Democracy For Nepal: Mount Everest

Showing posts with label Mount Everest. Show all posts

Friday, June 23, 2023

Prompt: Mount Everest But Taller

https://www.bing.com/create

Saturday, May 16, 2015

About Resettling Some People In The Terai

Map of the districts of Narayani Zone (wp-EN) in Nepal. Created by Rarelibra 19:33, 18 September 2006 (UTC) for public domain use, using MapInfo Professional v8.5 and various mapping resources. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Most people, the overwhelming majority, want to stay put. Home is home. They don't want to move. And I expect enough relief work to be done over the next few weeks that staying put might make sense for over 90% of the earthquake victims. But relocating should be kept as an open option. That might impact about 5%. That might be somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 people.

Some of them could be resettled along the Pokhara-Kathmandu highway, some in Chitwan, some in some other parts of the Terai.

Resettling people is one of many options. It should be in the arsenal. I don't think anyone is suggesting that is the only option.

After all, resettling is not just about moving bodies. They will also need livelihoods. Finding land is challenging enough, building new houses is challenging. Finding them livelihoods is a challenge. Resettling is not easy to do. But that might be the only option for about 50,000 of the earthquake victims.

Friday, May 15, 2015

The Earthquake: Facing The Facts

In terms of loss of life and sheer destruction and damage to property this has been the biggest devastation the country has faced for as long as it has existed. The magnitude of the tragedy is enormous.
Nepal was a poor country. It is now even more poor. And that will not immediately change.
Nepal was a poorly governed country. The quality of governance will suffer further in the immediate future.
Nepal has had a corrupt government. The corrupt elements are in no mood for a timeout. If anything, they will attempt to go on a hyper drive.
The law and order situation was weak before the earthquake hit. Many criminal elements are intent on fishing in these muddy waters.
By some estimates, the loss is in the $5-$10 billion range in a country whose GDP is $20 billion. There is no power out there that feels the need to compensate for that damage, dollar for dollar. The reality is Nepal just lost a decade of growth. It went backwards.
The pledged donations from outside are in the $100 million range. Less than that. Expect 80% of it to be spent by those governments to hire their own people and buy relief goods in their own countries. Only 20% of it will go "native." Half of that 20% might be lost to local corruption.
Elected governments at the local level might have helped, but only to an extent. And the politicians have still not moved past their chicken-egg situation on federalism. The blame game is still there. It is best to take some time off from the federalism debate, for at least until after monsoon.

Friday, May 01, 2015

Elon Musk, Chip In

Man atop nine-storey Dharahara tower in Kathmandu when quake struck lives to tell the tale of his survival

Nepal's historic Dharahara Tower collapses, trapping hundreds
Nepal’s famous Dharahara Tower becomes site for selfies after devastating earthquake
See Satellite Images of Nepal Before and After the Earthquake

The idea would be for Elon Musk to build a tall tower where the Dharahara stood, it can be a metal structure like in Paris, it can have solar panels. It would function to provide free WiFi across Kathmandu valley. He can have it called Musk Tower, if he wants. Or Mangal Tower, Mangal being the Nepali word for Mars. What say you, Elon?

Elon Musk, Chip In http://t.co/d1lVmfSDQv
— Paramendra Bhagat (@paramendra) May 1, 2015

@elonmusk Chip In! http://t.co/lsvDtuJPIL #NepalEarthquake #Nepal #NepalQuake #NepalQuakeRelief
— Paramendra Bhagat (@paramendra) May 1, 2015

Friday, April 10, 2015

Lhasa To Kathmandu In Six Hours

English: Mount Everest North Face as seen from the path to the base camp, Tibet. Español: Cara norte del Monte Everest vista desde el sendero que lleva al campo base en el Tibet (China). Français : Face nord du Mont Everest vue du chemin menant au camp de base. Tibet. Italiano: Faccia Nord del monte Everest vista dal sentiero che porta al campo base in Tibet. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If the train will move at 120 kilometers per hour, and since Lhasa to Kathmandu is about 600 kilometers, that puts the travel distance at six hours. This tunnel under Mount Everest will take Nepal-China, indeed China-South Asia relations to unprecedented heights. This will also put pressure on India to deeply integrate itself to Nepal through major infrastructure projects like the Hulaki Rajmarga.

Kathmandu to Lumbini is another 200 kilometers. That would be the logical extension once the train reaches Kathmandu. The logical thing to do would be to take the train straight south to the plains and then go west to Lumbini.

That would also form the framework for the East West train along the plains to ultimately create a Beijing to Delhi train track. You can not think of a better symbol for this Asian Century.