Melamchi – a story within the story

The tussle between the Ministry of Physical Planning and Ministry of Finance came to the magnitude these days on the dilemma whether to accept ADB’s condition over Melamchi or not.
It has been passed over a decade since some “development doctors” started to write a script for a drama called Melamchi Water Supply Project. The film imagines that the residents of the Katmandu Valley are dying because they don’t have enough water so they must bring it from Melamchi river after constructing some 100 km road and 26-km tunnel !

The film was released in most of government and NGO cinemas. It hit most of the box offices because of good lobbying, western tailor-made architecture and “gwajyo” residents of the valley. Thanks to the project, some selected actors of the film were enjoying as much as over 120,000 rupees of salary per month and the residents start facing dramatic decline of water supply day by day, year by year. The more consultants, the bigger expenditure; the more the discussions the longer their tenure. What an idea to fool the people and make money out of the dream project. I never knew dreams are sold here so cheap.

What is now clear is that the Melamchi-architectures have deliberately destroyed the local water sources, indigenous technology of deriving water from stone spouts and creating a scarcity. In one decease over 30 out of 300 plus water spouts have been dried (Sundhara of Kathmandu is just one name), the Nepal Water Supply Corporation lets 40 per cent of the total water leak on the way. It has neither repaired the stone spouts, not controlled the leakage. As the simple theory goes – the demand looks for supply. So the people of the valley start believing that there is no other solution than welcoming, waiting for and buying the dream called Melamchi.

Nobody is going to give us Melamchi free of cost. Apart from small amount of grants, the Mealmchi is being constructed on the basis of loan money. Out of the 500 million US dollars for the whole project, only 120 million is being lent by the ADBbut just look at its “dadagiri”. It says that it will forward the loan money only if Nepal agrees to hire a foreign management on contract, to manage NWSC. Nepal has to welcome any Tom Dik or Harry though it is going to cost Nepal as much as Rs 11 million dollars, which is equivalent to the budget NWSC needs for running 27 branches of NWSC all over the country.

The bank has a firm of its choice called Severn Trent Water International Limited (STWIL). God knows how much money this company is going to pay to the head of ADB but it is pressurizing the Nepali government to accept it blindly. We know that this company has a very bad working image in different countries and this company came to Nepal without facing any competition. What is ADB trying to prove itself by imposing a lame candidate to participate in athletics? To me it is just like selling a packet of date-expired noodles to a boy and yelling at the boy after he falls sick.

Let ADB advocate about STWIL. But I wonder why our so-called doctors are running after the ADB as sales agents? I wonder why to brothers, Dr Ram Sharan Mahat and Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat are dying to see STWIL ruling Nepal’s Khanepani Sansthan, just because it is not their father’s property? They do not have time to go to their constituency and find proof they have their listeners/ followers there but they have plenty of time to dance according to the ADB’s rhythms.

In conclusion, I would say that the first and only right of making decision on Melamchi goes in hands of the indigenous residents of the Kathmandu Valley. What if a whimsy prime minister thinks to bring water from Gangaji for the Katmanduites? I request all the outsiders, to keep quiet. You may come here, enjoy all facilities, our forefathers have brought for you, you enjoy being a Kathmandu Basi and pollute this poor city more and more. But you do not have right to say whether Kathmandu needs Melamchi or not. You better think about your villages or towns and ask the government to provide your hometowns with this or that. We will help you fight for it. This way, we can make a whole developed Nepal.

Doctors and drinks

Doctors and drinks - both the words start with Ds, though they are just different in nature: One saves live and other just is a killer. How does it look when they came along? You certainly would not tolerate it, will you?

But it happens in Kathmandu. A group of drunk "doctors" ( I deliberately cramped them in brackets because the news said they were, whereas I'm not ready to call them with the holy word) broke into a government-run hospital, thrashed not only their fellow workers but also some patients. And they did not let even the policemen breathe in peace.

"Police arrested four drunken intern doctors from Bir Hospital early Friday morning, after the latter attacked other medical staff and disrupted services at the emergency ward," it was reported in The Kathmandu Post. Let me give you the names of the get doctors. Here goes the addition : "Dr Bishesh Sitaula, Dr Shivaji Bikram Silwal, Dr Prasanta Adhikari and Dr K I Singh KC were arrested from the hospital emergency ward after they started beating up doctors and other staff on duty and throwing furniture at them.

What has happened to this poor country? What will the mawalis, gundas and politicians will do if the doctors come to do what Sunil Thapa does in Nepali films? I'm afraid the doctors will be playing the Rate Kaila's role and Thapa himself will have to find his apartment in Bombay.

Well, the doctors were finally arrested and taken to Hanumandhoka khor. And looking at the seriousness of the event, the police has decided to keep them in custody for seven days.

Jokes aside, this incident has certainly raised some serious questions.

First, what does actually it means by intern doctors? Why are they allowed to touch a patient if they are not doctors in the hospital with the longest history? If they are working as doctors, they can't run away from the responsibility of the grave medical profession just because they are intern. Similarly, you cannot forgive them for what they did or could do just because they are interns. Sending them to the serious duty means that they are capable of handling the patients. The word "intern" is misleading.

Second, are they really doctors? Even quacks have some manners and at lest keep some knowledge of doctors' ethics and why those gangsters did not find any to remember? What kind of education they have obtained and from which college in the world? I read that they studied in China but I doubt if China can produce such drunkards or if it can offer white coats to hooligans. I demand, not only the drunkards but even the medical collage should be punished.

Third, what was the so-called Medical Council was doing here? Does not the council has any mechanism to find if the certificate-holders also have some commonsense? Otherwise, any Tom, Dik and Harry would hold that piece of paper.

Fourth, what the hell the security was doing when the gangsters in white coats entered the government. At times the patients have to follow rules to be on the emergency ward bed. And how the drunk guys could go there and do things like Chakre Milan does? Security must give answers.

Fifth, when all the people are working hands-in-hands, the doctors are now in strike. Why do the state has to invest on them if they are there to raise strikes on every other day? Those doctors who even think about strike must be penalised. They never think about going to Manag or Dolpa but they want every facilities under the sky. This is too much.

I believe this small piece of information tells you why the doctors are beaten up and hospitals are attacked by the public every month here in Nepal.

Goog bye Severn Trent !

It is matter of joy, I say. Nepal said good bye to the infamous company, which wast trying to handle water mangement of Kathmandu Valley, that was just like fishing in the troubled water. The minsitery of Physical Planning and Workls turned deaf ear to so called ultimatum of Severn Trent Water International (ST). Bravo!!!

I would like to congratulate the ministry and minister Hisila Yami for her stand not to accept any foreign company with bad work history. Despite pressure from the Asian Development Bank the government ignored an ultimatum of a foreign company which is the only bidder for taking over Kathmandu Valley’s drinking water supply. Can you imagine, that the Melamchi project was going to pay that corrupt company as much as 8.5 million dollars in six years?

ADB is gonig to lend 120 million dollar to us (remember, it is a loan, not grant, we have to pay it back one day) so that Nepal may construct a tunnel to bring water from Melamchi river and provide it to the residents of the Kathmandu Valley. Indeed, it is the major lender for the country’s biggest drinking water project in Nepal and it is mysterious why ADB want ST to manage our water (of course, there is commission everywhere).

But I wonder, whether the government or the donors ever really asked the people of Kathamndu valley (I mean the genuine resident of the valley, not like those of Gopal Man Singh or Madhav Kumar Nepal) if they really need that costly water. Everything is being done by those people who present the valley as water-trapped city and by creating artificial scarcity, they want to provide us a solution which is goning to cost us as much as 500 million dollars. Shame on those selfish technicians, who sell their mothers' milk for petty profit.

For over 300 years, the residents of valley have been drinking water from stone spouts. Those spouts quite older than ADB, Suman Kumar Sharma, Sima Rajauriya or Gopal Man Singh himself. We did not have to worry about any other water sources for centuries. Now, they all are creating problems for their benefit. See, in past one decade or two, over 20 major water spouts have been deleberately damaged - one after another - so that the people may feel th irsty adn say ok to Melamchi project. Who is gonig to stop those sadists?

Let the governmet first decide that the valley need no more water sources than we have and then we will be wroking in real strenght.

I don't say that we can say no to Melamchi at this turn of events. The population of the valley has been increased by 10 times. Many of our water sources have been damaged; and in the name of modernisation, we have developed a culture to use more water and waste it.

In this situation, we should better be more cautious and take more responsibility so that no other Kuire guy come and sell any such dream which is going to cost us or our children very very much.

Happy World Press NGOdom Day!

I did not know that being a journalist could be as easy as running an NGO. No, let me put the same thing again - I did not know that the principle of running an NGO could be applied in working as journalists as well.

Today is World Press Freedom Day - the only day we can talk about press freedom (and you know what we are allowed to talk on other days). But to my disgust, even in this day, the NGOism worked well among jouranlists.

Does the movement for journalism means only collecting donation from INGOs, organising programmes for their interest and then saying that they have done great job? I only see the same old faces in the dias, holding microphone and banner in the rally.

I am not against any orgnaistaion of the joruanlsits. Rather I say that we need a strong organisation or federation or union or whatever to protect us, to help us to guide us and to criticise us. But I do not see any of these mushrooming organisations formed in the name of organising journalists have done or doing somehitng like that. Most of the post-holders in such organisations are pet-dogs of one or another political parties, to be very frank. I don't belong to/ trust any party. Does it mean that I am not suitable to be a jorurnalist? Why does it happen? It is because the seft-proclaimed journalist-leaders follow that path and as role models, we also tend to run after those bullshit leaders, wagging our tails ( I mean to say those who run after those leaders have tails). Or, they are running after the donors - they prepare a proopsal for a talk programme, speak out same stale issues and enjoy free luch or dinner. Or they fight for chance to go in some foreign free trips. Can they think more than that?

And they take themselves as great leaders and do not contact us, the voters and try to run way even when we contact them for some news - as if we are all their jilla-basi and try to meet them to find a job. Shame.

I'm tired of the same old faces, same old speeches and way of working. Is there anybody or any organisation who will come and fight with my boss or employers if I'm tortured, abused or simply sacked? No. So, they are all making their political images on our names, jobs and simplicity. Should we let it go?

And I could not see any movement of bloggers today. May be they are doing something and I could not find. I thing it is a day for the bloggers as well, what do you think?
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Tailpiece: And the scene at BICC after the talks programme was really newsworthy. A mass of 'journalists' thronged to the teller where snacks and tea were being distributed. Those jouranslits, who talk big things about mismanagement in the governmetn and "luchhachudi" of parties became a part of it.