Green bricks

Lalitpur,Nepal

The Kathmandu Valley's smog owes much to the highly polluting brick kilns that dot its southern expanses. What's worse, the smoke billowing out of these towers obscures the terrible conditions in which its workers - including many children and donkeys - slave for minimal reward. These are the victims of the capital's housing boom.

It's time we moved away from 'blood bricks'. This may be possible now, as Animal Nepal's award to Indra Tuladhar of Bungamati Itha Udyog last week indicated. Tuladhar was honoured for producing 'clean and green' bricks using Chinese technology, and the animal welfare organisation hopes other brick producers will follow suit to reduce pollution and stop the exploitation of kids and animals. "The industry has the technology and the resources to stop the production of 'blood bricks'; all it needs is the right motivation," says Krishna Singh, program manager at Animal Nepal. "We can address the issues by introducing new technologies such as Vertical Shaft Brick Kilns and automated machinery."

बरफ र आगोको देश

आइसल्याण्ड विश्वविद्यालयको वातावरण विज्ञान विभागको सभाकक्षमा नेपालबाट आएको पत्रकारले जलवायु परिवर्तनले हिमालहरूमा पारेको असरबारे अन्तर्क्रियामा बोल्ने कार्यक्रम थियो। कार्यक्रमको शुरुमा मजस्तै सेतो कपाल फुलेको, सुट र टाई लाएको मानिस हलभित्र छिरेको देखेँ। कसैले उनलाई धेरै वास्ता गरेन, तर उनले मैले देखाएको नेपाल र तिब्बतका हिमताल र पग्लिँदो हिमरेखाका तस्बिरहरूको पावर प्वाइन्ट प्रस्तुति रुचिपूर्वक हेरे। बोल्ने क्रममा एक-दुईवटा प्राविधिक खालका प्रश्न पनि सोधे। आइसल्याण्डका कुनै वैज्ञानिक होलान् भन्ठानेँ। मेरो प्रोफेेसर साथीले परिचय गराइदिएपछि पो थाहा भयो, उनी त आइसल्याण्डका राष्ट्रपति ‘लाफुर ग्रिसोन रहेछन्।

६ महिनाअघि यही स्तम्भमा मैले माल्दिभ्सका राष्ट्रपतिको सरलता र आफूलाई ठूलो मान्छे भनेर बिलकुल नदेखाउने बानीको चर्चा गरेको थिएँ। आइसल्याण्डका राष्ट्रपतिसँगको छोटो कुराकानीमा पनि मलाई त्यस्तै लाग्यो। सभाकक्षभित्र प्रवेश गर्दा उनीसँग न अङ्गरक्षक थिए, न पिए। हलमा भएका कसैले पनि नेपालमा जस्तो झ्ुकेर चाप्लुसी गरेनन्। प्रमुख अतिथि भनेर २५ केजीको माला लगाएनन्। बरु देख्यानदेख्यै गरे। कत्रो भिन्नता नेपालका नेताहरूको दाँजोमा।

Electricity for whom?

Editorial in Arthik Abhiyan, 8th January 2011

Kathmandu,Nepal

When we talk about Nepal's water resources, the first thing that comes to mind is electricity. A crucial question we should ask while formulating policy for water is, for whom is the electricity being generated? Though Nepal's water policy should be for the welfare of the country, it looks as though it is made for foreigners.

Nepal's per capita consumption of electricity is 70 units per annum; it is 10,000 units per annum in developed countries. Experts say Nepal would require between 55,000 to 60,000MW if its people consumed as many units as in developed countries. This means if Nepal's economy grows at a rate of 7 to 8 per cent per annum, there is no question of exporting electricity at all. If we think we have enough energy to export it for money, we are just being plain stupid. But the Ministry of Energy has not accepted this truth.

A study conducted by Somnath Poudel shows that Nepal needs at least 10,000MW by 2018 if economic growth is to maintain its momentum. In this context, if we invite foreign investors for hydro projects and export 90 per cent of generated power, how can we meet even domestic demand for energy? We need to generate an additional 1,000MW per year to meet the demand. But existing energy policy has not acknowledged this fact.

Power to the people

Kathmandu,Nepal

As we approach the winter months, both the dwindling supply of water in Nepal´s rivers, and the growing demand for electricity as the days get shorter and colder, has resulted in the inevitable: A new and expanded loadshedding schedule.

Loadshedding- a euphemism for planned power outages- is a pretty simple process: Operators in each of the feeder stations look at their watches and flip a switch at the appointed time to turn off (and on) the power. Without these planned shut-offs, ´the system would collapse´ explains Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) director Sher Singh Bhat, until recently a key player in of the load dispatch office of the NEA´s System Operation Department. If not for loadshedding, he explains, we would have blackouts throughout the country and the electricity system- such as it is- would collapse.

Loadshedding affects every consumer connected to the grid (with the exception of government hospitals, the blood transfusion center, Singha Durbar, the Kathmandu International Airport, and, until 2008, the former Royal Palace.) We´ve had loadshedding in Nepal, on and off, since the late 1970s when demand first began to outstrip supply. It is similar to a game of catch-up, as the NEA’s attempts to develop additional sources of electricity lag behind runaway consumer demand. There have been temporary respites following the construction of new hydro projects, like Khulekani in 1982, and the Kali Gandaki in 2002 when additional capacity actually exceeded demand. But loadshedding has become a fact of life in Nepal over the last few years, and even according to the NEA´s own predictions, it will be with us for at least another few. This winter, the NEA is saying that we’ll experience “at least” 14 hours per day of outages.

Saving the Bagmati

Kathmandu,Nepal

The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution recognizing water as a human right and , the 10th Bagmati River Festival will wrap up with the incongruous sight of a human flotilla on rafts, parading alongside the daily flotilla of garbage. And among the spectators will be those who have made the riverbanks their home and ironically, are among the furthest from realizing their right to clean water and sanitation. Although little has been said publicly, these informal settlers, or squatters as they are called, are surrounded by controversy; situated alongside one of the most powerful cultural and religious symbols of Kathmandu and the darling of environmental donors, the Bagmati River, and on a very precious commodity – vacant land.

The banks of the Bagmati are not prime residential areas – observers say that if not for Kathmandu’s daily pumping of effluent in the form of sewage, industrial and solid waste into the river, there would be barely any water there at all. So great is Kathmandu’s thirst for water, that we have practically drunk the river dry at its source, leaving the riverbed an open sewer.

The woes of the Bagmati are just the visible effects of a water table that is shrinking faster than it can be replenished. The river’s strong stench is the superficial reminder to those living there of the health hazards posed by this cesspool – especially during monsoon. Much of the Bagmati watershed and its tributaries in the Kathmandu valley are an ‘urban commons’ plundered for sand to feed an insatiable construction craze, and an unlicensed dumping ground and shelter for the homeless.