110de15dd34a0288f699dd5fda8957ab.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20240418130432_08aa39f3f004a212b33c60a2840d6013110de15dd34a0288f699dd5fda8957ab" data-rendition-name="original" width="2500" height="1667" loading="lazy" alt="Seto Machhindranath"> </figure>  On the last day of the festival (Saturday), the image of lord Karunāmaya is carried on a palanquin by priests from Janabahā in a gala procession and brought back to his permanent residence at the temple in Kel Tol.&nbsp; The chariot festival is thought to have started during the reign of King Pratap Malla of Kantipur in the 17th century CE. For close to four centuries, the construction of the chariot and its operation has proven to be a phenomenal engineering feat, and the people’s faith in divinity means the tradition is alive.&nbsp; The essence of the colourful rituals and the religious beliefs of this ancient chariot festival is now all but lost. The logic, technology and practicality must be brought back to light, as they reflect the high civilisation and wisdom of our ancestors that we can leverage in modern times and into the future. &nbsp; Alok Tuladhar is a culture and heritage documentarian.

Kathmandu’s gravity-defying chariot festival

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

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