^{A woman on a train in Janakpur, Nepal. In its updated Nationally Determined Contribution, Nepal pledged to develop 200 kilometres of electric railway network by 2030. (Image: Leonid Plotkin / Alamy)}

RAMESH BHUSHAL

In September 2020, Nepal bought two diesel-powered trains from India. Three months later, it submitted its second Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the United Nations, a pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the changing climate that every country needs to submit under the Paris Agreement.

One of the targets in Nepal’s NDC is to develop 200 kilometres of electric railway network by 2030. However, the country has less than 100 kilometres of railways, and the first trains to run on these tracks will be the two diesel trains bought from India. (There are currently no trains in operation in Nepal.)

Conflicting actions

In its first NDC, submitted to the UN in 2016, Nepal pledged to “increase the share of electric vehicle up to 20% by 2020”, and expand renewable energy by 20% by 2020. But when it submitted the second NDC last year, the share of renewable energy in the country’s portfolio was about 3%. Electric vehicles accounted for around 1% of the market, according to the revised NDC document.

Meanwhile, the overall consumption of fossil fuels has risen sharply over the past four years, with gasoline use doubling. This has sustained the country’s explosive growth that was only briefly halted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Currently, Nepal is extending its petroleum pipelines from India and building more storage facilities.

Big promises in Nepal’s NDC, missed targets

Though none of the energy-related pledges laid out in the first NDC have been met, the updated commitment has even more ambitious figures and claims. It aims for 15% of total energy to come from “clean energy sources” – a 400% increase.

“I agree it’s an ambitious plan, but we should understand that NDCs need to be ambitious, and we should work to meet the targets if we want to keep the world below 1.5 degrees of warming,” said Radha Wagley, head of the climate change management division at the Ministry of Forests and Environment.

However, she agreed with Khanal that cooperation between different ministries has been poor, and said she hoped that will change. “It’s true that collective efforts are lacking, but we should challenge business as usual and work together to meet the targets set by our NDC,” Wagley added.

Emissions increase, despite climate pledge

Although Nepal’s contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions remains negligible at 0.027% of the total, it grew from 26 to 54 metric tonnes of CO2-equivalent between 1990 and 2016, according to the research group Climate Action Tracker. “While the government is showing some progress in the implementation of its mitigation policies, under current policies, emissions are expected to increase between 31-36% by 2030 above current levels,” the site says.

The second NDC has set a target to increase electric vehicle sales to 90% of private passenger vehicles, including two-wheelers, by 2030. It also states 60% of all sales of public passenger vehicles on four wheels will be electric by the end of the decade.

“These figures look good but how do you involve the private sector, which currently holds over a billion US dollars worth of investments, effectively dominating the public transport sector?” asked Umesh Raj Shrestha, president of the Electric Vehicle Association of Nepal. “Without a programme to encourage businesses to switch to electric mobility, we won’t meet the NDC’s transport targets.”

While the NDC aims to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, data from the customs department of the Ministry of Finance shows another reality. According to a report published in 2019, the country’s most imported commodity is diesel, with petrol, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and coal all in the top 10. Data released by the Global Carbon Atlas showed that Nepal’s per capita emissions increase is the highest in South Asia. Between 2016 and 2017 per capita emissions increased by 5%, 10 times more than the global average of 0.5%.

Mitigation over adaptation

Some argue that Nepal’s NDC focuses only on mitigation and lacks the adaptation plans that the country is in dire need of. “Government and donors who prepared the NDC drew upon a standard template used by developed nations, with special focus on carbon mitigation, but Nepal’s real need is adaptation,” said Prabin Man Singh, programme director at the Prakriti Resources Centre, an NGO that works on sustainable development and environmental justice in Nepal. “There could have been balance between adaptation and mitigation, as Bangladesh has done, but we failed to cash [in] on that opportunity.”

Khanal, the activist and sustainable transport advocate, argues that while adaptation should be prioritised, “mitigation is not just about reducing carbon emissions, but also reaping co-benefits in terms of public health and social equity.”

Khanal said that ultimately the debate between mitigation and adaptation is semantic, and instead questions Nepali institutions’ capacity to implement any commitment. “It’s OK to have these documents but where is the programme to realise the plan? How would you manage finance?” he said. “For example, truck transport is the major carbon emitter within the mobility sector, but it’s not mentioned in the NDC.” The pledge, he said, “is an ad hoc document and very unlikely to be successfully implemented”.

Loss and damage dilemma

As COP26 approaches, pressure to raise the issue of loss and damage is mounting in the country. Sher Bahadur Deuba, Nepal’s prime minister, will attend the event in Glasgow and many expect him to demand compensation for climate-induced disasters, since the country is experiencing increasingly disruptive extreme weather.

The latest such disaster occurred in June in the Melamchi valley, 40 kilometres northeast of capital Kathmandu. A large flood wreaked havoc on towns and cities, killing six people and leaving 20 missing. Hundreds of homes were washed away and the country’s largest water supply project delivering drinking water to the capital was impacted.

Ngamindra Dahal, chair of the Nepal Water Conservation Foundation and a climate change expert, said: “This event is clearly an impact of climate change, and we should use this and other cases as evidence [to make a case for compensation] at the UN conference in Glasgow.”

Loss and damage has been a contentious issue for decades, and the UN still does not have an official definition for it. Initially raised by a group of small island countries in 1991, the issue has never established an official goal within the UN climate negotiations, as developed nations are not willing to commit to financial support beyond what is needed for adaptation.

“Scientists have attributed many events to climate change following some standard methodologies, mostly in the Global North but also in some cases in South Asia,” said Sunil Acharya, regional adviser of climate and resilience at Practical Action, a development charity. “Unfortunately, we don’t yet have any such study conducted in Nepal so far. However, we can use some simple indicators to claim attribution to start with.”

Proving the climate link

According to recent research, nearly 10,000 people have been killed by extreme weather events in Nepal in the past three decades. Two-thirds of the casualties recorded were due to floods and landslides, with the rest caused by thunderstorms, cold waves, windstorms, snowstorms, heatwaves and hailstorms. “We need further analysis, but we can already see that the increase in extreme weather events has caused a spike in disaster-related deaths in Nepal,” said Dipesh Chapagain, climate change researcher at the University of Bonn in Germany.

According to government agencies, the country’s annual maximum temperature is increasing by 0.056 degrees Celsius per year. The average temperature is predicted to rise by 0.92-1.07Cin the medium term, up to 2045, and 1.30-1.82C in the long term, by 2065.

The issue of compensation for climate-related disasters “is definitely a priority, but we don’t have enough research and data to [connect the disasters Nepal is facing to climate change and] make a case for loss and damage,” said Radha Wagley from the Ministry of Forests and Environment.

However, she added, it is important that the international community eventually reaches consensus on what constitutes loss and damage, and connects this theoretical description with disasters such as those happening in Nepal. To aid the process, she said, “one major activity planned under our NDC is to conduct more research where we lack appropriate information on how climate change drives extreme weather.

First published in Dialogue Earth in 2021.

^{नेपथ्य व्याण्डका गायक अमृत गुरु‌गं । फाेटाे: कान्तिपुर दैनिक}

रमेश भुसाल

छेक्यो छेक्यो काठमान्डु भ्याली धूलो र धूवाँले

छाडेन कहिल्यै जहाँ गए पनि फोहोरको डंगुरले

झ्यालैमा बसेर ल है फोहोर फाल्नुपर्दैन

हो हो फोहोर फाल्नुपर्दैन

नेपथ्य ब्यान्डको बहुचर्चित गीत ‘छेक्यो छेक्यो देउराली डाँडा हुस्सु र कुहिरोले’ लाई हामीले भने काठमान्डुको ताहाचलस्थित तारापुञ्ज स्कुलमा फोहोरसँग जोडेर गाएका थियौं । म कालिमाटीबाट ताहाचलको स्कुल जाँदा–आउँदा बेलाबेला गल्लीमा माथि झ्यालबाट फोहोर फाल्थे मान्छेहरू । काठमान्डु बिग्रेको धेरै भइसक्यो । अहिले त देशभरिका सबै सहर काठमान्डु जस्तै कसरी बिग्रने भनेर प्रतिस्पर्धा नै गर्दै छन् ।

गीत गाएको अघिल्लो शताब्दीको अन्तिम दशकको अन्त्यतिर अर्थात् सन् १९९८ मा हो । त्यो बेला मेरो डेरामा न रेडियो थियो, न त टेलिभिजन । २१ औं शताब्दीको सुरुको वर्ष अर्थात् सन् २००१ मा अरबको खाडीबाट फर्किंदा आमाले दुइटा स्पिकर भएको पानासोनिकको रेडियो टेपरिकर्डर ल्याइदिनुभएको थियो ।

त्यो मेरो जीवनको सबैभन्दा महँगो र किम्ती वस्तु थियो । त्यसमा गीत सुन्न मात्रै होइन, रेकर्ड गर्न पनि मिल्थ्यो । वास्तवमा मलाई त्यो टेपरिकर्डरले नै पछि रेडियोमा बोल्ने मान्छे बनायो । त्यो साथी थियो, अभिभावक थियो । मैले नेपथ्यका गीत सबैभन्दा धेरै त्यही टेप रेकर्डरमा सुनें, त्यसैमा रेकर्ड पनि गरें ।

३० वर्ष यही खाल्डोमा बरालिँदा पनि मैले त्यसका गायक अमृत गुरुङलाई कुराकानी गर्ने गरी भेटेको थिइनँ । सुरुमा ‘छेक्यो छेक्यो’ गीत नेपथ्यकै रविन श्रेष्ठले गाएका थिए, तर पछि नेपथ्यको पर्याय बने अमृत । गत पुसको एक दिन म गन्तव्यविहीन हिँडाइमा थिएँ ।

बेलाबेला यसै सहरमा दिनभरिजसो हिँड्छु, बिनाउद्देश्य वा हिँड्नु नै उद्देश्य हुन्छ । गन्तव्य नतोकिएका यात्रा झन् रमाइला लाग्छन् मलाई । त्यसमा करकाप हुँदैन, मनोमानी हुन्छ । कतै नपुगेकामा दुःख मनाउ गर्नुपर्ने हुँदैन, जहाँ पुगिन्छ त्यो नै गन्तव्य हुन्छ । कतै पोलेका मकै खायो, कतै टुसुक्क बसेर चिया ! खोला किनारतिर ह्वास्सको गन्ध सुँघ्यो, हावामा गाडीको धूवाँ । कसैलाई फ्याट्ट फोन गर्‍यो, मिले चिया पियो, नमिले ‘पछि भेटौंला है त’ भन्यो, अगाडि बढ्यो ।

ललितपुरको जावलाखेलबाट हिँडेर काठमान्डुको डिल्लीबजार पुगेको थिएँ । डिल्लीबजारको थुम्कोमा नेपथ्य ब्यान्डको व्यवस्थापन गर्ने नेपालयको कार्यालय छ । मैले फ्याट्ट नेपालयका पुस्तक सम्पादक विमल आचार्यलाई फोन गरें, चियाका लागि । भवनमा पस्दै गर्दा विमलले मलाई ‘पहिला अमृत दाइसँग भेटाउँछु’ भने र एउटा कोठामा छिराए । डेक्सटप कम्प्युटर हेरेर बसेका अमृतलाई उनले भने, ‘दाइ, रमेश भुसाल ।’ तर, अमृतले चिनिहालेनन् ।

‘छालबाटो दाइ’, विमलले थपे । ‘ओहो भाइ, म त्यो कर्नालीको बाटो पटक–पटक हिँडेको अनि र्‍याफ्टिङ पनि गरेको । किताब पढ्दा त मलाई यात्रा गरेजस्तै भयो,’ अघिल्लो दिन अमृतले मेरो किताब ‘छालबाटो : कैलाशदेखि गंगासम्म’ पढिसकेर त्यसबारे विमललाई भनेका रहेछन् । मलाई विमलले भेटाउनुको कारण पछि खुल्यो । आफ्ना प्रिय गायकले त्यसो भन्दा म खुसी हुने नै भएँ ।

कोही मान्छे भेटिएकै हुँदैन, तर उसलाई सधैं भेटेजस्तो लाग्छ, कुनै संवाद भएको हुँदैन तर सधैं बोलिरहेको खास मान्छेजस्तो लाग्छ । अमृत त्यस्तै मान्छे हुन् मेरा लागि । मैले खलखल पसिना आउने गरी रेडियोको स्टुडियोमा ढोका थुनेर उनका गीत आफैंले मात्रै सुन्ने गरी कम्ता गाएको छैन । त्यो भेटमा मैले उनले गाएका अनेकन गीत सम्झिएँ र केहीबेर उभिएरै पनि प्रकृतिदेखि संगीतसम्मका कुरा गर्न भ्यायौं हामीले ।

उनीसँगको अन–अपेक्षित भेटपछिको एक साँझ नेपालयमै हुने पलेँटी संगीत हेर्न नेपालय पुगें । केहीबेर गफिएर गिरीश गिरीले लेखेको किताब ‘नेपथ्य’ किनें, अमृतको सही गराएँ र घर फर्कें । केही दिन किताब त्यत्तिकै बस्यो । पढ्न सुरु गर्ने सोच्दैथिएँ । खै किन हो किन, मलाई त्यो किताब पुरानो टेपरिकर्डरमा गीत बजाउँदै पढ्न मन लाग्यो, जसरी म फिजिक्स, केमेस्ट्री, बायोलोजी, जिओलोजी र इकोलोजीका कोर्सबुक पढ्थें, त्यो पानासोनिक घन्काएर ।

अर्को दिन मैले पुराना क्यासेट खोजें । नेपथ्यका दुई क्यासेट भेटें । वि.सं. २०५८ सालको ‘रेशम’ र २०६० को ‘भेडाको ऊनजस्तो...’ । दुवै क्यासेटको मूल्य रु. ६५ रहेछ । भुइँतलामा रहेको टेप रेकर्डरमा लागेको धूलो सफा गरें । त्यसलाई बिजुली खुवाउने व्यवस्था गरें । ‘रेशम’ क्यासेट टेपमा हालें, तर गीत बजेन ।

मीनाक्षीले ‘साइड चेन्ज गर, रिल सकिएर होला’ भनेपछि बल्ल मैले सम्झें– क्यासेटमा ‘साइड ए’ र ‘साइड बी’ हुन्छ । श्रीमती पनि मेरै जमानाकी जो परिन । मैले ८ वर्षकी छोरीलाई हामीले यसरी गीत सुन्थ्यौं भनेर देखाएँ तर उनले भनिन्, ‘आर यू सिरियस् !’ म भर्खर ‘४० केटेसी रमाउँला’ भन्ने उमेरमा पुगेको छु, तर छोरी क्यासेट देखेर अचम्म पर्छिन् ! अहो, ‘प्रविधि’ नामक इन्धन भरेर समय फेरिएन मात्रै यो त उर्लियो, अघिल्ला दुई दशकमा ।

गीत बज्यो :

माया गर्ने बानी, उल्टै हुन्छ हानि

छुटिँदैन केही गर्दा पनि, लागेको बानी

बेलाबेला टेप रेकर्डर खोल्छु, गीत सुन्छु, किताब पढ्छु । यसैगरी पाना पल्टाउँदै छु, बिस्तारैबिस्तारै । किताब पढ्दै गर्दा मलाई यस्तो लागिरह्यो– गीतले सुरुमा घुम्दैफिर्दै बा–आमा खोज्छ, पिरती लाउँछ, गीत गर्भमा बस्छ, बढो दुःखले उसको जन्म हुन्छ र न्वारन ।

कति गीतको अकालमा मृत्यु हुन्छ भने कति दुःखले बाँचेका हुन्छन् । मान्छेजस्तै गीत पनि सुखी र दुःखी हुन्छन् । केही गीत बिमार पर्छन् त केही सानले सयौं वर्ष बाँच्छन् । गीतका खास मीत हुन्छन् अर्थात् श्रोता । त्यसलाई मीत लगाइदिने गीतका बा–आमा चाहिँ त्यसका गायक, संगीतकार र गीतकार हुन्छन् ।

माघको महिना, कोठाअगाडि उभिएको बेलौतीको रुखलाई मैले भर्खरै ठुट्याएको छु । शब्दमा खेलिरहेका मेरा आँखा बेलाबेला तिनै ठुटातिर गइरहन्छन् । बेलौती उभिएको जमिनको माटोमा मल भरिदिएको छु ताकि उसले पोषणयुक्त खाना पाओस् र आफूलाई चाँडै फुलाउन सकोस् । काटिएका ठाउँबाट बेलौती फेरि पलाउने तयारीमा छ । टुप्पामा घर–भँगेरा फुरफर गर्दै छन् ।

बेलाबेला जुरेली पनि आउँछन् । केहीअघि त फाप्रे चरा पनि आएको थियो । गीत बजेको छ तर ती भँगेरालाई कुनै चासो छैन । के तिनले ‘चरी मर्‍यो सिसैको गोलीले’ गीत गाउने नेपथ्यका अमृत चिन्दैनन् ? म मन–प्रश्न गर्छु । अनि फेरि आफैंलाई भन्छु, यो पृथ्वीमा मान्छे मात्रै त हो गीत सुन्ने, गीत गाउने, क्यासेट बेच्ने, युट्युब सुन्ने । अरू प्रजातिमा न साहित्यकार हुन्छ, न गीतकार हुन्छ । न गायक हुन्छ न संगीतकार । न ब्यान्ड हुन्छ न गितारिस्ट ।

आवाज त चराले पनि विभिन्न निकाल्छन् र अरू प्रजातिले पनि । तर, यत्ति हो मान्छेले जस्तो बाजागाजा बनाउन तिनले सक्दैनन्, स्टुडियोमा रेकर्डिङ गर्दैनन्, सुरताल सिक्दैनन्, संगीत भर्दैनन्, स्टेजमा कन्सर्ट गर्दैनन् । न त आयोजक हुन्छन् न त दर्शक । मान्छेमा जस्तो स्वरमा विविधता अरू प्रजातिमा छैन । एकै प्रजातिका सबै कोइलीको उस्तै स्वर हुन्छ, तर मान्छे एउटै प्रजाति भए पनि अर्बौं मानिसका अर्बौंथरी आवाज । मान्छेले साँच्चै धेरै कुरा पाएको छ तर सबैभन्दा धेरै पाएर, धेरै खाएर पनि सबैभन्दा दुःखी उही छ, किन ? फेरि मन–प्रश्न गर्छु ।

क्यासेटमा ‘साइड ए’ सकिन्छ, ‘साइड बी’ का गीत सुन्न टेपरेकर्डरको बटन क्याच्च थिच्छु । म बेलाबेला पालैपालो दुई चक्का सुनिरहेको छु । तपाईंसँग पनि पुराना क्यासेट छन् र बज्ने क्यासेट–प्लेयर छ भने निकाल्नुस् र क्याच्च पार्नुस् ! यदि छैनन् भने पुराना दिन सम्झनुस् । मभन्दा अलि पछिको जेन–जी वा जेन–अल्फा पुस्ता पर्नुभएमा यस्तो अनुभव गर्न नपाउनुभएकामा सरी ! तपाईंलाई क्यासेट फर्काउने दुःखै गर्नुपरेन, अहिले त तपाईं प्ले–लिस्टमा गीत राखेर भिडियोसहित मस्त हुन पाउनुहुन्छ । तपाईं भाग्यमानी !

गीत बज्यो :

स जौका बारी, गौंका फुला कम्पनी

स फूल बान्दी जया बैनै कम्पनी

झल्काइदेऊ झल्काइदेऊ गलैको माला कम्पनी

फागुनको अन्तिम छेक ‘नेपथ्य’ किताब झोलामा हालेर ऊ जन्मिएको पोखरा जाँदै छु । बिहान झिसमिसेमा विमानस्थल पुगेको मलाई सात घण्टा कुराएर जहाज नउड्ने सन्देश दिई बुद्ध ध्यान गर्न गए । म भने जहाजको बोर्डिङ पास गोजीमा राखी गाडी चढेर मध्यरातमा पोखरा पुगें । बोर्डिङ पासको सिरानी लगाएर, टर्बुलेन्स नै टर्बुलेन्सवाला सडकले हल्लाएर शिथिल पारेको शरीरलाई मैले पोखराको तालछेउमा लम्पसार पारें, बिहान हिमाल देख्ने आसमा ।

फेवातालको छेउमा सयौं मानिस साहित्यबारे वा त्यस्तै अरू केहीबारे गफ गरिरहेका छन् । तालका डुंगामा मानिसहरू बगिरहेछन्, फोटो खिचिरहेछन् । रुख उभिइरहेका छन्, चरा कराइरहेका छन् । हाडलाई मासुले छोपेजसरी चट्टानलाई हिउँको लेपन लगाउन पाएकामा माछापुच्छ्रे, धौलागिरि र अन्नपूर्ण हिमशृंखला मख्छ छन् । लाग्छ, माछापुच्छ्रेले हिउँरूपी टिसर्ट लगाएको छ भने छेउछाउका अरूले चाहिँ ज्याकेट ।

^{नेपथ्य व्याण्डकाे कन्सर्ट । फाेटाे: कान्तिपुर दैनिक}

यही फेवातालबाट अमृतले साधना गर्ने प्यारो गोठ पुग्न एकाध घण्टा लाग्छ, तर मलाई जानु छैन, सम्झनु मात्रै छ । उनी अस्ट्रेलियाका सहरहरूमा कन्सर्टमा घन्काइरहेका छन् त्यसैले उनको गोठमा गएर के गर्नु ? सायद गोठका बिराला प्रतीक्षारत थिए होलान्, तर मलाई त्यो प्रतीक्षा हेर्ने रहर भएन ।

अमृतले खेलेका पहाड वरिपरि छु म, उनले पौडेको तालछेउ ! उनले ‘नेपथ्य’ किताबमा भनेका छन्– उनका पालामा गाउँमा युवाहरूले भन्थे रे, कि त दोकान कि त जापान ! म सम्झेर हाँसिरहेको छु । जापान गएका भए अमृतले अहिले के गर्दा हुन् ? दोकान खोलेको भए अहिले किराना वा कपडा दोकानमा सामान बेच्दै गरेका अमृत कस्ता देखिँदा हुन् ? भो अहिलेकै अमृत ठीक छन्, कम्तीमा मैले गीत त सुन्न पाएँ भनेर मुस्कुराउँछु ।

फेवातालमा केहीबेर डुंगामा बगेर म तालपारि पुगेको छु । परको हिमाल हेरिरहेको छु । घामले डामेर हिउँलाई पगालेर बाफ बनाउँदै छ । त्यही हिमाल, जहाँ त्यो बादल हिउँ बनेर झर्‍यो र केहीबेर त्यहीं बस्यो, उडेर उसैलाई छेक्दै छ । समयको न कुरा हो । हिजो हिउँ बनेर झरेको पानी बिहान उडेर बादल बन्यो र पछि हिउँ बनेर फेरि झर्नेछ मान्छेजस्तै । हिजो कोही आयो, आज कोही छ र भोलि फेरी कोही आउनेछ । सबैले केहीबेर फुर्तीफार्ती गर्नेछन् र फेरि माटोका रूपमा अरू कसैका लागि मल बनेर बस्नेछन् । पृथ्वीमा हरेक कुरा चलायमान छ र त चलिरहेछ जीवन पनि– जन्म, मध्यान्तर र मृत्यु बनेर ।

यिनै वरिपरिका रुखको छाहरीमा, तिनै तालको पानीमा, उभिएको सेतो हिमालमा, उड्दै गरेका बादलमा छ– नेपथ्यको मन र त गीतहरूमा त्यो झल्किन्छ । मानिस आखिर त्यही पानी, माटो, हावा, बादल, रुख, बिरुवाकै भरमा त बाँचेको हो, तर उसलाई लाग्छ, ऊ त उसको फोक्सोले सास फेरेर आफैं बाँचेको हो । भ्रममा छ मान्छे, तर त्यसो भन्यो भने ऊ रिसाउँछ ।

आधुनिक मान्छेलाई कम आँक्ने ? ऊ झोक्किन्छ । जहाज चढ्ने, बम पड्काउने, गाडीमा गुड्ने, रकेट उडाउने मान्छेलाई अहम्को भारीले थिचेको छ तैपनि ऊ भनिरहेछ– यो पृथ्वीमा मान्छे मात्रै बाँच्नुपर्छ, हाम्रै शासन चल्नुपर्छ । मानिसको कथामा ती हिमाल, तिनले बगाएका खोला, उडाएका बादल, हुर्काएका रुख, जमाएका ताल सबै कुरा मिसिएर आउँछन् र त गीत बन्छन्, जसरी यो गीतमा भनिएको छ :

तालको पानी माछीले खानी

पिरिमसित जाने कि नजाने !

हाँगो नाच्ने वनचरी त आकाशैको बाज

जुगौं भयो पिरिम भाको बल्ल भेटें आज

‘नेपथ्य’ का गीतमा प्रकृतिका अनेक आयाम त्यसै आएका होइनन्, त्यसलाई अमृतले खोजीखोजी ल्याउँछन् । उनी मान्छेले गाएका गीत सुन्छन् र त्यो गीत जन्माउने प्रकृतिको आवाज पनि सुन्छन् । उनले मलाई पहिलो भेटमा भनेका थिए, माथि हिमालतिर हिँड्दै गर्दा स्पिकरमा गीत घन्काएर हिँडिरहेका एक जनाले उनीसँग फोटो खिच्न अनुरोध गरेछन् ।

फोटो खिच्दै अमृतले भनेछन्, ‘चराले यस्ता राम्रा गीत गाएका छन्, रुखले सुसेलेका छन्, तपाईं किन चर्को गीत घन्काउँदै हिँडेको नि ? यहाँ त चरा, रुखलाई सुने पनि हुने ।’ उनले थपेका थिए, ‘म त कान र आँखा दुवै खोलेर हिँड्छु । सहरको कर्कस आवाज होस् वा नदीको गडगड आवाज । चराको चिर्बिर होस् वा रुखको स्याइँसुइँ ।’

गीतरूपी बच्चा पाउन अमृत खोलाका तीर जान्छन्, पहाडका भीर नाप्छन् । जंगलको गहिराइमा डुब्छन्, हिमालसँगै हाँस्छन् । चराका स्वरमा अल्झिन्छन्, माटोको सुगन्ध सुँघ्छन् । जीवनको भोगाइ र मरणको पर्खाइमा रहेकाहरूसँग संवाद गर्छन् ।

कहिले डोल्पाका थिन्ले भेट्छन् त कहिले संखुवासभाका डिल्ले । पहाडहरूमा गीत खोज्दै उकालिन्छन्, तराईका फाँट हेरेर गम्छन् । कतै रुन्छन्, कतै हाँस्छन् । यस्तै–यस्तैमा अघि बढेका अमृत कन्सर्टहरूमा आएर पोखिन्छन् । उनलाई तीन कुराप्रति निकै सम्मान छ– संगीत, साहित्य र प्रकृति । म अहिले संगीतबारे सोचिरहेको छु, साहित्यबारे सुनिरहेको छु र प्रकृतिमा रमाइरहेको छु, उनै अमृतको गाउँठाउँमा ।

फेवातालको पारि अर्थात् तालपारि मसँग टेपरिकर्डर छैन, नभए क्यासेटको साइड चेन्ज गर्न क्याच्च पार्नेथिएँ । तर, सम्झनामा गीत त छ, जुन मैले धौलाशिरी हिमाल हेर्दै गुन्गुनाइरहेको छु–

शिरफूल शिरैमा, वनफूल वनैमा

हिउँको फूल धौलाशिरीमा

जहाज उडेर सेता हिमाललाई चुनौती दिँंदै उकालियो । पहाड–हिमाल होचा हुँदै गए । नदी गहिरिँदै गए । तिनै हिमाल पग्लेर, पहाड रसाएर झरेको सेती नदी नागबेली बगेर दक्षिण लाग्दै छ । अघिल्लो दिनको पानीले पखालेका पहाडहरू रसिला र सफा देखिन्छन् । म भने ‘नेपथ्य’ को त्यही गीत सम्झिरहेको छु वा गाइरहेको–

झुलुक्कै हेर्दा टलक्कैमा टल्किरहने हिमालबाट खोलो झर्‍यो बेसी सललल नदेखे माया के हो कसो, देखे माया झलमल हिमाल हेर्दै जहाजमै नाच्ने छुट मलाई थिएन, त्यसैले खुट्टा हल्लाएँ । जहाज पूर्व हान्नियो कंक्रिटको जंगल भेट्न, जहाँ मेरो शरीर बस्ने गर्छ, मन त कहाँ छ कहाँ ! जहाजबाट हिमाल हेर्दै गर्दा म भने अमृतका प्रिय गायक अरुण थापासँग भएको डरलाग्दो भेटपछि तनावका बीच हिँडेको हिमाली पदयात्रा सम्झिन्छु ।

लागूऔषधमा फसेका अरुण जीवनको अन्तिमतिरको समय बिताइरहेका हुन्छन् । एक दिन अमृत बागबजारमा अरुण बसेको होटल पुग्छन् । हातमा सुई घोच्न खोजिरहेका अरुणले सकिरहेका हुँदैनन् । ‘भाइ हेल्प मी’, अरुण अनुरोध गर्छन् । अमृतलाई दया लाग्छ र सहयोग गर्न जान्छन् । तर, अरुणको हात हल्लिएर सुई त अमृतको हातमा गाडिन्छ, रगत आउँछ । एचआईभी संक्रमित हुन्छन्, अरुण ।

अमृतलाई त्यो कुरा थाहा त थियो, तर उनको दयाभावले भाइरसबारे सोचेन सायद । आफ्नो हातबाट रगत आएपछि अमृत झल्याँस्स हुन्छन् र भाइरस सम्झेर आत्तिन्छन् । ‘के गरेको ?’ भनेर चिच्याउँदै गर्दा अरुणले ‘सरि भाइ’ भन्छन् । तर, त्यसको के अर्थ ! सुई गडिसक्यो, रगत आइसक्यो ! अमृत फनक्क फर्किन्छन् र टेकु अस्पतालमा एचआईभी परीक्षण गर्न जान्छन्, तर रिपोर्ट आउन ४२ दिन लाग्छ भनिन्छ ।

भर्खरै बिहे गरेका उनी घरबाट ‘डकुमेन्ट्रीको काम छ’ भनेर केही हप्ताका लागि हिमालतिर जान्छन्, मैले हेरिरहेका तिनै हिमालतिर । मृत्युको भयले आत्तिएको उनको मनमा अरुणप्रतिको सम्मान घटेको हुँदैन । बीचबाटोतिर उनले रेडियोमा अरुण मरेको खबर सुन्छन् र खिन्न हुन्छन् । केही सातापछि उनी काठमान्डु फर्किन्छन् । उनको रिपोर्ट ‘नेगेटिभ’ आउँछ । अरुणले सास फेर्न छाडेको यो सहरमा अमृतले लामो सास फेर्छन् ।

अरुणको गायकी क्षमताको प्रभाव अमृतमा गहिरो गरी बसेको हुन्छ, तर अरुणले आफूलाई जसरी सिध्याए, त्यसले भने अमृतको मन बेचैन भइरहन्छ । अमृत भन्छन्, ‘अरुण दाइ दुःखी थिए, तर उनी मञ्चमा बसेपछि मञ्च चमक्क चम्कन्थ्यो । खासमा अरुण ऋतुहरूको वसन्तजस्तै गायनका वसन्त थिए, उनको जीवन भने शिशिरजस्तो कठोर ।’

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चैतको अन्तिम साता ! घरको बेलौतीमा पात छपक्कै भएका छन्, मनमा खुसी । नेपथ्य अस्ट्रेलियाबाट फर्कियो र उसले काठमाडौंको उत्तरमा बागमती किनारछेउ गोकर्णेश्वरमा घन्किने तयारी गर्दै छ । म भने नेपथ्यको कन्सर्ट पहिलो पटक हेर्ने योजनामा छु । पूर्णिमाको साँझ । घाम अस्तायो, जून उदायो । स्टेजमा घडीले समय देखायो, ६ बजे ।

सात हजार मानिस भेला भएछन् । साँझ बिस्तारै गहिरिँदै गयो भने अमृतले गीत घन्काउँदै गए । दर्शकका हजारौं मोबाइल र माथि जूनलाई हेर्दा यस्तो लाग्थ्यो, पृथ्वीको एउटा जून भएजस्तै हरेक मान्छेसँग मोबाइलरूपी एउटा–एउटा जून छ । माथिको जूनलाई नै फिक्का बनाउने गरी मानिसहरू मोबाइलरूपी जूनले ‘नेपथ्य’ खिचिरहेछन्, गीतमा झुमिरहेछन् । पूर्णेको जून हेर्दै अमृतले घोक हाले, ‘आउँदै गरेको नयाँ साल सबैको राम्रो होस् हइइइइइइ । यो सुन्दर देश जसरी भए पनि हेर्न जानूस् हइइइइइइ । यो प्रकृतिले दिएको नासो जोगाइराख्नूस् हइइइइइइ । यो नेपाली भाषा बोलिराख्नूस् हइइइइइइ । यो रातो चन्द्र–सूर्य रहेसम्म हामी मिलेर बसौं हइइइइइइइ ।’

म भने यो भव्य कन्सर्ट हेर्दै सम्झिरहेको छु– त्यो भैरहवामा भएको ‘नेपथ्य’ को कन्सर्टको प्रसंग, जहाँ कार्यक्रम सकिएपछि आयोजक भाग्छन् । तिनै आयोजकलाई लखेट्दै अमृतहरू सडकमा अश्लील गाली गर्दै, ‘समात् समात्’ भन्दै दौडिन्छन् र अन्तिममा खाली हात काठमान्डु फर्किन्छन् । त्यही ‘नेपथ्य’ आज व्यवस्थित र भव्य कन्सर्टमा ढुक्कले गाउँदै छ, हजारौंका माझ । घडीमा आठ बज्यो, कन्सर्ट सकियो, दर्शक लाखापाखा लागे । तर, आयोजक भागेनन् ।

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सन् २०१३ मा नेपथ्य लन्डनको वेम्बली स्टेडियममा गीत गाउने पहिलो नेपाली ब्यान्ड बन्यो । यो लेख सुरु गर्दा अस्ट्रेलियातिर थियो ‘नेपथ्य’, लेख छापिँदा अमेरिकामा घन्किरहेको छ । यसरी कन्सर्टमा धेरै दौडेर ‘नेपथ्य’ ले नयाँ गीत कम ल्यायो भन्ने गुनासो उसका शुभचिन्तकको छ वा मेरो छ भनेर म नभनिरहन सक्दिनँ । फेरि यसरी नेपाली ब्यान्ड संसारैभरि घन्कनु पनि नराम्रो कहाँ हो र भनेर पनि भन्न मैले छुटाउनु भएन ।

तपाईं मलाई दोधारे वा दहीचिउरे पनि भन्न सक्नुहुन्छ । कलाकारले जीवन धान्ने पैसा पाए पो ढुक्कले सिर्जना गर्न सक्छन् । ‘नेपथ्य’ का कैयौं क्षमतावान सदस्य त्यसैको पीरले विदेश भास्सिए– कोही हङकङ, कोही जापान ! कुनै बेला अमृतले पनि संगीत छाड्ने सोच्दै थिए । ‘त्यसैले त्यसरी कन्सर्ट भइरहुन् तर नयाँ गीत पनि आइरहुन् हइइइइइ अमृत दाइ !’ भनेर मैले घोक किन नहाल्ने ?

यस्तो ब्यान्डबारे पक्कै किताब लेखिनुपर्थ्यो । किताब गिरीश गिरीले लेखेको भए पनि अमृतले सहलेखकसरहको हिस्सा ओगटेका छन् । कतै डुंगारूपी नेपथ्य नदीका छाल पार गर्न संघर्ष गरिरहेछ, कतै शान्त रहमा पौडिरहेछ । ब्यान्डका सदस्यबीचको मनमुटाव, झगडा र बिछोडको शृंखला नै छन् । कतै चट्टानमा बझारिएको छ, कतै शान्त छ– नेपथ्य । तर, उसले बग्न छाडेको छैन ।

नेपथ्यरूपी डुंगा छालमा परेर ढलमलिँदा आड दिने दीपकजंग राणा छन् तर उनी ब्यान्डमा भने छैनन् । ‘नेपथ्य’ स्थापना गर्ने भीम पुन पनि छैनन् । सुरुवाती गायक रविन श्रेष्ठ पनि अन्तै लागे । पटक–पटक फुट्छ ‘नेपथ्य’, नेपालका कम्युनिस्ट पार्टीजस्तो तर ‘नेपथ्य’ मर्दैन किनकि त्यसलाई अमृतले पानी–मल हालेर फेरि हुर्काउँछन् ।

^{नेपथ्य व्याण्डका सदस्यहरु । फाेटाे: कान्तिपुर दैनिक}

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वैशाखको अन्तिम साता ‘नेपथ्य’ को टोली अमेरिका जानु केही दिनअघि ‘नेपालय’ मा नयाँ गीतको भिडियो हेर्दा फेरि अमृतसँग छोटो भेट भयो । उनी मलाई ‘छालबाटो’ भनेर बोलाउँछन् । उनको नयाँ गीत पनि कर्नालीकै रहेछ– ‘कर्नालीका छाइला’ अर्थात् ‘छाया’ । त्यो भिडियो हेरेर आइसकेपछि यो लेखको मैझारो गर्न फेरि म क्यासेटमा गीत सुन्दै उही बरन्डामा बसेको छु । बेलौतीका पात छपक्कै भएका छन् । भर्खर फुलेको छ, अब केही समयमा फल्छ । ‘नेपथ्य’ पनि कैयौं पटक टुक्रिएर, पटक–पटक जोडिएको छ ।

कैयौं पटक काटिएर फेरि पलाएको छ । कैयौं पटक ढलेर फेरि उठेको छ, जसरी काटिएको बेलौतीको रूखले फेरि हरियो भएर सेता फूल फुलाउँदै छ । बेलौतीलाई मैले मल हालेको छु भने ‘नेपथ्य’ लाई उसका मायालु श्रोताले ।

नयाँ प्रयोगस्वरूप ‘नेपथ्य’ ले गीतको भिडियो केही समय पैसा तिरेर हेर्न मिल्ने बनाएको रहेछ । निःशुल्क हेर्न मैले एक–दुई हप्ता कुर्न सकिनँ, त्यसैले २० रुपैयाँ तिरेर भिडियो किनें र बारम्बार हेरें । कर्नालीका छालले भिजेर आएको मेरो शरीरमा ‘नेपथ्य’ को छाया मिसाएँ । एकातिर क्यासेट प्लेयरमा गीत बजिरहेको छ, अर्कोतिर ल्यापटपमा भिडियो घन्किरहेको अनि छ हातमा ‘नेपथ्य’ किताब । मलाई चिच्याएर भन्न मन लाग्यो, ‘नेपथ्यले गीत गाइरहोस् हइइइइइइ अमृत दाइ,’ जसरी उनी कन्सर्टहरूमा घोक हाल्छन् । अरू कुरा गोठमै होला, अहिलेका लागि भने ‘कर्नालीका छाइला हइइइइइइ’ !

जीउ काटी जिउनारै लायाँ, अझै नपत्याउन्या

नबोली पिरती टुट्यो, अझै नपत्याउन्या

कर्नालीका छाइला, कर्नालीका छाइलै छाइला

^{पहिलाेपटक प्रकाशित कान्तिपुर दैनिक।}

^{थापाथली पुलबाट खिचिएकाे वाग्मती नदी। फाेटाे: रमेश भुसाल}

तीन बजेर तीन मिनेट गएको छ । दिन सोमबार, महिना– भदौ, साता– पहिलो । र, स्थान– थापाथली पुल । पुलको दक्षिण– ललितपुर, उत्तर– काठमान्डु । मान्छेले कित्ताकाट गरेको पृथ्वीमा ‘तेरो र मेरो’ मात्रै छ, ‘हाम्रो’ छैन । ‘हाम्रो’ भइहाल्यो भने त्यो ‘मान्छेको’ मात्रै हुन्छ । जस्तो हाम्रो देश, हाम्रो परिवार, हाम्रो संस्कृति यस्तै–यस्तै ।

यसरी कित्ता काटिएको पृथ्वीको एक देशमा, एक सहरमा, एक जिल्लामा, एक पुलको बीचमा उभिएको छु– म । करिब एक किलोमिटर पूर्वमा धोबीखोला र पाँच किलोमिटर पूर्वमा मनोहरा खोला मिसाएपछि पश्चिम–दक्षिण बग्दो बागमती बर्खामा पनि मैलो छ, धमिलो होइन । मैलो नदीको होइन फोहोरको रंग हो, मलमूत्रको रंग हो । खासमा बर्खामा नदी माटोको रंगमा बग्नुपर्थ्यो, अर्थात् धमिलो । तर, बागमती माटोको होइन, मान्छेको रंगमा बग्ने गर्छ ।

थापाथलीमा देखिएको बागमतीको मैलो रूप यो सहरका स्वघोषित मजस्ता सभ्य मानिसहरूको असली रंग हो । उनीहरूले बागमतीलाई आफ्नो मैलो रंग भिराएर आफू सफा र सभ्य बनेको भ्रममा बाँचिरहेका छन् । उसको असली रूप–रंग हराएको धेरै भइसक्यो, कम्तीमा पनि चार दशक अघिदेखि बागमतीले आफ्नो रूप देखाएर बग्न पाएको छैन । खासमा बागमती मेरो प्रतिबिम्ब हो, हाम्रो प्रतिबिम्ब हो । यहाँ उभिएर बागमती हेर्दा मलाई लाज लागिरहेछ । मैले आफैंलाई नाङ्गो देखिरहेछु । यो सहरलाई काठमान्डुबाट लाजमान्डु बनाउने मजस्ता चालीस लाख मान्छेलाई म नाङ्गै देखिरहेछु । सफा आकाश, सेता बादलमुनि कपडा लगाएरै उभिएको आफू, कपडा लगाएर हिँडेका, गुडेका अरू सबैलाई बुङ्गै देखिरहेछु ।

काठमान्डुको उत्तरमा उभिएको २,७३२ मिटर अग्लो शिवपुरी डाँडास्थित बाग्द्वारमा उब्जेको सानो मूल अर्थात् बागमतीले उपत्यकाको लगभग ५० किलोमिटरको दूरी यात्रा गर्दा ५७ खोलानाला वा ढलमाला सबैलाई आफूमा मिसाएर चोभारको गल्छीबाट दुःखी भएर बाहिरिन्छ । ऊ बाहिरिनुअघिको सकस हेर्दै छु म ।

बागमतीको रंग देखेर दिक्क भएको म वा आफ्नै प्रतिबिम्बले आत्तिएको म, पुलको बीचमा उभिएर एक सर्को हावा फोक्सोमा पुर्‍याएर केहीबेर थप बाँच्ने प्रयास गर्दैगर्दा फेरि झस्किन्छु । बर्खे पानीले बागमतीको गन्ध घटाएको भए पनि हटाएको छैन भन्ने मेरो नाकले चाल पाइहाल्छ । तर, गन्धयुक्त नै भए पनि मलाई केहीबेर बाँच्न एक सर्को हावाको अत्यन्तै जरुरी छ । एक मुठी हावा तानें, केहीबेर बाँचें । गन्धयुक्त हावामा रहेको अक्सिजन फोक्सोमा गयो, कार्बनडाइअक्साइड मैले हावामा पठाइदिएँ । त्यो हावाभरि फैलिएको गन्ध मेरो हो भनेर आफैंलाई भन्न मन लागेन । त्यसैले मैले वरिपरिका घरमा बस्ने मानिसहरूको गन्ध हो भनेर आफूलाई चोख्याएँ । आफ्ना बेइमानी लुकाउन मान्छेजस्तो सिपालु अरू को छ र ?

बागमतीको दाहिने किनार काठमान्डुको नाममा छ, देब्रे किनार ललितपुर नाम गरेको जिल्लाको नाममा छ । काठमान्डुपट्टिको किनारमा सर्लक्क बाक्लो ढुंगे पर्खाल लगाइएको छ भने ललितपुरतिर खुट्किलासहितको घाट छ । परसम्म आँखा तानेर हेरें, बागमती बगिरहेको देखेर थोरै खुसी भएँ, कम्तीमा बागमती बगेको छ भनेर । यो कस्तो बेला आयो, जहाँ नदी बगेको देख्दा खुसी हुनुपर्छ भनेर गमें । वर्षमा चार महिना मात्रै बग्ने बागमती अरू आठ महिना लतारिन्छ, फोहोरको पोको बोकेर, गन्ध छरेर । धन्न मानिसले हालेको मलमूत्र बादल बनेर झर्दैन, नभए त काठमान्डुका हरेक मानिसहरू बर्खामा आफ्नै मलमूत्रले निथ्रुक्क हुनेथिए । ती ठसठस गनाउनेथिए । प्रकृतिले पानीलाई बाफमा बदलेर बादल बनाइदिन्छ, बाँकी जमिनतिरै व्यवस्थापन गरिदिन्छ । यो उसको क्षमताले मानिस थोरै सभ्य देखिन पाएको छ । बादल झरेपछि बागमतीको गति बढ्छ । उसको गन्ध कम हुन्छ । खासमा बागमतीले पनि बर्खामा नुहाउँछ । यहाँ उभिएर बागमती हेर्दा यस्तो लाग्छ, ऊ चालीस लाख पेटको बोझ बोकेर बगेको दुःखी भरिया हो ।

भरिया बागमतीबाट उसको किनारासमेत हराएको छ, उसको बगर पनि छैन । बगर वा किनारा बिनाको नदी कसरी हुन सक्छ ? किनार नहुने त नहर हुन्छ, नदी हुँदैन । बगर त नदीको मुटु हो । मुटु नै नचलेपछि शरीर मुर्दा भएजस्तो किनार नभएको नदी पनि मृत हुन्छ । बगर त भारी बिसाउने चौतारी हो नदीको । किनार, जहाँ नदीले कतै ढुंगाको बगर बनाउँछ, कतै बालुवाको बिस्तारा । किनारहरूमा नदी सुस्ताउँछ, केहीबर टहलिन्छ । यस्तो छुट ढलभरिया बनेको बागमतीलाई अहिले छैन, त्यसैले त ऊ दुःखी छ । उसको मर्कने ठाउँहरूमा बलिया पर्खाल लगाइएको छ । ऊ सुस्ताउने ठाउँमा पार्क भन्दै सिमेन्टका आकृतिहरू उभ्याइएको छ । कतै कतै त हरियो देखाउन सिमेन्टका गमलामा केही बिरुवा रोपिएको छ । आफैंले कुरूप बनाएको बागमतीलाई फेरि ‘राम्रो’ बनाउने नाममा सिमेन्टका जुत्ता लगाएका रुखहरूले घेरिएको छ । धाबीखोलाको किनारैकिनार त रुखहरूको पनि कैदीहरूको जस्तो नामकरण गरिएको छ । केही साताअघि त हो, मैले धोबीखोलाका कैदी रुखहरूको तस्बिर खिचेको । ती कैदी रुख नम्बर– ४३५४, ४३५५, ४३५६, ४३५६ यस्तै यस्तै, मेरो मोबाइलमा सेभ भएको तस्बिरमा देखिन्छ । नदीको किनारमा पर्खाल, पर्खालमाथि सिमेन्टका ड्रम अनि तिनै ड्रमभित्र बिरुवा । राम्रो बनाएको रे, नदी किनारलाई । ठूलो परियोजना नै छ बागमती ब्युटिफिकेसन भन्ने । उपत्यकाका नदीनालाछेउ उभिएर यस्तो गीत गाउँ जस्तो लाग्छ–

ए मान्छे, के गरेको यस्तो

ब्युटी बनाउन, क्युटी बनाउन

हामी हेरेको हेर्‍यै, हामी हेरेको हेर्‍यै

ए बागमती

गन्ध छरेर, मलमूत्र हुलेर

तिमी बगेको बग्यै, तिमी हेरेको हेर्‍यै

०००

पूर्वबाट म फरक्क पश्चिम फर्कें, बागमती बगेको बाटो हेर्न । बागमतीका किनारमा कि सडक बनेका छन् कि त घर । कतै मन्दिर त कतै पार्क । कतैकतै रोपेका रुखहरूले हरियो रंगमा उभिएको प्रहरीका रूपमा पहरा दिइरहेजस्तो लाग्छ । गुडिरहेका गाडीले पुल थर्काएका छन् । म पनि थर्किरहें । बागमती छेउछाउमा कोलाहाल छ, नदीमा मलमूत्र छ ।

पश्चिम फर्केपछि म उत्तर हान्निएँ वा काठमान्डुतर्फ । किनारैछेउको ‘द चील’ क्याफेमा पसें, टुसुक्क बसें । चिया मगाएँ । एमानको एभोकाडोको रुख हेर्दै मैले साहुजीलाई भनें, ‘यत्रो एभोकाडोको रुख त मैले केहिल्यै दखेको थिइनँ ।’ उनले उत्तर फर्काए, ‘ढलको मलले यसलाई धेरै ठूलो बनायो ।’

यही सहर, जहाँ म ३५ वर्ष बरालिएँ तर कहिल्यै यसको किनारको बालुवामा पल्टिन पाइनँ, एक पटक डुबुल्की मार्न पाइनँ । यो कस्तो नदी हो, जो मेरो यति नजिक भएर पनि यति टाढा छ । यो कस्तो नदी हो, जो आफ्नै भएर पनि पराइ छ । यो कस्तो नदी हो, जसलाई हेर्न नपरोस् भनेर बाटो काट्न हतारिन्छु । सुँघ्न नपरोस् भनेर मुन्टो बटार्छु । चील क्याफेमा म चियाको चुस्कीसँगै चिन्तित भएँ ।

चील क्याफेमा बसेर मैले यसको मुहानमा पिएको एक पेट पानी सम्झें र यहाँ उसको अवस्था हेरें । उसको किनारमा मानिसहरूले ढुंगाको नत्थी लगाइदिएका छन्, आचीको लेपन लगाइदिएका छन्, फोहोरको भारी बोकाइदिएका छन् । लगभग ३,७०० वर्गकिलोमिटर अर्थात् देशको कुल भूभागको दुई प्रतिशत हाराहारीको भूभागबाट बगेको पानीको निकास यो बागमती, हिउँदमा बग्न नपाएर रुन्छ, बर्खामा अडिन नपाएर रुन्छ । हिउँदमा पानी नपाएर रुन्छ, बर्खामा पानीले भिजेर रुन्छ । तर, निरन्तर रोइरहन्छ ।

यो कचौरारूपी खाल्डो, जुन हजारौं वर्षअघि ताल थियो । त्यसैभित्र जहाँ माछाहरू पौडी खेल्थे, त्यहीं उभिएर आज म नहर बनेको, ढल बनेको बागमती हेरिरहेछु । मानिसले कुनै ठाउँ कति चाँडै कसरी बिगार्न सक्छ भन्ने बलियो उदाहरण हेरिरहेछु । अर्थात् मैले मारेको नदी र मैले बिगारेको सहर हेरिरहेछु ।

कसरी बन्यो त त्यो तालमान्डु अहिलेको कुरूप काठमान्डु ? म खोज्न थाल्छु । समुद्री सतहबाट १,३०० मिटरको उचाइमा महाभारत पहाड शृंखलाभित्र यो सहर बन्नुअघि यो तालमान्डु थियो । सन् २०१६ मा हारुटाका साकाईको टोलीले काठमान्डु उपत्यकाको भौगर्भिक चिरफार गरेको अध्ययन पढें । त्यो अध्ययनले निचोड निकालेको छ कि ४८ हजार र ३८ वर्षअघिको समयमा दुई पटक तालरूपी उपत्यकाको पानी स्वाट्टै घट्यो । यहाँको ढुंगामाटोमा रहेको जीवाश्माको अध्ययन गरेको साकाईको टोलीले भन्यो– यी दुई समयमा बाँस प्रजातिको बाम्बुसोइडीएको अवशेष निकै धेरै पाइयो भने पेडियास्ट्रम नाम गरेको लेउको मात्रा पनि बढेको पाइयो । यी दुवै प्रजाति गहिरो तालमा होइन, सिमसारजस्तो पानीको मात्रा कम हुने तर ओसिलो ठाउँमा पाइने गर्छ ।

कारण के होला त ? उनीहरूको अनुमान छ, ठूलो भुँइचालो । ५१ हजार वर्षजति अघि काठमान्डुको उत्तरमा लाङटाङ क्षेत्रमा निकै ठूलो पहिरो गएको थियो । त्यो पहिरोमा सिउडोट्याकिलाइट नाम गरेको एक किसिमको ढुंगा भेटिएको थियो, जुन भुइँचालो गएका बेला घर्षण भएर बन्ने गर्छ । काठमान्डु तालको पानी स्वाट्टै घटेको समय पनि त्यही समयको आसपासमा पर्छ, त्यसैले भुइँचालोले पानीको मात्रा घटाएको हुन सक्ने प्रबल सम्भावना छ भनेर हारुटाकाको टोलीले भनेको छ । यसरी पानी घट्दै गयो, जमिन देखिँदै गयो । पानीले थलो छाडेपछि मान्छेले उपत्यका लियो र बिस्तारै काठमान्डु बागमतीको होइन, मान्छेको हुँदै गयो । इन्च–इन्चको हिसाब गर्दै मानिसले यो उपत्यकाका लगभग ५७ वटा शाखा–प्रशाखा खोला–नालालाई पेल्दै–पेल्दै लग्यो । नदीहरूलाई नहर बनायो, आफ्नो रहर पूरा गरायो । गाडी सरर गुडायो, ढल खलल्ल बगायो । नदीमा आफ्नो गन्ध फालेर उसले अत्तरको गन्ध आफूमा छर्क्यो, मख्ख पर्‍यो ।

चालीस लाख मानिसको पेटको बोझ बोकेर यो दुःखी उपत्यकाको झन्डै ५० किलोमिटर दूरी पार गरेपछि चोभारको बलियो चट्टान काटेर बागमती काभ्रे, मकवानपुर, सिन्धली, सर्लाही र रौतहट पुग्दा चुरेलाई चुमेर मधेशमा लम्पसार पर्छ । भारतको विहारस्थित भागलपुरभन्दा उत्तरमा बद्लाघाटसम्म लगभग ६०० किलोमिटरको दूरी बगेपछि बागमती कोशीमा मिसिन्छ । बागमती मिसाएको कोशी भागलपुरको दक्षिणपूर्वमा रहेको कुर्सेलामा पश्चिमतिरबाट महाकाली, कर्णाली, गण्डकी मिसाएर थप बलियो भएको गंगामा विलीन हुन्छ । त्यसपछि आसामतिरबाट झरेको ब्रह्मपुत्र भेटेर मख्ख परेको बागमती मिश्रित गंगा बंगलादेश पुग्छ, जहाँ उसले मेघना लगायतका नदी मिसाउँछ र बंगालको खाडीमा हिन्द महासागरमा होमिन्छ । बाफ बनेर बादलको रूप लिएपछि भने बागमती फेरि उत्तर हानिन्छ । यसरी सधैं गुहु बोकेर जाने र पानी बनेर फर्कने गरेकाले काठमान्डुका मान्छेले आफ्नो जीवन धानेका छन् । फुर्तीफार्ती गरेका छन् । राजधानीवासी भएका छन् । खासमा त यो नेपालको लाजधानी हो, राजधानी होइन ।

यो सयौं वर्षदेखि भव्य सहर थियो । दक्षिणबाट हिमालय कटेर जाने भारतीय हुन् वा उत्तरमा तिब्बतबाट त्यही हिमालय पर्वत काटेर दक्षिण झर्ने व्यापारी, भिक्षु वा राजा महाराजा हुन् । तिनको चौतारी थियो यो उपत्यका, जहाँ हिन्दु–बौद्धले सत्संग गर्थे । सन् १८९८ मा नेपाल आइपुगेका फ्रान्सेली अध्येता शिल्भाँ लिभीले यो उपत्यकालाई यो क्षेत्रको सभ्यतको जिउँदो संग्रहालय भनेर आफ्नो किताब ‘नेपालको इतिहास’ मा लेखेका छन् । त्यो सभ्यताको संग्रहालयमा अहिले यहाँका बासिन्दाले दुर्गन्ध भरिदिएका छन् । त्यो सभ्यतालाई मौलाउन सघाएको बागमती र उसका भाइबहिनीहरू मनोहरा, टुकुचा, विष्णुमती, नख्खु, बल्खु, हनुमन्ते, धोबीखोला, गोदावरी, कोड्कु खोला सबैका किनारा लुटेर मानिसले आफ्नो मात्रै इतिहास खोपेको छ– कतै घरका रूपमा, कतै सडकका रूपमा, कतै ढलका रूपमा त कतै सिमेन्टरूपी पार्कका रूपमा ।

लिभीपछि सन् १९५० को दशकमा नेपाल पसेर, यतै बसेर, पूरै नेपाल डुलेर, ‘नेपाल’ नामक किताब लेखेका टोनी हागनले काठमान्डुलाई नेपालको सांस्कृतिक मुटु भनेर लेखेका छन् । त्यो सांस्कृतिक मुटुलाई चलायमान बनाएको थियो रगतरूपी बागमतीले । तालको मलिलो माटोमा अन्न फलाएर बाँचेको उपत्यका बिस्तारै–बिस्तारै घर फलाउने काममा लाग्यो । खेत घडेरी बने, नदी नहर बने । त्यो भव्य सहरलाई मान्छेले यो भुत्ते सहर बनायो । त्यो क्रम जारी छ ।

सहर त अरू पनि बनेका छन्, तर सहरले जब मान्छेबारे मात्रै सोच्छ त्यसपछि सहर बस्नयोग्य रहँदैन वा करले मात्रै बस्ने ठाउँ बन्छ । त्यसैले त यो सहर रहरले होइन, करले बस्नुपर्ने ठाउँ बनेको छ । पछिल्लो मात्रै कुरा गर्ने हो भने पनि बागमतीले चौथोदेखि नवौं शताब्दीका लिच्छवि होऊन वा १३ देखि १८ औं शताब्दीका मल्लहरू देख्यो । सन् १७६८ मा पृथ्वीनारायण शाहले काठमान्डु कब्जा गरेको देख्यो र बसन्तपुर दरबारलाई हेर्‍यो । ऊ बेला पृथ्वीनारायणको आगमन देखेको उसले २००८ मा ज्ञानेन्द्र शाहको बहिर्गमन पनि हेर्‍यो, बीचमा वीरेन्द्रको वंशनाशमा पनि टोलायो । सधैं यहाँका मानिसलाई बागमतीले केही दिइरह्यो, तर उसको गुन कसैले तिरेन । फगत उसलाई नै पेल्दै–पेल्दै गए सबैले । उसैलाई मैल्याउँदै गए । उसैलाई गलाउँदै गए । मान्छेले यसरी पेल्दै गयो कि सन् १९९० देखि २०१२ सम्मको अवधिमा मात्रै उपत्यकामा बस्ती–क्षेत्र ३८ वर्ग किलोमिटरबाट बढेर ११९ वर्ग किलोमिटर पुग्यो अर्थात् तीन गुणाले बढ्यो र अहिले १८० वर्ग किलोमिटरतिर पुगेको छ भनेर अध्ययनहरूले देखाएका छन् ।

अर्थात् सहर यसरी विस्तार हुँदै छ कि बर्खाको पानीसमेत आफू जमिनभित्र पस्ने बाटो पाउँदैन र हानिएर नदीमा पस्छ । परेको पानीसमेत जमिनमा पस्न नपाउने गरी सिमेन्टले सिलबन्दी गरेको छ यो सहरलाई । बागमतीले पानी पाएन अर्थात् बग्ने पानी पाएन भनेर अहिले शिवपुरी निकुञ्जको सुन्दरीजलभन्दा माथि धापमा बाँध बाँधेर पानी जम्मा गरिएको छ । अर्को ९४ मिटर अग्लो बाँध त्यसको मुनि अर्थात् नागमती बाँध बाँध्ने तयारी छ । पानी पस्ने भाग आफूले कब्जा गरेर, डाँडामा पानी जम्मा गरेर नदी बगाउन २७ अर्बभन्दा बढी खर्च हुँदै छ ।

तर, त्यो पानीले पनि हिउँदमा बागमतीको बहाव जम्मा तीन सेन्टिमिटरले बढाउनेछ भनेर अध्येताहरू भन्छन् । तीन सेन्टिमिटरका लागि तीस अर्बको खर्च, त्यो पनि गरिब देशले एसियाली विकास बैंकसँग ऋण मागेर । त्यो पैसाले पनि बागमतीमा माछा फर्काउने छैन, प्राण मात्रै धान्नेछ । सन् १९८० को दशकमा बागमतीमा २३ प्रजातिका माछा भएको रेकर्ड थियो भने सन् २००० ताका नै त्यो ११ मा झर्‍यो, अहिले मध्य सहरतिर मृतप्रायः छ भनेर अनुसन्धानकर्ता भन्छन् । जलचर नभएको नदी, किनार नभएको नदी ।

चार अर्ब वर्ष पुरानो पृथ्वीमा मान्छे अर्थात् होमो सेपियन्स करिब तीन लाख वर्षअघि पहिलो पटक आए भन्ने मतमा धेरैको सहमति छ, पचास हजार वा एक लाख घटबढ नै गरौंला । साढे पाँच करोड वर्षअघि हिमालय पर्वत बन्न सुरु भयो, ४८ हजार वर्षजति अघि काठमान्डुको तालको पानी स्वाट्टै घट्यो, त्यसपछि फेरि ३८ हजार वर्षतिर त्यस्तै भयो । १२ वर्ष अघितिरबाट मान्छेले कब्जा हान्दै गए । केही मान्छे, राजारजौटा, मन्दिर गुम्बा, खेतका गरा, बारीका पाटा, अन्नको उब्जनी, रमाइला जात्रा, राजाका दरबार, प्रजाका झुपडी यस्तै–यस्तै थियो यो उपत्यकामा ।

तर, गएको ५० वर्षमा काठमान्डु पूरै कब्जा भयो । नदी नहर बने, खेतबारीमा घर बने, डाँडाकाँडा भने रुख रोपेर अलि हरिया भए । मान्छेको आधा जुनीमै काठमान्डुलाई उसले सुन्दरबाट कुरूप बनायो । माछा भगायो, ढल मिसायो । बाटो बढायो, घर ठड्यायो, किनारा मिच्यो र अन्तिममा कपूरका दुई–चार थान रुखलाई सिमेन्टका जुत्ता लगाएर ब्युटिफिकेसन गरायो, त्यसैमा अहिले सेल्फी हान्दै छ । एउटा भव्य सहरमा बागमती गतिविहीन भएर बगेको छ, मृतप्रायः छ । ऊ सायद अब आफ्नो पुरानो स्वरूपमा कहिल्यै फर्कनेछैन, उसका बगर अब फिर्ता हुने छैनन् र उसको रंग फेरि फेरिने छैन ।

पहिलाेपटक प्रकाशित कान्तिपुर दैनिक । भाद्र २०, २०८२ ।

I spoke with Rodney in June while he was in Nepal for the Conservation Biology Asia conference. Nowadays, I am publishing according to my schedule as I am practicing slow journalism. Please watch it.

डा. मुनिर भिरानी प्रसिद्ध संरक्षण वैज्ञानिक हुन्, वन्यजन्तुबारे फिल्म बनाउँछन र फाेटाेग्राफर पनि हुन्, जसले आफ्नो जीवन सिकारी चराहरू (बर्ड्स अफ प्रे) को संरक्षणमा समर्पित गरेका छन्। केन्यामा जन्मेका र दुबइमा बसोबास गर्दै आएका उनी हाल ‘मोहम्मद बिन जायद र्याप्टर कन्जर्भेसन फण्ड’का मुख्य कार्यकारी (Chief Executive) का रूपमा कार्यरत छन्। आफ्नो करियरको सुरुवाती चरणमा, डा. भिरानीले सन् २००० को दशकको सुरुतिर दक्षिण एसियामा गिद्धको सङ्ख्या निकै घट्नुकाे कारण पत्ता लगाउने टालीकाे सदस्य भएर काम गरेका थिए । उनी ह्विटली अवार्ड (Whitley Award) विजेता र टेड (TED) टल्क वक्ता पनि हुन् । हाम्रो भेट असारमा काठमाडौँमा आयोजित ‘कन्जर्भेसन बायोलोजी एसिया’ सम्मेलनमा भएको थियो र कथावाचन (स्टोरीटेलिङ) प्रतिको हाम्रो साझा लगावका कारण हामी तुरुन्तै निकट भयाैं ।

आजकल, म ‘स्लो जर्नलिज्म’ (Slow Journalism) को अभ्यास गरिरहेकाले हतारमा सामाग्री प्रकाशन गर्दिनँ। मैले स्लो जर्नलिज्मका बारेमा पहिलोपटक पल सालोपेक ( Paul Salopek) बाट सुनेको थिएँ जो पुलित्जर-विजेता पत्रकार हुन् र विगत एक दशकभन्दा बढी समयदेखि विश्वभरी पैदल यात्रा गरिरहेका छन्।

रमेश: “बर्ड्स अफ प्रे” (सिकारी चरा) भनेकाे खासमा के हाे ?

मुनिर: यी त्यस्ता चराहरू हुन् जसका तिखा चुच्चो, बङ्गिएका पञ्जा र अगाडिपट्टि फर्किएका आँखा हुन्छन्। यी वास्तवमा आकाशका बाघ, चितुवा र सिंह हुन्। यी शिकारी हुन्। विश्वभरि पाइने लगभग १०,००० प्रजातिका चराहरूमध्ये, र्याप्टर वा सिकारी चराहरू लगभग ५% अर्थात् करिब ५६० प्रजातिहरू छन्।

^{अफ्रिकन फिस इगल। फोटो: मुनिर विरानी (www.munirvirani.com)}

मेश: तपाईंलाई नेपालमा के कुराले ल्यायो, र त्याे कहिलेको कुरा हो?

मुनिर: यसको लामो इतिहास छ। म सायद पाँच वर्षको थिएँ होला, मेरो हजुरबुबाको बैठक कोठामा बसेर पुरानो श्यामस्वेत टिभी हेरिरहेको थिएँ। मलाई सर डेभिड एटेनबरोको आवाज सुनेको सम्झना छ; मानिसहरू हात्तीमा बसेर बाघको रेडियो-ट्र्याकिङ गरिरहेका थिए र पृष्ठभूमिमा हिमालहरू देखिन्थे। त्यतिबेलै मैले आफूलाई भनेको थिएँ कि एक दिन म नेपाल पुग्नेछु।

मैले सन् १९९९ मा विद्यावारिधि (पीएचडी) को अध्ययन पूरा गरेँ र सन् २००० को सुरुतिर विवाह गरेँ। मेरो विवाह भएको ठीक दुई हप्तापछि, मेरो हाकिमले मलाई फोन गरे। मेरो काम ‘द पेरेग्रिन फण्ड’का लागि अफ्रिका अनुसन्धान वैज्ञानिक हुनुपर्ने थियो, तर मेरा हाकिमले सोधे, “हे मुनिर, भारत जान्छाै? पेरेग्रिन फण्डले खेल्न सक्ने कुनै भूमिका छ कि छैन भनेर हेर्ने काम गर्छाै?” भनेर साेधे । मैले हुन्छ भनें ।

त्यतिबेला दक्षिण एसियामा गिद्धको सङ्ख्या ९५ प्रतिशतले घटेको थियो। पेरेग्रिन फ्याल्कोन (शाही बाज) को संरक्षणमा पेरेग्रिन फण्ड संलग्न भएकाले, US Fish and Wildlife Service ले यो समस्या बुझ्न र समाधान गर्न हाम्रो संलग्नता महत्त्वपूर्ण हुने ठानेको रहेछ ।

म परिस्थितिको मूल्याङ्कन गर्न पहिले भारत गएँ। त्यतिबेलासम्म गिद्ध‍ लाेप हुने अवस्थामा थिए । पाँच वर्षको छँदा त्यो वृत्तचित्र हेरेकाले मैले भारत आएका बेला नेपाल जाने अवसर देखेँ। म पश्चिम बङ्गालबाट सडक मार्ग हुँदै यात्रा गरेर सीमा नाकाबाट १६ घण्टाको बस यात्रा गरी काठमाडौँ आएकाे थिएँ । मेरो काम नेपालमा साझेदारहरू खोजेर गिद्ध‍हरुकाे मृत्युको कारण बुझ्नका लागि अध्ययनहरुकाे काम स्थापना गर्नु थियो।

रमेश: तपाईंको टोलीले गिद्धहरू किन मरिरहेका छन् भन्ने पत्ता लगायो। त्यो प्रक्रिया कस्तो थियो?

मुनिर: पहिलो कुरा, यो पेरेग्रिन फण्ड संलग्न भएको पूर्ण टोली प्रयास थियो, र म योगदान गर्न पाउँदा खुसी थिएँ। मेरो काम तथ्य सङ्कलन गर्ने मिसन स्थापना गर्ने र संयाेजन गर्ने थियो।

तीन प्रजातिहरू—डंगर गिद्ध (Oriental white-rumped), सानो खैरो गिद्ध (Indian long-billed), र लामो चुच्चे गिद्ध (slender-billed) काे संख्या ९५% ले घटेकाे थियाे, यद्यपि तराईतिर अझै केही बाँकी थिए। कारण बुझ्नका लागि, हामीलाई याे भेगका देश र संयुक्त राज्य अमेरिकाका प्रयोगशालाहरूमा पठाउन तरल नाइट्रोजनमा भण्डारण गरिएका fresh tissue का नमुनाहरू चाहिएको थियो। हामीले वासिङ्टन स्टेट युनिभर्सिटीका प्रसिद्द virologist डा. लिन्ड्से ओक्ससँग काम गर्यौँ, जसको पछि दुःखद निधन भयो।

^{बेलबारी, मोरङको बेतना सिमसारमा उद्धार गरिएको एक हिमालयन गिद्ध। फोटो: रमेश भुसाल}

रमेश: यी देशहरूबाट आनुवंशिक सामग्री (जेनेटिक मेटेरियल) बाहिर लगेर अनुसन्धान गर्न पक्कै पनि गाह्रो थियो होला, होइन ?

मुनिर: त्याे धेरै गाह्रो काम थियो। त्यसैले हामीले याे अध्ययनमा पाकिस्तान थप्याैं। भारत र नेपालमा डीएनए सामग्री निर्यात गर्न धेरै कडा कानुनहरू छन्, त्यसैले मलाई थाहा थियो कि यहाँबाट त्यसाे गर्न निकै सकस हुन्छ। हामीले पहिला नेपाल र भारतमा कार्यक्रमहरू सुरु गर्यौँ; नेपालमा, हामीले कोशी टप्पु वन्यजन्तु आरक्षमा बर्ड कन्जर्भेसन नेपालसँग काम गर्यौँ, जहाँ हामीले सहयोग गरेका एक विद्यार्थीले सन् २००० देखि २००२ सम्म गिद्दका गुँडहरूको अनुगमन गरे ।

हामी पाकिस्तानमा भने डीएनए सामग्री निर्यात गर्न अनुमती पायाैं । त्यहाँ हामीले‘अर्निथोलोजिकल सोसाइटी अफ पाकिस्तान’ सँग साझेदारी गर्यौँ। नेपालमा र भारतमा धेरै गिद्द नभेटिएपनि पाकिस्तानमा धेरै गिद्ध बाँकि थिए, जुन आश्चर्यजनक थियो । तर हामीले त्यहाँ धेरै मरेका गिद्द पनि भेट्टाइरहेका थियौँ। हाम्रा विद्यार्थीहरूले देशभरिका १,८०० गुँडहरूको अनुगमन गरिरहेका थिए। एनसीसीडब्ल्यू (पाकिस्तानको वन्यजन्तु नियामक निकाय) ले हामीलाई टिस्यूका नमुनाहरु अमेरिका निर्यात गर्ने अनुमति दियो।

रमेश: तपाईंहरूले के पत्ता लगाउनुभयो?

मुनिर: हामीले तिनीहरूको आहार अर्थात सिनाेहरु अध्ययन गरेर गिद्धहरूमा मिर्गौला फेल हुनुको कारण के हो भनेर पत्ता लगाउन चाहन्थ्यौँ। जब मरेको चरालाई चिरिन्थ्यो, भित्री किड्नीमा यूरिक एसिडको सेतो चुन जस्तो लेपले ढाकिएकाे हुन्थ्याे। डाइक्लोफेनाक (Diclofenac) प्रस्ट रूपमा अगाडि आयो जुन पशु हरुलाई औषधीको रुपमा खुवाउने गरिन्थ्यो । लिन्ड्सलेले चारवटा नमुना परीक्षण गरे र सबै चारवटा पोजेटिभ देखिए त्यसपछि प्रष्ट भयाे। चार वर्षको कामपछि सन् २००३ मा हामीले यसको मुख्य कारण पत्ता लगायौँ। याे सामान्य कुरा थिएन।

रमेश: तपाईं हालै पोखरा जानुभयो, जसलाई नेपालमा सिकारी चराहरूको राजधानी पनि भनिन्छ। २३ वर्षपछि तपाईंले त्यहाँ के देख्नुभयो?

मुनिर: म पोखरा गएको थिएँ किनभने मेरा पूर्व विद्यार्थीमध्येका एक, डा. तुलसी सुवेदी, जो अहिले नेपालका प्रमुख र्याप्टर विशेषज्ञ हुन्, उनले पोखराबाट ४५ मिनेटको दूरीमा रहेको ठुलाखर्कमा एउटा अध्ययन गरिरहेका छन् । उत्तरबाट भारततर्फ आउने घुमन्ते सिकारी चराहरू अवलोकन गर्नका लागि यो उत्कृष्ट स्थानहरूमध्ये एक हो। त्यहाँको आकाशमा डंगर गिद्ध र सुन गिद्धहरू फर्किएको देख्दा पुरानो सम्झना ताजा भयो। छब्बीस वर्षअघि तपाईंले त्यहाँ ती चराहरू त्यहाँ देख्न सक्नुहुन्नथ्यो।

मङ्गोलियामा पोल फिक्सिङको काम: फोटो: मोहम्मद बिन जायद र्याप्टर कन्जर्भेसन फण्ड।

रमेश: तपाईंले प्रत्येक तीन सेकेन्डमा एउटा चरा करेन्ट लागेर मारिन्छ भन्नुएकाे थियाे । त्याे भनेकाे करेन्ट लागेर मात्रै वर्षमा करिब १ करोड चराहरू मर्छन्। अहिले विश्वभर चराहरूको अवस्था के छ?

मुनिर: मानिस र चराहरूको सम्बन्ध धेरै पुरानो छ । हालैको एउटा अध्ययनले मानिसहरू ३,५०० वर्षदेखि परेवासँग जोडिएको देखाएको छ। अहिले, वायु, सूर्य र जलविद्युत् जस्ता नवीकरणीय ऊर्जासहित ऊर्जाको ठूलो माग छ। बिजुली आवश्यक भए तापनि, समस्या भनेको वितरण सञ्जालहरू कसरी निर्माण गरिन्छन् भन्नेमा छ। पुराना पावर लाइनहरूमा टी-फ्रेम र इन्सुलेटरहरू भएका काठका पोलहरू प्रयोग गरिन्थ्यो, जुन लगभग १००% सुरक्षित थिए। अहिले, काठका पोलहरूलाई स्टिलको डण्डी र धातुका क्रस-आर्म्स भएका सस्ता कङ्क्रीटका पोलहरूले विस्थापित गरिँदैछ, जहाँ सबै कुरा खुला हुन्छ।

^{हालै TED Talk मा बाेल्दै मुनिर ।}

मङ्गोलिया जस्ता ठूला घाँसे मैदानहरूमा, सिकारी चराहरू मुसा (भोल/फिल्ड माइस) जस्ता जीवहरूको शिकार गर्न बिजुलीका पोलहरूमा बस्छन्। जब तिनीहरू यी पावर लाइनहरूमा अवतरण गर्छन्, तिनीहरूले दुईवटा फेज वा एउटा फेज र अर्थिङलाई छुन्छन्, जसले गर्दा सर्किट पूरा हुन्छ र तिनीहरूलाई करेन्ट लाग्छ। बिजुलीका पोलहरू सही डिजाइन बिना राखिएका कारण विश्वभर हरेक तीन सेकेन्डमा एउटा चराको करेन्ट लागेर मृत्यु हुन्छ। त्याे भयावह अवस्था हाे ।

रमेश: के यी समस्या समाधान गर्न महँगो पर्छ?

मुनिर: म आबुधाबीमा रहेको मोहम्मद बिन जायद र्याप्टर कन्जर्भेसन फण्डमार्फत मङ्गोलियामा गरिएको हाम्रो कामको उदाहरण दिन्छु। अरेबियन प्रायद्वीपमा बाजपालन (Falconry) एउटा महत्त्वपूर्ण सांस्कृतिक सम्पदा हो, जहाँ सेकर फ्याल्कोन (Saker falcon) लाई सम्मान गरिन्छ।

मङ्गोलियामा, पावर लाइनहरूले ४,००० Saker falconसहित प्रतिवर्ष १८,००० सिकारी चराहरू मारिरहेका थिए। संयुक्त अरब इमिरेट्स (UAE) ले मङ्गोलिया बर्ड कन्जर्भेसन सेन्टरसँग स्थानीय साझेदारीमा लगानी गर्यो, र सन् २०१९ देखि हामीले मङ्गोलियाको ८०% भूभाग ओगट्ने ३,००० किलोमिटर लाइनका २७,००० पोलहरूमा इन्सुलेसन (विद्युत् अवरोधक) लगाएका छौँ। यसले वार्षिक १८,००० सिकारी चराहरूलाई बचाएको छ। यसको लागत प्रति पोल करिब $४० पर्छ, त्यसैले यो सजिलाे र सस्ताे समाधान हो जसलाई विश्वभर लागु गर्नुपर्ने देखिन्छ ।

^{मङ्गोलियामा करेन्ट लागेर मरेका सिकारी चराहरू। फोटो: मोहम्मद बिन जायद र्याप्टर कन्जर्भेसन फण्ड ।}

रमेश: के मानिसहरूले चराहरूलाई हलुका रूपमा लिन्छन्?

मुनिर: केही हदसम्म, हो। ऐतिहासिक रूपमा, सचेतना नबढुन्जेल बेलायत र अमेरिका जस्ता देशहरुमा मानिसहरूले सिकारी चराहरूलाई गोली हान्थे। चराहरूले पारिस्थितिकी प्रणालीमा पुर्याउने सेवाहरूबारे शिक्षा जरुरी छ। उदाहरणका लागि, भारतमा गिद्धहरूको विनाशका कारण अनुमानित पाँच लाख मानिसको मृत्यु भयो किनभने गिद्धहरूको लोपले भुस्याहा कुकुरहरूको सङ्ख्या ह्वात्तै बढ्यो, जसले रेबिजका बिरामीहरू बढाए। भारतले रेबिजको उपचारमा वार्षिक १.५ अर्ब डलर खर्च गरिरहेको थियो, जुन सेवा गिद्धहरूले पहिले सित्तैमा प्रदान गरिरहेका थिए।

हामी आर्थिक, राजनीतिक र दैनिक सङ्घर्षहरूले भरिएको एक जटिल युगमा बाँचिरहेका छौँ। यद्यपि धेरै युवा, उत्साही मानिसहरूले आफ्नै खर्चमा संरक्षणको काम गरिरहेको देखेर म प्रभावित हुन्छु। उदाहरणका लागि, भारतमा युवा अनुसन्धानकर्ताहरूले हाडे हाडफोर (dusky eagle owls), गिद्ध, पहाडी महाचिल (mountain hawk eagles) र भंगेराहरूको अध्ययन गरिरहेका छन्। नेपालमा पनि धेरैले गरेका छन् ।

रमेश: जब तपाईं चराहरूको बारेमा सोचिरहनुभएको हुँदैन, तपाईं के गर्नुहुन्छ?

मुनिर: म केही समय गोल्फ खेलेर, गाएर, चित्र बनाएर र लेखेर बिताउँछु। लेखन मेरो लागि धेरै उपचारात्मक (therapeutic) छ। तर सबैभन्दा राम्रो कुरा भनेको एउटा दूरबिन लिएर बाहिर निस्कनु हो। आजको सबैभन्दा ठूलो चुनौती भनेको युवाहरूलाई उनीहरूको फोनबाट टाढा राखेर प्रकृतिमा लैजानु हो।

रमेश: यो अन्तर्वार्ता पढिरहेका मानिसहरूलाई तपाईंको सन्देश के छ?

मुनिर: एउटा दूरबिन लिनुहोस् र आफ्नो घरबाट बाहिर निस्कनुहोस्। तपाईं कहिल्यै पछुताउनु हुनेछैन, र यसले तपाईंलाई असल मानिस बनाउनेछ। स्थानीय चरा संरक्षण संस्थाहरूसँग सम्पर्कमा रहनुहोस् र स्वयंसेवा गर्नुहोस्। चरा संरक्षणको क्षेत्रमा लाग्नका लागि क्रिकेट छोड्नुले मेरो जीवन पूर्ण रूपमा परिवर्तन गरिदियो, र मलाई यसमा कुनै पछुतो छैन। तपाईंले अनुसन्धान नै गर्नुपर्छ भन्ने छैन; तपाईं चरा हेरेर आनन्द लिन सक्नुहुन्छ भने चरालाइ माया गरेमात्रै पनि पुग्छ।

^{पोखरामा अन्नपूर्ण हिमाल शृङ्खलातर्फ फर्किएको एउटा दुरबिन, एक कप कफी र चरासम्बन्धी पुस्तक। फोटो: रमेश भुसाल}

रमेश: यदि मानिसहरूले तपाईंसँग सम्पर्क गर्न चाहेभने, उनीहरूले तपाईंलाई कहाँ भेट्न सक्छन्?

मुनिर: हाम्रो वेबसाइट mbzraptorfund.org मार्फत भेट्न सकिन्छ। म ‘ज्याम साइड अप’ (Jam Side Up) नामक सबस्ट्याक (Substack) पनि लेख्छु।

रमेश: त्यो नामको अर्थ के हो?

मुनिर: मेरा एकजना गुरुले मलाई त्यो उपनाम दिनुभएको थियो। यदि कुनै पाउराेटीमा ज्याम लागेको भाग तल फर्केर खस्यो भने, तपाईं त्यसलाई खान सक्नुहुन्न; तर यदि त्याे ज्याम लागेको भाग माथि फर्केर खस्यो भने, तपाईं यसलाई उठाएर खान सक्नुहुन्छ। यसले जीवनमा भाग्यशाली हुनुलाई जनाउँछ। त्यो सबस्ट्याकले चराहरू, मेराे र संरक्षण तथा जीवनको “सुन्दर अलमल” (beautiful mess) लाई समेट्छ।

किरण घाडगे र मुनिर विरानीद्वारा निर्मित हाडफोर गिद्ध (bearded vultures) सम्बन्धी फिल्मकाे ट्रेलर।.

^{मुनिर भिरानीकाे फाेटा यहाँ हेर्न सकिन्छ । here.}

रोडनी ज्याक्सन हिउँ चितुवा (Snow Leopard)का विश्वविख्यात विशेषज्ञ हुन् जसले पहिलोपटक सन् १९७६ मा नेपालको भ्रमण गरेका थिए। हिउँ चितुवामा अनुसन्धानका लागि रेडियो-कलर गर्ने पहिलो व्यक्ति पनि उनी नै हुन् । उनले आफ्नो जीवन नै याे प्रजातिको संरक्षणमा समर्पित गरेका छन्, जसको केन्द्रमा नेपाल रहेको छ। उनले मङ्गोलियादेखि भारतसम्मका विभिन्न देशहरुमा काम गरिसकेका छन्। ८३ वर्षको उमेरमा पनि उनी निकै छन्।

गत जुन महिनामा रोडनी ‘कन्जर्भेशन बायोलोजी एसिया’ (Conservation Biology Asia) सम्मेलनका लागि नेपालमा हुँदा मैले उनीसँग कुराकानी गरेको थिएँ। आजभोलि म ‘स्लो जर्नलिज्म’ अभ्यास गरिरहेकाे छु र आफ्नो अनुकूल समय मिलाएर सामग्रीहरू प्रकाशन गर्दै आइरहेको छु।

रमेश: सन् १९७६ मा तपाँइलाई के कुराले नेपाल ल्यायो, र हिउँ चितुवामा काम गर्ने याेजना कसरी बन्यो?

रोडनी: सन् १९७६ ताक हिउँ चितुवाबारे कसैलाई केही थाहा थिएन। उनीहरूको प्राकृतिक इतिहास एउटा हुलाक टिकटमा अटाउने गरी सीमित थियो। म अफ्रिकामा चितुवाकाे अध्ययन गर्न चाहन्थें, तर म नेपाल आएँ र यहाँ गजबका मान्छे भेटें। धेरै वन्यजन्तुको संख्या हुनु बाहेक हिमालयको तुलना अफ्रिकासँग गर्न सकिँदैन।

म भन्दाअघि जर्ज सालर (George Schaller) ले हिउँ चितुवाको अध्ययन गर्ने प्रयास गरेका थिए, तर धेरै प्रगति हुनसकेको थिएन। सन् १९८१ मा मैले ‘रोलेक्स अवार्ड फर इन्टरप्राइज’ पाएँ जसले मेरो रेडियो-कलरिङ कार्यमा आर्थिक सहयोग पुर्यायो। मैले सुरुमा लद्दाखमा काम गर्न चाहेकाे थिएँ, तर रेडियो-कलरिङ नयाँ प्रविधि भएकाले सरकारहरु अनुमति दिन हिचकिचाउँथे। भारतमा त्याे संभव भएन । जब मैले मुगु जिल्लाको भ्रमण गरें, मैले सही ठाउँ भेट्टाएको महसुस गरें। त्यहाँ हिउँ चितुवाका भएका संकेत धेरै थिए र प्रशस्त नाउर (Blue sheep) थिए यद्यपि मैले शुरुमा हिउँचितुवा विरलै देखें। त्यहाँ छँदा मैले मासु र कस्तूरीको बिनाका लागि गाउँलेले गर्ने वार्षिक शिकार कार्यक्रम देख्ने माैका पाएँ । त्यसले घरेलु आयमा कस्ताे महत्त्व राख्छ भन्नेबारे एउटा शोधपत्र लेखें। हाम्रो टेलिमेट्री अध्ययन समेटेर सन् १९८६ मा ‘नेसनल जिओग्राफिक’को कभर स्टाेरी नै छापिएको थियो।

रमेश: पहिलोपटक हिउँ चितुवा कहिले देख्नुभयाे र त्यो अनुभव कस्तो थियो?

रोडनी: यसका लागि लामो समय लाग्यो। मेरो सबैभन्दा नजिकको साक्षात्कार टेलिमेट्रीका लागि हिउँचितुवा समाउँदा भएकाे थियो । हामीले पाँचवटामा रेडियाे कलर गरेका थियाैं । तिनको भुत्ला एकदमै नरम र बाक्लो थियो, सेतो-पहेंलो रङको। अति सुन्दर । हिउँ चितुवालाई स्पर्श गरेको त्यो क्षण सम्झँदा अझै पनि मेरो शरीरमा काँडा उम्रिन्छ। तीन/चार सय मिटर टाढाबाट दूरबिन (स्कोप) बाट हेर्दा पनि तिनीहरूको हेराइ एकदमै तिखो हुन्छ। तिमी को हौ भनेर चिन्न तिनीहरूले सिधै तिम्रो भित्री आत्मासम्म नियालेजस्तो लाग्छ।

रमेश: ५० वर्षपछि, तपाँइले तिनका बारेमा के बुझ्नुभयाे?

रोडनी: तिनीहरू सकेसम्म नदेखिएर हिँडडुल गर्छन्, तर पनि तिनको ठूलो प्रभाव हुन्छ। अन्य शिकारी जीव जस्तै तिनीहरू पनि सजिलै मार्न सकिने जनावरको शिकार गर्छन् । खासमा अहिले घरपालुवा पशुहरूले आफ्नो आत्मरक्षा गर्ने प्राकृतिक क्षमता गुमाइसकेका छन्। त्यही द्वन्द्वका कारण मानिसहरूले हिउँ चितुवालाई हानिकारक जीवका रूपमा हेरे। मेरो उद्देश्य समुदायहरूलाई यो केवल समस्या नभई एउटा सम्पत्ति हो र यसबाट फाइदा लिन सकिन्छ भन्ने बुझाउनु रहेको छ।

रमेश: हिउँ चितुवाले गोठ वा खोरभित्र एकैपटक धेरै जनावर किन मार्छ?

रोडनी: किनभने त्यो गाेठकाे बनावट अप्राकृतिक छ। जङ्गलमा नाउरमाथि आक्रमण गर्दा उसले एउटालाई समात्छ र बाँकी भाग्छन्। तर खोरभित्र पशुहरू भाग्न सक्दैनन्। हिउँ चितुवाको शिकार गर्ने व्यवहार कस्ताे हुन्छ भने कुनै कुरा चलेकाे देखे उस्ले आक्रमण गरिरहन्छ। त्यसैले खोरभित्र केही चलमलाउने बित्तिकै त्यसलाई आक्रमण गरिहाल्ने त्यसकाे प्राकृतिक स्वभाव हुन्छ। उनीहरु त्याे चक्रमा फस्छन्। ३० वा ४० वटा बाख्रा मार्न ठूलो शक्ति खर्च हुन्छ, जसले गर्दा चितुवा पूर्ण रूपमा गलेर स्वाँ-स्वाँ हुन्छ। पछि मानिसहरू आउँछन्, केही पनि नखाइएका र घाँटीमा टोकेका दाग भएका मरेका भेडा-बाख्रा देख्छन्, अनि यो रगत चुस्ने दुष्ट जनावर हो भन्ने निष्कर्ष निकाल्छन्।

मेश: ५० वर्ष बितिसक्दा पनि हामी हिउँ चितुवाको विश्वव्यापी सङ्ख्या यकिन गर्न सकिरहेका छैनाैं। के यो भौगोलिक कठिनाइका कारण मात्र हो, वा यसमा राजनीति पनि जोडिएको छ?

रोडनी: साँचो भन्नुपर्दा, हामी द्वन्द्वको प्रभावमा ध्यान केन्द्रित गर्नुको सट्टा हिउँ चितुवाको सङ्ख्या कति छ भन्ने चिन्तामा धेरै समय बिताउँछौं, जुन एउटा दुःखद् कुरा हो। वैज्ञानिकहरूलाई सङ्ख्या मन पर्छ, र सरकारहरूलाई पनि। तर कुनै क्षेत्रमा २०० वा ३०० वटा छन् भन्ने कुराले साँच्चै के फरक पार्छ र? त्यसले संरक्षणमा सुधार ल्याउँदैन। आफ्ना पशुधन गुमाइरहेका र कुनै क्षतिपूर्ति नपाएका गाउँलेहरूलाई ठ्याक्कै सङ्ख्या कति छ भन्नेमा चासो हुँदैन। प्रत्यक्ष संरक्षणकाे काम कम्तीमा दुई दशकअघि नै प्राथमिकतामा पर्नुपर्थ्यो तर त्याे हुन सकेकाे छैन। संख्या जरुरी त छ तर अहिले धेरै स्राेत त्यहि संख्या किटान गर्न खर्च भएकाे छ ।

तस्बिर: मङ्गोलियाको दक्षिण गोबीमा एउटा हिउँ चितुवा। स्राेत: वाइल्डलाइफ कन्जर्भेशन सोसाइटी )

एउटै विश्वव्यापी अनुमान गर्न गाह्रो नै छ। अनुमति पाउन र सरकारहरुसंग काम गर्नका लागि हरेक देशमा अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय टोली पठाउनु लगभग असम्भव छ। यसको सट्टा स्वदेशी अनुसन्धानकर्ताहरूले नै क्यामेरा ट्र्यापिङ जस्ता विधिहरू प्रयोग गर्नु धेरै राम्रो हुन्छ जुन भएकाे पनि छ। तर चीनमा भएकाे अध्ययन शंकाकाे घेरामा छ किनभने विदेशी अनुसन्धानकर्ताहरूलाई त्यहाँ अध्ययन गर्न अनुमति छैन; सन् २००७ देखि चीनमा बाहिरका वैज्ञानिकहरूले कुनै अध्ययन गरेका छैनन्। चिनियाँ अनुसन्धानकर्ताहरूले अहिले हिउँ चितुवाकाे सङ्ख्या लगभग ४,००० (सन् २००० को सुरुका वर्षहरूको तथ्यांकभन्दा दोब्बर) रहेको अनुमान गर्छन्, तर यसलाई पुष्टि गर्ने कुनै विश्वव्यापीरुपमा मान्यता प्राप्त (peer-reviewed) शोधपत्र प्रकाशित भएको छैन।

वास्तविकता के हो भने सङ्ख्या अनुमान गर्न ठूलो स्रोत-साधन खर्च हुन्छ, जबकि समुदायको सुरक्षा र द्वन्द्व न्यूनीकरणमा धेरै कम ध्यान जान्छ। क्यामेरा राखेर फर्किने वैज्ञानिकभन्दा गाउँलेहरूलाई द्वन्द्व कहिले र कसरी हुन्छ भन्ने बढी थाहा हुन्छ। हामीलाई वास्तविक रूपमा काम गर्ने कम लागतका कार्यक्रमहरू चाहिन्छ। यदि हामीले हिउँ चितुवा मार्नबाट रोक्यौं भने, तिनको सङ्ख्या आफैं पुनर्स्थापित हुनेछ।

रमेश: के नयाँ प्रविधिले सङ्ख्या ट्र्याक गर्न सजिलो बनाउँछ जस्तो लाग्छ?

रोडनी: धेरै फरक पर्दैन। एआई (AI)बाट पहिचान अझै पनि कठिन छ, र मानिस नै चाहिन्छ। धेरै अनुसन्धानकर्ताहरूले व्यवस्थित विश्लेषण विधि पालना गर्दैनन् वा कुनै एक जीवलाई पुष्टि गर्न क्रस-रेफरेन्स गर्दैनन्। यदि तिमीले एका तर्फको मात्र तस्बिर लियौ भने, त्यो कुन हिउँचितुवा हो भन्ने चिन्न सकिँदैन। तिमीलाई दुवै तर्फको तस्बिर चाहिन्छ, वा तिनको अनुहार वा पुच्छरको ढाँचाबाट जोड्ने तरिका चाहिन्छ, जसको अर्थ एकअर्काको आमनेसामने दुईवटा क्यामेरा राख्नु हो। तर हिउँ चितुवा सुरक्षित रहन सामान्यतया पहाडको भीरको भित्ता छाेएर हिँड्छन्, जसले गर्दा दुवै तर्फको तस्बिर खिच्न गाह्रो हुन्छ। त्यसैले त्याे पनि सजिलाे छैन।

रमेश: अनुगमनका लागि कुन नयाँ प्रविधि आशाजनक देखिन्छ?

रोडनी: क्यामेरा ट्र्यापिङ अझै पनि मुख्य विधि हो। गन्ध र भुत्ला संकलन गर्ने पोस्टहरु अझै कठिन छन्; यदि लगातार दुईवटा चितुवा आए र तुरुन्तै भुत्ला संकलन भएन भने, नमूनाहरू मिसिन्छन् र अन्ततः अस्तित्वमै नरहेको “काल्पनिक” हिउँचितुवाको विश्लेषण भइरहेकाे हुन्छ। दिषा (Scat) संकलन गर्ने विधिमा सुधार भएको छ । यदि चिसो तापमानमा संकलन गरियाे भने डिएनए (DNA) नष्ट हुँदैन र त्यो हिउँ चितुवाकै हो भनी पुष्टि गरेपछि थप विश्लेषण गर्न सकिन्छ। ड्रोनमा पनि सम्भावना छ। तर, प्रविधिको वास्तविक प्राथमिकता गणना गर्नु नभई द्वन्द्व पत्ता लगाउनु र न्यूनीकरण गर्नु हुनुपर्छ।

रमेश: निकायहरूको तर्क छ कि विज्ञान र संरक्षण दुवैका लागि यथार्थपरक सङ्ख्या आवश्यक प्रस्थान विन्दु हो। के तपाँइ सहमत हुनुहुन्छ?

रोडनी: म समहत छैन। जबसम्म तिनीहरु संकटको सङ्घारमा पुग्दैनन्, तिनको सङ्ख्या कति छ भन्नेले फरक पार्दैन। ठूला परिवर्तनहरु हेर्न हरेक तीन वा चार वर्षमा नमूना परीक्षण गर्दापनि सामान्यतया संख्या स्थिर वा अलि बढेको पाइन्छ। गणना गर्ने यो हठले व्यावहारिक संरक्षणलाई धेरै लामो समयदेखि रोकेको छ। यो कर्मचारी र वैज्ञानिकहरूका लागि एउटा राजनीतिक लक्ष्य हो जसलाई निश्चित उत्तर चाहिन्छ । उनीहरु गाउँलेहरूसँग कुरा गर्ने, वासस्थानको नक्सांकन गर्ने, र आहारा प्रजातिकाे ख्याल गरेर कति हिउँचितुवा बाँच्न सक्छन् भन्ने सहज विधिहरूमा विश्वास गर्दैनन्।

रमेश: के हिउँ चितुवालाई आईयूसीएन (IUCN) को रेड लिस्टमा “सङ्कटापन्न” (Endangered) वा “संवेदनशील” (Vulnerable) को रूपमा सूचीकृत गर्नैपर्नेछ?

रोडनी: हिउँ चितुवालाई ‘सङ्कटापन्न’ सूचीमा राखिराख्ने दबाब मुख्यतया पैशाससंग सम्बन्धित छ, किनकि सङ्कटापन्न प्रजातिहरूले दाताहरूबाट धेरै पैसा आकर्षित गर्छन्। तर हामीले राष्ट्रिय र विश्वव्यापी स्थितिलाई अलग गर्नुपर्छ। विश्वव्यापी रूपमा, सबै १२ वटा वासस्थान क्षेत्रका देशहरूमा हिउँ चितुवा ‘संवेदनशील’ (Vulnerable) अवस्थामा छ। नेपालमा भने, करिब ३०० को सङ्ख्यालाई राष्ट्रिय रूपमा अझै पनि सङ्कटापन्न मान्न सकिन्छ, विशेष गरी यदि चीनसँगको सीमापार आनुवंशिक निरन्तरता (genetic connectivity) गुम्यो भने।

(तस्बिर: हिउँ चितुवाको वासस्थान क्षेत्रको नक्सा। स्राेत : स्नाे लेपर्ड कन्जर्भेंसी।)

सन् २००६ वा २००७ देखि अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय अनुसन्धानकर्ताहरूलाई चीनमा काम गर्न अनुमति दिइएको छैन। अनुसन्धान अहिले चिनियाँ वैज्ञानिकहरूले नै गरिरहेका छन्, जुन प्राविधिक रूपमा ठीकै हो, तर राजनीतिक छ। उनीहरूले नेतृत्वको भनाइसँग मिल्दो बनाउन दबाब सामना गर्छन्। यदि कुनै नेताले सङ्ख्या दोब्बर भएको छ भनेमा अनुसन्धानकर्ताहरूले त्यस दाबीलाई समर्थन गर्ने अपेक्षा गरिन्छ। चीनले अहिले २००० देखि २५०० बाट बढेर करिब ४००० हिउँ चितुवा रहेको रिपोर्ट गर्छ, तर अझै पनि कुनैपनि भरपर्दाे शोधपत्र छैन। मङ्गोलियासँग राम्रो तथ्यांक छ, जहाँ करिब ९८० वटा जीवहरू छन्, जुन अघिल्ला अनुमानहरूभन्दा अलि कम हो। ।

दक्षिण एसिया (भारत, नेपाल र पाकिस्तान) सँग बढी बलियो र पारदर्शी तथ्यांक छ। भुटान र भारत धेरै पारदर्शी छन्, यद्यपि स्थानीय अनुसन्धानकर्ताहरू कहिलेकाहीँ एकअर्काका मोडलहरुसंग सहमत हुँदैनन् ।

रमेश: भुटानले फक्स लाइट र फोन-चार्ज गर्ने स्टेसनको रूपमा प्रयोग हुने सोलार बारहरूले द्वन्द्व घटाउन मद्दत गर्छ भन्ने देखाएको छ। के यो अन्य देशहरूका लागि व्यावहारिक छ जस्तो लाग्छ?

रोडनी: यो व्यावहारिक हुन सक्छ। यद्यपि, फक्स लाइटहरू एउटै निश्चित ढाँचामा बल्छन्-निभ्छन्, त्यसैले हिउँचितुवाहरू छिट्टै त्यसमा बानी पर्छन्। यदि बत्ती एउटै ठाउँमा रहन्छ र शिकारी जीवलाई केही पनि हुँदैन भने अनियमित रूपमा बले पनि काम गर्दैन। मैले विभिन्न समूहहरूलाई फक्स लाइट र क्यामेरा ट्र्यापलाई अझ उच्च स्तरको सतर्कता प्रणालीसँग जोड्न प्रोत्साहन गर्दै आएको छु। यदि क्यामेराले चितुवा पाँच वा दस मिनेटभन्दा बढी अड्किएको वा घुमिरहेको देख्यो भने, यसले आक्रोशित गाउँले कराएको आवाज लाउडस्पिकरबाट बजाउँन सक्छ। हिउँ चितुवाले त्यसमा प्रतिक्रिया दिन सक्छन् । हामीले खोर वरिपरि बाक्लो प्लास्टिक बेर्ने जस्ता साधारण दृश्य अवरोधकहरुको पनि परीक्षण गर्नुपर्छ। शिकारी जीवले आफ्नो लक्ष्य नदेखेसम्म सामान्यतया आक्रमण गर्दैन; यदि यसले भित्र देख्न सकेन भने, अन्धाधुन्ध भित्र हाम फाल्दैन पनि ।

रमेश: त्यसोभए, द्वन्द्व व्यवस्थापनका लागि व्यक्तिगत व्यवहार बुझ्न आवश्यक छ?

रोडनी: बिल्कुलै। मानिसका युवाहरु जस्तै, युवा भाले हिउँचितुवाहरू धेरै सतर्क हुँदैनन्। तिनीहरू जोखिम लिन्छन् र समस्यामा पनि पर्छन्। पोथीहरू सामान्यतया बढी होसियार हुन्छन्, तर डमरु (बच्चा) भएकी पोथीलाई बच्चालाई खुवाउने ठुलो दबाब हुन्छ, त्यसैले उसले पनि जोखिम लिन सक्छे।

त्यसैले मलाई लाग्छ कि हामीले यो मोडललाई बदल्नुपर्छ। भूउपग्रह (स्याटेलाइट) कलर र फिल्ड बायोलोजिस्टहरू अत्यधिक महँगा हुन्छन्, जसको एउटै आयोजनाको खर्च वर्षको $८०,००० देखि $१२०,००० डलर सम्म पर्छ। त्यो पैसाको ठूलो हिस्सा सिधै पशुधनको क्षति घटाउनमा किन नलगाउने? यदि हामीले खतरा घटायौं भने, हिउँ चितुवा आफैं बाहिर देखिन थाल्छन्। पर्यटकहरू दूरबिन लिएर आउन सक्छन्; मानिसहरूले देख्नका लागि चितुवाको घाँटीमा $५,००० डलर को कलर बाँधिरहनु पर्दैन।

अनुसन्धानकर्ताको करियर मुख्यतया प्रकाशनहरूमा निर्भर हुन्छ। हामीले त्यो प्रणालीलाई अलि खुकुलो बनाउनुपर्छ र उपयोगी तथ्यांक संकलन र रिपोर्ट गर्न गाउँलेहरूलाई स्थानीय पर्यवेक्षकका रूपमा भित्र्याउनुपर्छ। ५० देखि ७० घरधुरी भएको डोल्पाको एउटा गाउँको बारेमा सोचौं। निकुञ्ज र ठूला गैरसरकारी संस्थाका ३०/३५ जनाको टोली आउँछ, हिउँ चितुवामा महँगो कलर बाँध्छ, र गाउँलेहरूको पशुधनको क्षति पूर्ति हुनेछ भन्ने विश्वास नै नदिई फर्कन्छ। पक्कै पनि मानिसहरू रिसाउँछन्। केही हप्ताभित्रै, त्यो कलर बाँधिएको चितुवा मारिन सक्छ। यो किन हुन्छ भने हामीले समुदायसँग प्रक्रियाबारे धेरै कुरा गरेका छैनौं वा स्थानीय क्षमता अभिवृद्धि गरेका छैनौं।

रमेश: आगामी २० वर्षमा हामी हिउँचितुवा संरक्षणमा कहाँ हुन्छाैंहाेला ?

रोडनी: द्वन्द्वलाई सक्रिय रूपमा न्यूनीकरण गरिएका ठाउँहरूप्रति म सकारात्मक महसुस गर्छु। जब द्वन्द्व रोकिन्छ, हिउँचितुवाहरू देखिन थाल्छन्, र स्थानीय युवाहरूले तिनका संकेतहरू ट्र्याक गर्न, पर्यटन व्यवस्थापन गर्न र भ्रमणमा आउनेहरूलाई घुमाउन सक्छन्। हिउँ चितुवा केवल १२ वटा देशमा त्याे पनि अत्यन्तै कठोर परिस्थितिमा बाँच्छ। २० वर्षमा, यो अफ्रिकाका सिंहहरू जस्तै विश्वभरका मानिसहरूले हेर्नसक्ने एउटा जीव बन्नेछ।

एक दशकअघि, म उत्तर-पश्चिम नेपालको मनाङ पुगेर हिउँचितुवाको तस्बिर खिच्ने स्थानीय टासी घलेको अन्तर्वार्ता लिएको थिएँ। उनी एक नागरिक वैज्ञानिक हुन्, र उनले खिचेकाे तस्विर ।

याे अन्तर्वार्ता अंग्रेजीबाट नेपालीमा अनुवाद गर्न ए आईकाे सहयाेग लिएर पछि मैले सम्पादन गरेकाे हुँ ।

Dr. Munir Virani is a renowned conservation biologist, wildlife filmmaker, and photographer who has dedicated his life to protecting birds of prey. Born in Kenya and now based in Abu Dhabi, he currently serves as the Chief Executive of the Mohamed bin Zayed Raptor Conservation Fund. Early in his career, Dr. Virani played a key role in uncovering the reasons behind the collapse of South Asia’s vulture population in the early 2000s. He is a Whitley Award winner and a featured TED speaker, known for his work on tackling major threats to raptors worldwide. We met at the Conservation Biology Asia conference in Kathmandu in June and quickly bonded over our shared passion for storytelling. It took me a few weeks to process and publish it.

These days, I avoid rushing to publish as I am practising slow journalism. I first heard about slow journalism from Paul Salopek—a Pulitzer-winning journalist who has been walking across the globe for over a decade. I just wanted to publish it now. Will also release our video soon.

Ramesh: So when you say “birds of prey,” what is it actually?

Munir: These are birds that have very sharp bills, hooked talons, and forward-facing eyes. They are really the tigers, leopards, and lions of the sky. They’re predators. Out of about 10,000 species of birds globally, raptors or birds of prey make up about 5%—around 560 species across the globe.

African Fish Eagle. Photo: Munir Virani (www.munirvirani.com)

Ramesh: What brought you to Nepal, and when was it?

Munir: There’s a long history. I must have been about five years old, sitting in my grandfather’s living room watching an old black-and-white TV set. I remember listening to the voice of Sir David Attenborough; people were sitting on an elephant, radio-tracking tigers, and you could see the mountains in the back. At that point, I told myself that one day I will make it to Nepal.

I completed my doctorate studies in 1999 and got married in early 2000. Literally two weeks after I got married, my boss phoned me. My job was supposed to be the Africa research biologist for the Peregrine Fund, but my boss asked, “Hey Munir, how would you like to go to India to see whether there’s a role for the Peregrine Fund to play?”

Vulture numbers had collapsed—gone down by 95%. Because the Peregrine Fund was involved in saving the peregrine falcon, the US Fish and Wildlife Service felt our involvement would be critical to understanding and reversing the problem.

I came to India first to assess the situation. Vultures were completely gone by then. Having seen that documentary when I was five, I saw my chance to go to Nepal. I traveled by road from West Bengal and took a 16-hour bus journey to Kathmandu from the border. My job was to find partners in Nepal to set up field and diagnostic studies to understand what was causing the mortalities.

Ramesh: Your team found out a molecule that was killing the vultures. What was the process?

Munir: First, this was a complete team effort involving the Peregrine Fund, and I was happy to contribute. My job was a fact-finding mission.

Three species—the Oriental white-rumped, Indian long-billed, and slender-billed vultures had collapsed, down by 95%, though there were still a few down in the Terai. To understand the cause, we needed fresh tissue samples stored in liquid nitrogen to send to labs in the United States. We worked with a tremendous virologist, Dr. Lindsay Oaks at Washington State University, who unfortunately passed away later.

A rescued Himalayan vulture in Betana wetland in Belbari, Morang. Photo: Ramesh Bhushal

Ramesh: It must had been tough to take genetic material out of these countries and carry out investigations, isn’t it?

Munir: It was a very tough thing. That’s where Pakistan came in. India and Nepal have very strict laws against exporting DNA material, so I knew progress on that front would be difficult there. We did start programs in both countries; in Nepal, we worked with Bird Conservation Nepal at Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, where a student we supported monitored nests from 2000 to 2002 and saw a catastrophic drop.

We succeeded in Pakistan, partnering with the Ornithological Society of Pakistan. Thousands of vultures were still there, which was baffling, but we were also finding many dead birds. We had students monitoring 1,800 nests across the country. The NCCW (the wildlife regulatory body in Pakistan) gave us permission to export tissue samples to the US.

Ramesh: What did you find?

Munir: We looked at their diet—livestock carcasses and wanted to find what was causing kidney failure in vultures. When you opened a dead bird, internal organs were covered in a white chalky paste of uric acid. Diclofenac stood out. When Lindsay tested four samples, all four were positive. We nailed it in 2003 after four years of work.

Ramesh: You went back to Pokhara recently, also called the capital of raptors in Nepal. What did you see after 23 years?

Munir: I went to Pokhara because one of my former students, Dr. Tulsi Subedi, now a leading raptor expert in Nepal, runs a site 45 minutes outside Pokhara called Thulakharka. It’s one of the best locations to observe migratory raptors coming from the north toward India. It was extremely nostalgic to see white-rumped and red-headed vultures back in the skies. Twenty-six years ago, you couldn’t have seen those birds there.

Ramesh: You mentioned that every three seconds, a bird is electrocuted or killed—nearly 10 million a year from electrocution alone, forget about other causes. What is the global status of birds right now?

Munir: Humans and birds go back a long way—a recent study showed humans have been associated with pigeons for 3,500 years. Right now, there’s a huge demand for energy, including renewables like wind, solar, and hydro. While electricity is necessary, the issue lies in how the distribution networks are constructed. Old power lines used wooden poles with T-frames and insulators, which were virtually 100% safe. Now, wooden poles are being replaced with cheap concrete ones containing steel rebar and metal cross-arms, where everything is exposed.

Pole fixation work in Mongolia: Photo: Mohamed bin Zayed Raptor Conservation Fund.

In big grasslands like Mongolia, raptors sit on power poles to hunt rodents like voles, also called field mice. When they land on these power lines, they touch two phases or a phase to ground, complete the circuit, and get zapped. Every three seconds, a bird dies of electrocution globally because power poles are being put up without proper design.

Munir Virani’s recent TED talk.

Ramesh: Is it expensive to fix them?

Munir: I’ll give you the example of our work in Mongolia through the Mohamed bin Zayed Raptor Conservation Fund, based in Abu Dhabi. Falconry is an important cultural heritage in the Arabian Peninsula, where the Saker falcon is revered.

In Mongolia, power lines were killing 18,000 birds of prey every year, including 4,000 Saker falcons. The UAE invested in local partnerships with the Mongolia Bird Conservation Center, and since 2019, we have insulated 27,000 poles covering 3,000 kilometers of lines across 80% of Mongolia’s landscape. This has saved 18,000 raptors annually. It costs roughly $40 per pole, so it’s a very doable fix that should be scaled up globally.

Raptors electrocuted in Mongolia. Photo: Mohamed bin Zayed Raptor Conservation Fund

Ramesh: Do people take birds for granted?

Munir: To some extent, yes. Historically, people shot birds of prey in places like the UK and US before awareness grew. It comes down to education about the ecosystem services birds provide. For instance, the crash of vultures in India led to an estimated half a million human deaths because the disappearance of vultures allowed feral dog populations to surge, spiking rabies cases. India was spending $1.5 billion annually treating rabies, a service vultures previously provided for free.

We live in a complex age with economic, political, and daily struggles. However, I was impressed at this conference to see many young, enthusiastic people doing conservation work on their own dime. In India, for example, young researchers are studying dusky eagle owls, vultures, mountain hawk eagles, and sparrows. Nepal needs to inspire this young generation.

Ramesh: When you’re not thinking about birds, what do you do?

Munir: I spend some time playing golf, singing, painting, and writing. Writing is very therapeutic for me. But the best thing is picking up a pair of binoculars and going outside. The biggest challenge today is getting young people off their phones and out into nature.

Ramesh: Your message to the people who are reading this interview?

Munir: Take a pair of binoculars and get out of your home. You will never regret it, and it will make you a better person. Get in touch with local bird organizations and volunteer. Giving up cricket to pursue bird conservation completely changed my life, and I have no regrets. You don’t necessarily have to do research; you can just enjoy the sky.

A pair of binoculars, a cup of coffee, and a bird book facing the Annapurna mountain range in Pokhara. Photo: Ramesh Bhushal

Ramesh: If people want to reach out to you, where can they find you?

Munir: They can find me through our website at mbzraptorfund.org. I also write a Substack called Jam Side Up.

Ramesh: What is the meaning of that name?

Munir: A mentor gave me that nickname because he said I always land “jam side up.” If toast falls jam side down, you can’t eat it; but if it lands jam side up, you can pick it up and eat it. It refers to being fortunate in life. The Substack covers birds, belonging, and the “beautiful mess” of conservation and life.

Trailer of a film on bearded vultures by Kiran Ghadge and Munir Virani.

For his photography, you can visit here.

Rodney Jackson is a globally renowned snow leopard expert who first visited Nepal in 1976. As the first person to radio-collar a snow leopard, he has dedicated his life to protecting the species, with Nepal at the heart of his work. He has worked across multiple range countries, spanning from Mongolia to India. At 83, he remains remarkably active as a founder of Snow Leopard Conservancy.

I spoke with Rodney in June while he was in Nepal for the Conservation Biology Asia conference. Nowadays, I am publishing according to my schedule as I am practicing slow journalism.

Ramesh: What brought you to Nepal in 1976, and how did you end up working on snow leopards?

Rodney: In 1976, nobody knew anything about snow leopards. You could write their natural history on a postage stamp. My visit to Nepal was just a side trip on my way back to Africa, where I was born. I had wanted to study the common leopard there, but I came to Nepal instead, where I met incredible people. The Himalayas cannot compare with Africa except for holding a large population of wildlife.

George Schaller had tried to study snow leopards but made limited progress. In 1981, I received the Rolex Award for Enterprise, which funded my radio-collaring work. I had originally hoped to work in Ladakh, but radio-collaring was still new, and governments were cautious about issuing permits. When I visited Mugu district, I knew I had found the right place. There were abundant signs of snow leopards and plenty of blue sheep, though I rarely saw the cats themselves. While there, I also documented a village’s annual winter hunt for meat and musk deer pods, writing a paper on its importance to household income. That paper was published before our telemetry study appeared on the cover of National Geographic.

Ramesh: When did you first see a snow leopard, and how did it feel?

Rodney: It took a long time. My closest encounters were when we trapped them for telemetry, five altogether. The fur was so soft and deep, a beautiful whitish-yellow on the undercoat. Recalling that moment of touching a snow leopard still sends a shiver down my spine. Even seeing one through a scope at three or four hundred meters, they have this intense stare. They look straight through you to see who you are.

Ramesh: After 50 years, what have you come to understand about them?

Rodney: That they move completely unseen yet have a great impact. Like any predator, they hunt what is easiest to kill, and livestock have lost all their anti-predator behavior. Because of that conflict, people saw snow leopards as pests. My goal has been to help communities see them as an asset from which they can benefit.

Ramesh: Why does a snow leopard kill so many animals at once inside a corral?

Rodney: Because the setup is unnatural. In the wild, when it attacks blue sheep, it gets one and the rest scatter. In a corral, the livestock cannot escape. A snow leopard’s hunting behavior is triggered by movement, so whenever something moves, it must attack to immobilize it. It gets caught in a loop of predatory reflex. Killing 30 or 40 goats takes enormous effort, leaving the cat completely out of breath. Then people arrive, see dead sheep and goats with nothing eaten and tooth marks on their throats, and conclude it is an evil animal that sucks blood.

Ramesh: Fifty years on, we still cannot confirm the global population of snow leopards. Is this simply because of the remote terrain, or is politics involved?

Rodney: Frankly, it is a tragedy that we spend so much time worrying about how many snow leopards there are instead of focusing on the impact of conflict. Scientists love numbers, and so do governments. But does it really matter whether there are 200 or 300 in an area? That does not improve conservation. Villagers who are losing livestock and receiving no compensation are not concerned with exact figures. Direct conservation action should have become the priority at least two decades ago.

A snow leopard in Mongolia’s South Gobi.Photo Credit: Wildlife Conservation Society

Arriving at a single global estimate is difficult. Sending an international team into every country is nearly impossible because of permits and bureaucracy. It would be far better for in-country researchers to use standardized methods like camera trapping. China remains a major gap because foreign researchers are not allowed to conduct studies there; since 2007, there have been no studies by scientists from outside China. Chinese researchers now estimate their population at about 4,000 (nearly double the figure from the early 2000s), but no peer-reviewed paper has been published to support this.

The reality is that massive resources go into estimating populations, while far too little goes toward protecting communities and reducing conflict. Villagers often know more about when and how conflict occurs than a scientist who sets up a camera and leaves. We need lower-cost programs that actually work. If we stop people from killing snow leopards, their populations will recover on their own.

Ramesh: Do you think new technologies will make population tracking easier?

Rodney: Not much. AI identification is still difficult, and humans are better at it. Many researchers do not follow a systematic analysis from capture to capture or cross-reference to confirm an individual. If you photograph only one side, you do not know who it is. You need both sides, or a way to link them by face or tail patterns, which means placing two cameras facing each other. But snow leopards habitually walk right against a cliff face to keep an escape route, making it tough to capture both sides.

Ramesh: What emerging technology looks promising for monitoring?

Rodney: Camera trapping is still the main tool. Scent and hair posts remain difficult; if two cats visit consecutively and you do not collect the hair immediately, the samples mix and you end up analyzing an “imaginary” leopard that does not exist. Non-invasive scat collection has improved: if you collect in cool temperatures so the DNA does not degrade and verify it is a snow leopard, you can run individual analysis. Drones also have potential. However, the real priority for technology should be conflict detection and mitigation, not counting.

Ramesh: Agencies argue that realistic numbers are the necessary starting point for both science and conservation. Do you agree?

Rodney: I disagree. It does not matter how many there are, as long as they are not on the brink. Sample every three or four years to check for major changes, and usually, you will find them stable or slightly increasing. This obsession with a census has held up practical conservation far too long. It is a political goal for bureaucrats and scientists who want a definitive answer and do not trust simpler methods like talking to villagers, mapping habitat, and looking at blue sheep biomass to see how many cats it can support.

Ramesh: Should the snow leopard be listed as “Endangered” or “Vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List?

Rodney: The push to keep the snow leopard listed as Endangered is mostly about funding, because endangered species attract more donor money. But we need to separate national from global status. Globally, across all 12 range countries, the snow leopard is Vulnerable. In Nepal, however, a population of about 300 animals could still be considered nationally endangered, especially if genetic connectivity across the border with China is lost.

Snow Leopard range map. Image: Snow Leopard Conservancy.

International researchers have not been allowed to work in China since around 2006 or 2007. The research is now done by Chinese scientists, which is technically fine, but highly political. They face pressure to align with leadership statements: if a leader says the numbers have doubled, researchers are expected to support that claim. China now reports about 4,000 snow leopards, up from 2,000 to 2,500, but there is still no peer-reviewed paper. Mongolia has good data, with about 980 animals, which is slightly lower than earlier estimates. However, camera traps are often clustered around scrape sites used during mating, while young dispersing males avoid dominant males and those sites, so they may be missed.

South Asia (India, Nepal, and Pakistan) has more robust and transparent data. Bhutan and India are rigorous, although local researchers sometimes remain skeptical of one another’s models.

Ramesh: Bhutan showed that solar fences doubling as deterrent fox lights and phone-charging stations help reduce conflict. Do you think this is practical for other countries?

Rodney: It can be. However, standard fox lights flash in a fixed pattern, so cats habituate to them quickly. Even randomized flashing fails if the light stays in one spot and nothing ever happens to the predator. I have been encouraging groups to link fox lights and camera traps to a higher-level alert: if a camera detects a leopard lingering for more than five or ten minutes, it triggers a loudspeaker blasting a recording of an angry villager shouting. Snow leopards would react to that. We should also test simple visual barriers, like wrapping thick plastic around corrals. A predator usually will not attack unless it can see its target; if it cannot see inside, it will not jump in blindly.

Ramesh: So, managing conflict requires understanding individual behavior?

Rodney: Exactly. Young males are not very cautious, much like young humans. They take risks and get into trouble. Resident females are usually more careful, but a female with cubs is under real pressure to feed them, so she may take risks too.

That is why I think we need to flip the model. Satellite collars and field biologists are extremely expensive, costing $80,000 to $120,000 a year for a single project. Why not put more of that money directly into reducing depredation? If we reduce the threat, snow leopards will show themselves more. Tourists can come with binoculars; the cat does not need a $5,000 collar around its neck for people to see it.

A rare sighting of a snow leopard pair in Manang. Photo from the Snow Leopard Conservancy/Tashi R Ghale

At the moment, a researcher’s career depends heavily on publications. We need to loosen that system and bring villagers in as local observers who can collect and report useful data. Think about a Dolpo village with 50 to 70 households. A team of 30 or 35 people from parks and big NGOs arrives, puts an expensive collar on a snow leopard, and leaves without convincing villagers that their livestock losses will be taken care of. Of course, people get angry. Within weeks, the collared cat may be killed. That happens because we have not shared the process with the community or built local capacity.

Ramesh: Where are we heading in the next 20 years?

Rodney: I feel good about places where conflict is being actively mitigated. When the conflict stops, the cats show themselves, and local youth can track signs, manage tourism, and take visitors out. The snow leopard survives under incredibly harsh conditions in only twelve countries. In 20 years, it is going to become iconic, like the lions of Africa, an animal people across the world want to see.

A decade ago, I had travelled to Manang in northwestern Nepal and interviewed Tashi R Ghale, who has been capturing the ghosts of mountains. He is a citizen scientist, and you can read his interview here.

डम्बर बहादुर गुरुंग ,ल्वांग गाउँका बासिन्दा। तस्विर: रमेश भुसाल

रमेश भुसाल

म अलि अघि नै हिमालतिरबाट फर्केकाे हुँ । त्यसपछिका दुइ सातामा मैले अंग्रेजीमा याे न्यूजलेटर लेखें अनि नेपालीमा गर्छु भन्दाभन्दै छाडें। तर अहिले नेपालीमा अनुवाद गर्ने जाँगर चल्याे वा समय पनि मिल्याे । मजस्ताे धेरै साेच्ने र थाेरै लेख्ने लेखक वा पत्रकारका लागि लेख्न सामान्यभन्दा धेरै समय लाग्छ नै । मैले कतै पढेकाे थिएँ कि साेच्नु लेख्नु हाेइन। लेख्नु भनेकाे साेचेकाे कुरा कागजमा वा कम्प्युटरमा उतार्नु हाे किनभने साेचेर मात्रै आफै लेखिने हाेइन । त्याे ठिकै हाे तर साेच्नु पनि लेख्नुजस्तै काम हाे। त्यसैले साेच्ने र लेख्ने दुबै गरेमात्रै बल्ल केहि लेखेकाे ठहर्छ त्यसैले त मैले लेखिरहेकाे छु । तब याे लेख बन्याे । साेचिरहेकाे भए याे लेख बन्ने थिएन नै ।

के म सल्लाह दिइरहेकाे छु? तपाँइलाइ त्यस्ताे लागेपनि मेराे उदेश्य त्यस्ताे हाेइन र छैन । तर कहिलेकाहि आफु कति जान्ने छु भनेर देखाउन पनि थाेरै खुराँक त पेल्नुपर्याे नि, कि कसाे ? त्यसाे गर्दा मान्छेले मेराे लेख पढिहाल्छन् कि । अहिले मान्छेकाे हातमा माेबाइल हुन्छ र स्क्रिनमा आँखा। यति व्यस्त त मान्छे इतिहासमै कहिल्यै थिएन । मान्छे रिल मात्र हेर्छन, कहाँ लेख पढ्छन् भनेकाे सुन्छु तर यदि त्यस्ताे हाेइन भने तपाँइ याे अलि लामाे लेख पढेर देखाइदिनुस् त भनेर म कसरी भनाैं ।

ल अब लेखतिर लागाैं। खासमा नेपालमा कुनै पहाडबाट फर्कें भन्नुकाे अर्थ छैन। भन्ने नै हाे भने नेपालममा मान्छे एउटा पहाडबाट अर्काे पहाडमा फर्कन्छ। कहिले काहि तराइमा पनि उ डुलिबस्ने गर्छ त्याे बेग्लै कुरा हाे तर पहाड नचढी त उ राजधानी समेत आउन सक्दैन । म पश्चिम नेपालकाे अन्नपुर्ण हिमाल आसपास घुमेर आएँ । एक महिना बढी भयाे । त्याेबेला प्रि मनसनुकाे दबदबा थियाे अहिले मनसुनकाे । नाम फरक भएपनि बादल र पानी उस्तै हुन्। त्याे बेला कस्ताे देखिएकाे थियाे त्याे भेग भनेर हेर्न मन छ भने यहाँ फाेटाे छ। मैले अस्ताम भन्ने ठाउँकाे अन्नपुर्ण इकाे भिजेलबाट खिचेकाे हुँ।

तपाँइले सन् १९५० मा अन्नपुर्ण कस्ताे थियाे र कसरी चढियाे भन्ने जान्न चाहनुहुन्छ भने फ्रान्सेली आराेही माेरिस हरजाेगले लेखेकाे अन्नपुर्ण भन्ने किताब पढ्नैपर्छ। त्याे किताब त कराेड बढी विक्रि भएकाे थियाे ।

अस्तामबाट देखिएकाे अन्नपुर्ण हिमाल। तस्विर : रमेश भुसाल।

अहाे, मेराे किताब छालबाटाे कैलाशदेखि गंगासम्म पनि त्यति नै बिकेकाे भए त मैले पनि यता पाेखराकाे कुनै डाँडामा ढुंगाकाे एउटा राम्राे घर बनाउँथे । हिमालितर फर्काएर ठुलाे आफ्नाे पुस्तकालय बनाउँथे र कहिले सेताे हिमाल हेर्थे किहिले उडिरहेका बादल नाचेकाे हेर्थें । घामजूनकाे आउजाउकाे चियाेचर्चाे गर्थें। तर ठिक छ। मेराे किताब पनि कम विकेकाे हाेइन। लाखाै नभने पनि हजाराैं चाहि बिक्याे । मैले तीन लाखकाे पद्मश्री साहित्य पुरस्कार पनि पाएकाे थिएँ अनि पचास हजारकाे साहित्यपाेष्ट पुरस्कार पनि। साढे तीन लाखमा घर त पाेखरातिर आउँदैन तर ठिकै छ। मैले प्रकाशकबाट पनि केहि लाख त पाएकाे छु। त्याे थप्दा पनि घरै त बन्दैन तर पटक पटक पाेखरा जानआउन पुग्छ नै । के थाहा नयाँ किताब लेख्ने याेजनापनि बन्न सक्छ।

अस्ताममा रहेकाे अन्नपुर्ण इकाे भिलेजमा म बसेकाे काेठा।

म पाेखराँ जाँदा लेकसाइडमा खासै बस्दिन । मेराे प्रिय ठाउँ चाहि अस्ताममा छ। हेम्जा हुँदै पर्वत जाने एउटा भाइरल राेड छ । त्यहि राेडविचमा सुइखेत भन्ने ठाउँबाट पुर्व हेर्दा देखिने डाँडाे नै अस्तामकाे टुप्पाे हाे । त्याे टुप्पाेमा तीन दाजुभाइ मिलेर अन्नपुर्ण इकाेभिलेज भन्ने गजबकाे इकाे लज चलाउँछन् । मेराे त अहिले त्याे अर्काे घरजस्तै भएकाे छ । अव हर्जाेगकाे जस्ताे कराेडाै किताब बिकेकाे भए मैले इकाे भिलेज नै किन्थे तर अहिले म संग किन्ने नभएपनि बेलाबेला गएर बस्ने पैशा चाहि छ । त्यसका एकजना संचालक विश्व अधिकारी हुन् । मेरा मित्र भइसके। छालबाटाे किताबकाे अन्तिम सम्पादन पनि मैले त्यहाँ बसेर गरेकाे थिएँ। दुइ साताजति। यति गुणगान नगाएकाे भएपनि मैले डिक्काउन्ट पाउँथे किनभने मैले त्याे पहिला नै पाएकाे छु । साँच्चै राम्राे छ त्याे ढुंगाले बनेकाे इकाे भिलेज। मैले यति त लेख्नैपर्छ।

यहाँ त आजकल नामकाे अगाडि इकाे थपेपछि इकाे लज भइहाल्छ। खासमा इकाे भनिसकेपछि सामान्य हाेटल वा लजभन्दा केहि फरक त गर्नुपर्ने हाे। त्यसैले नेपालमा साँच्चिकै इकाे र नामका इकाे गरि दुइथरी इकाे छन् जस्ताे लाग्छ मलाई। याे चाहि साँच्चिकै इकाे हाे है । तीन लाख लिटर आकाशे पानी संचित गर्छन् । Sand Filtration बाट पानी फिल्टर गरेर पिउन दिन्छन् ।प्लाष्टिककाे बाेतलकाे प्रयाेग लगभग सुन्य छ । अहिले त गाउँ गाउँमा जहाँ गएपनि प्लाप्टिककाे बाेतल ठ्याइहाल्छन् । हजाराैं नदीनाला, हिमालै हिमाल, मुलै मुल भएकाे देशमा त त्यसाे नगर्नू नि । साँझ आगाे ताप्दा फलामे पाइपबाट पानी तातेर ट्यांकीमा जम्मा हुन्छ र विहान उठेर तपाँइले त्याे पानी बाल्टीमा भरेर नुहाउन पाउनुहुन्छ। हाे त्याे पाे त इकाे ।

अहाे, सफा पानीकाे कुरा नगराैं । म याे लेखिरहँदा पाटनकाे एउटा क्याफेमा छु र यहाँबाट १० मिनेट हिडेर गयाे भने गनाउने बागमती भेटिन्छ। प्राय यहाँ पानी हाेइन ढल बगिरहेकाे हुन्छ। हामीले शहर कस्ताे बनायाैं भनेर के कुरा गर्नु । केहि भन्याे भने पहिला पैशा कमाउने अनि अरु कुरा गर्ने भन्छन् । पैशा कमाउने र राम्राे विकास पनि संगसगैं गर्न सकिन्छ भन्याे भने तैँ गर भन्छन । अहिले त फक याेरआइडिया पनि भन्न सक्छन् ।आहिले चलनचल्तीकाे भाषामा भनेकाे ।

मैले यसपटक एक साता अन्नपुर्ण हिमाल आसपास विताएँ । तर दुइ दिनमात्रै पुरै हिडें । त्यस्ताे पनि के हिडेकाे भन्नु तर निकै रमाईलो भयो । पहाडमा जन्मेकाे मान्छेका लागि हिड्नु सामान्य हाे । म सात बर्षकाे उमेर पर्वतबाट बस चढ्न एक दिन हिंडेर स्यांग्जा आएकाे थिएँ । छालबाटाे लेख्न म हप्ताै कर्नाली वरिपरि हिंडेकाे थिएँ। मलाई हिड्न असाध्यै मन पर्छ। यसपटक एक्लै हिंडे । कुनै दबाब थिएन । कुरा गर्ने कि त बादल थियाे कि त चराहरु । कि रुख भेटिन्थे कि खाेला । बेला बेला मान्छे भेटिन्थे। अधिकांश समय भेटिने चाहि सुनसान थियाे वा साँझमा झ्याउँकिरी। मेराे गन्तव्य थियाे तर उदेश्य थिएन ।

अस्तामबाट मार्दी खाेला झर्ने बाटाेकाे एउटा चाैपारी : रमेश भुसाल

यसपटक म डहरै डहर धेरै हिंडे । अस्तामबाट सिधै मार्दी नदी झर्ने डहरे बाटाे त यति मजाकाे रहेछ कि धितै मर्याे । आजकल सडक गएपछि हिड्ने राम्रा बाटा भेट्नै मुस्किल छ। अझ याे फाेटाेमा जस्ताे डहरे बाटाे त कहाँ पाउनु ? नयाँ बनाएका बाटा त पुरै सिमेन्टका सिंढी छन् । हेर्दा पनि दिक्क लाग्छ , हिड्न पनि मजा नआउने तर के गर्नु सबैकाे जाेडबल सिमेन्टमै छ। अहिले त नेपालमा एउटा मात्रै बाद छ जस्ताे लाग्छ मलाई त्यो हो सिमेन्टवाद। न पुँजीबाद न त समाजबाद। न माअाे लेनिन वाद। नभए याे तल बाघकाे फाेटाे हेर्नुस् त। कतै बाघ देख्नुभयाे । मैले त भ्रष्ट विचार मात्रै देखें। याे बाग्लुंगमा तीन लाख खर्च गरेर बनाइएकाे सिमेन्टकाे बाघ हाे । याे बाघ त पक्कै हाेइन तर याे बनाउन भने ६ सय बाघ भएकाे नाेट खर्च भएकाे रहेछ। सिमेन्ट किन्याे, मिलीजुली खायाे । त्यहि हाे सिमेन्टवाद।

हाँसीरहेकाे (राेइरहेकाे )बाघ । बाग्लुंगमा करकाे रकमले बनाएकाे बाघ। हरे। फाेटाे सेताेपाटी

यस्ता बाघ मात्रै हाेइन अरु धेरै कुरा बनाइएकाे छ। केहि साताअघि म दाेलखाकाे सैलुंग गएकाे थिएँ। त्यहाँ कराेडाैं खर्चेर मिनी ग्रेट वाल बनाइएकाे छ तर पर्यटकले मुत्ने एउटा शाैचालय समेत छैन ।कस्ताे मति हाे याे । यत्राे विश्वकै सबैभन्दा अग्लाे हिमालय पर्वत बाेकेर उभिएकाे देशका मान्छे ढुंगाका मिनी ग्रेटवाल बनाएर बसेका छन् । चित्त र चिन्तन सानाे भएपछि आउने बुद्दि भनेकाे यस्तै हाे । भव्य हिमालय पर्वत बाेकेर बसेकाे देशले यस्ता खित्रेमित्रे कुरुप आकृति बनाएर बसेकाे छ।

दाेलखाकाे सैलुंगमा बनेकाे मिनी ग्रेटवाल । तस्विर :रमेश भुसाल

म अस्तामबाट ल्वागं गाउँ गएँ । विस्तारै विस्तारै जाँदा ४ घण्टा लाग्याे । चरक्क घाम लागेकाे भन्दा वादलसंग लुकामारी खेल्दै गरेकाे आकाशमुनी हिड्न सजिलाे हुन्छ। घामकाे जिम्मा वादलले लिएका थिए तर बेला बेला घाम मेराे हालखबर बुझ्न यसाे आइपुग्थाे । त्याे थाहा पाउने वित्तिकै वादलले घेरिहाल्थे। मार्दी खाेलाकाे दाहिने किनारमा रहेकाे खाेरामुखबाट पश्चिमपट्टीकाे उकालाे लागेर म ल्वांग पुगें। कतै चराकाे आवाज त कतै आफ्नै खुट्टाकाे आवाज। ति दुइ आवाजकाे वर्चश्व थियाे मेराे यात्रामा । खाेरामुखमा एउटा विसाैनी थियाे जहाँ ६/७ जना बुढा गफ लगाएर बसेकाे थिए । एकजना रक्सीले मस्त मानिसलाई सबै बुढा मिलेर उडाइरहेका थिए । जे भने पनि बिल्याउँथे । उनी दलित रहेछन् । बेला बेला म त खतरा हाे । म यस्ताे हाे । म त उस्ताे हाे भन्दै गफ लाउँथे। बुढाहरु हाँस्थे अनि भन्थे याे त प्रधानमन्त्री हुनपर्नि मान्छे हाे तर अहिले यस्लाइ फुर्सद नभएर मात्रै हाे । अनि सबै हाँसे । यस्तै यस्तै गफ सुनेर म खाेरामुखबाट ल्वांगतिर उकालाे लागेकाे थिए । अहिले गाउँतिर देखिन दृष्य यस्तै हुन् । प्राय बुढाबुढी नै भेटिन्छन् । युवाले देश छाडेका छन् । केहि कमाएर पठाएका छन् यता बाआमाले धानेका छन् । यो विश्वकै अग्लो र कान्छो हिमाल आहिले बुढाबुडीको काँध मा छ।

ल्वांग गाउँ । तस्विर : रमेश भुसाल

खाेरामुखबाट ल्वा‍ंग पुग्नुअघिकाे जंगलमा केहिबेर बिसाँए । एउटा लाम्पुछ्रे रानीचरीले निरन्तर करायाे । मानाैं उस्ले मलाइ देख्याे र आफ्नाे गीतकाे स्राेता पाएर खुसी भएकाे थियाे । ल्वांग गाउँ पुग्नुअघि बाटाेमा एकजना बृद्द मजाले गीत गाउँदै झर्दैथिए। उनी मेराे अगाडी आएर राेकिए । हातमा सानाे लाैराे थियाे भने काखीमा आेड्ने प्लाष्टिक च्यापेका थिए । भैंसी चराउँदै रहेछन् ।

भाेकमा भात भेटेपछि कुन नेपाली खुसी नहाेला । त्याे पनि थकाली भान्सा । नेपालमा त भन्छन् नै दालभात पावर ट्ववान्टी फाेर आवर । एउटा बाह्रसिंगे वियर पनि पिएँ । यसाे साेचें मान्छेले पहिला जनावार मार्छन् अनि तिनैका नाममा वियर उत्पादन गर्छन् । हेर्नस् त वियरका नाम- टाइगर, राइनाे ,अर्ना, बाह्रसिंगे अनि यस्तै यस्तै । जंगलमाभन्दा बढी जैविक विविधता त वियरमा पाे देखिन्छ त ।

हजार रुपियाँमा एक पेट दालभात अनि एउटा वियर । देश त सस्ताे हाे नि मान्छे नै गरिव भएर पाे हाे । लण्डन न्यूयाेर्कमा एक गीलास वियरकै यति तिर्नुपर्थाे । यदि तपाँइ पश्चिमा देशबाट आउनुभएकाे छ भने मान्नुस् तपाँइ निशुल्क नेपाल घुमिरहनुभएकाे छ । त्यसैले नेपालमा आउनुस् तर अलि धेरै खर्च पनि गर्नुस् । थाेरै खर्च गर्नेलाइ नेपालीहरुले झाेले टुरिष्ट भन्छन् । ठिकै छ तपाँइ झाेले नै हाे भने पनि आउनुस् । नेपालीहरुले नझाेले नेपाली टुरिष्ट भन्दा झाेले गाेरा टुरिष्टलाइ सम्मान गर्छन। जे भएपनि आउनु्स है । याे पृथ्वी तपाँइहरुकाे पनि हाे । त्यसैले तपाँइ अलि नाइस् झाेले टुरिष्ट बनेर भए पनि आउनुभए राम्राे हुनेथियाे ।

घाम त हरायाे । पानीले पुरै कव्जा हानिसकेकाे थियाे । चार बज्दैथियाे त्यसैले मैले साेचें धम्पुस गएर बस्छु । तीन घण्टामा पुगिन्छ भनेर एकजना बाले भने तर मलाइ स्थानीयले भन्ने समयकाे भर लाग्दैन । उनीहरु आफ्नाे गतिकाे आधारमा भन्छन। एकपटक लांगटांगमा यस्तै गर्दा विजाेक भएर राती नाै बजे जहाँबाट गएकाे हाे त्यहि फर्केर बास बस्नुपरेकाे थियाे । यसपटक प्रि मनसुनकाे पानीले दैनिकजसाे जमीन छाेइरहेकाे थियाे । पाेखराका केहि दिनकाे बसाँइमा लगभग दिनहुँ पानी पर्याे । त्यस्तै थियाे माैसम। जलवायु परिवर्तनले गर्ने नै यस्तै हाे। नपर्ने बेला धेरै पर्ने तर पर्नुपर्ने बेला थाेरै वा पर्दैनपर्ने । पानी नै पर्दा पनि एक्कासी र आरीघाेप्टे पर्ने । कतै पर्ने कतै नपर्ने । अहिले आकाशकाे दैनिकी फेरिएकाे छ । पानीकाे आनीबानी फेरिएकाे छ।

ल्वांगबाट धम्पुस जानेबेला यस्ताे सुन्दर ठाउमा पुगें कि हल्का पानी परिरहेकाे बेला थचक्क बसेर आकास हेरें। चराकाे आवाज सुने र सुने बगिरहेकाे सानाे खेालाकाे आवाज । त्याे झाेलुंगे पुल धेरैसमय खासै प्रयाेग भएजस्ताे देखिन्थेन । एउटा माेटरबाटाे हुँदै म गएकाे थिएँ । माेटरबाटाे घुम्याे र त्याे घुम्तीमा थियाे हिड्ने पुल । माेटरबाटाेमा गाडी नगुडेकाे धेरै भएकाे हुनुपर्छ।झारले कव्जा गरिसकेका थिए ।

ल्वांग र धम्पुस विचतिर खानी गाउँ भन्दा मुनीकाे झाेलुंगे पुल । तस्विर : रमेश भुसाल

धम्पुस पुग्नै लाग्दा अध्याँराे भइसकेकाे थियाे । सडक फराकिलो भए पनि निकै हिलो थियो। एकठाँउमा त ग्माम्मै खुट्टा गाडियाे । पुरै हिलै भयाे। सुन्दर नेपाल भन्नेमा म अडिग नै छु है बिगारेकाे हामीले हाे । बस्ने कहाँ थाहा थिएन केहिबेर हिडेपछि एउटा सामान्य हाेटलजस्ताे देखिने घरमा पसें। नाम रहेछ फिसटेल कटेज। खाना खाँदै गर्दा होटल मालिकलाई सोधें। धम्पुसमा भएकाे सबैभन्दा परिवर्तन के हाे ? उनले फ्याट्टै भने “पहिला हरेक युवाको हातमा हलो हुन्थ्यो, अहिले सबैसँग मोटरसाइकल छ। त्यही होला ठूलो परिवर्तन।”

धम्पुसबाट हिडेर हेम्जाकाेट हुँदै म फेरी अस्ताम झरें।

हिमालपहाड निकै द्रुत गतिमा फेरिंदैछन् । समाजमात्रै हाेइन जलवायु पनि। याे संसारकै सबैभन्दा अग्लाे तर सबैभन्दा कान्छाे हिमश्रंखला हाे । त्यसैले भनिन्छ याे अहिलेपनि बन्नेक्रममा छ। याे पहाडमा धेरै बाटा उकालिएका छन् । मान्छे आेरालाे झरेका छन्। युवा विदेशिएका छन् भने बुढाबुढी तिनीहरु फर्कने आशामा जीन्दगी कटाइरहेका छन् । जलवायु परिवर्तनकाे चपेटामा पनि परेका छन् यि पहाड हिमाल । हेर्दा पहाड सुन्दर लाग्छ। साँच्दै अद्भुत् । तर काेहि किन पहाडमा बस्न चाहँदैन ? किन मान्छे पहाड छाेडिरहेछ र उस्लाइ के ले फर्काउँछ? अवसर र पैशा मात्रै हाे कि अरु केहि छ। पक्कै पनि एउटै उत्तर छैन तर पहाड मान्छे पर्खेर बसेकाे छ । तपाँइ पनि फेरिएकाे पहाड हिमाल हेर्न चाँडै जानुस् र आँखामा कैद गर्नुस् त्याे धेरै नफेरिँदै ।

हेम्जाकोटबाट देखिएको अस्तामको डाँडा। तस्विर : रमेश भुसाल

पढेर केहि प्रतिकृया पठाउनुहाेला है । तपाइले अर्काे चिठ्ठी बंगलादेशबारे यहाँ पढ्न सक्नुहुन्छ । ल अहिलेका लागि यत्ति नै।

साँझ ठिक ६ बजे, विमान धावनमार्गमा थियो। हाम्रा लागि यो विरलै हुने कुरा हो। हालैका दिनहरुमा मैले समयमा उडेको अनुभव गर्न पाएको छैन। मलाई विश्वास गर्नुहोस्, म देशको बारेमा नराम्रो कुरा गरिरहेको छैन। यो एउटा सुन्दर देश हो र यहाँका मानिसहरू गजब छन् ।प्राय विदेशीहरुले त्यसाे भन्ने गर्छन्। देश र जनता दुबै गजब भएकाे भए कुन कुराले हामीलाई विश्वकै पिछडिएको र अति कम विकासित देश बनाएर राख्यो? हँ। छोड्नुस्, यस्ता सानातिना कुरा नगरौं।

हामी पूर्वतर्फ जाँदै थियौं, तर काठमाडौंमा सामान्यतया तपाईंले जहाजमा एकफन्को मार्नुपर्छ, त्यसैले हामी उत्तरतर्फ उड्यौं, घुम्यौं, अनि बंगलादेशतर्फ अर्थात दक्षिण-पूर्वतर्फ लाग्यौं । तपाईं भारत पनि भन्न सक्नुहुन्छ, तर बंगालीहरू भारतलाई मन पराउँदैनन् त्यसैले अहिलेका लागि त्यो नभन्नु नै बेस होला। मैले भेटेका धेरै बंगालीहरूका भनाइका आधारमा म यो भन्दैछु। मेरा भारतीय साथीहरू, सरी । सायद उनीहरू भारतीय सरकारलाई मात्र घृणा गर्छन्। मानिसहरू आफ्नै सरकारलाई त माया गर्दैनन् अरू कसैको सरकारलाई कसले किन पो माया गराेस्? सरकार माया गर्ने कुरा होइन। यो एउटा खतरनाक जीव हो, तर हामी आफैंले सृजना गरेको ।

मलाई उड्न खासै मन पर्दैन । म चाहन्थें कि काठमाडौंदेखि ढाकासम्म बस चलोस् ताकि म गाडी चढेर दक्षिणतिर जान सकूँ, चियाका लागि रोकिन सकूँ, र मानिसहरूसँग कुरा गर्न सकूँ। यो त्यति टाढा पनि त छैन । उडानबाट मात्र एक घण्टाको बाटो त हो तर जमिनको मार्गबाट त्यहाँ पुग्न एकदमै गाह्रो छ।

अहिलेका लागि त यो सपनाहरूको पनि सपना हो। म कहिलेकाहीँ सपना देख्न पनि डराउँछु किनभने यदि भइहाल्यो भने , म यसलाई कसरी अंगालूँला भन्ने पो मनमा आउँछ?

यो क्षेत्र अत्यन्त विभाजित छ भन्ने तपाँइलाइ थाहा नै छ। अफगानिस्तान अहिले अतिवादी, तालिबानको शासनमा छ। भारत र पाकिस्तान एकअर्कासँग कुरा समेत गर्दैनन्। नेपाल अलि बढी लचिलो छ तर यो पनि समस्याहरूबाट मुक्त छैन। भारत, हाम्रो साझा ठुल्दाइ हो जस्को कुनैपनि छिमेकीसँग राम्रो सम्बन्ध छैन। म्यानमारमा जुन्ताको बन्दुकको बलमा शासन चलिरहेको छ। बंगलादेश र श्रीलंकाको अवस्था पनि राम्रो छैन। यो क्षेत्र देखेर बढो दिक्क लाग्छ। यी हिमाल पहाडहरुले जन्माउने नदीहरूले हाम्रो जीवन चलाएका छन् र हामी यी पहाडहरूका उत्पादन हौं, तैपनि हामी खासमा साथीसम्म बन्न सकेका छैनौ।

अहिलेका लागि उडौं।

जब तपाईं विमानमा हुनुहुन्छ, चिन्ता गर्नुको कुनै अर्थ हुँदैन, तर तपाईं चिन्ता गरिरहनुहुन्छ। कम्तीमा म चाहि गर्छु। तपाईं जहाज चढेपछि, कि अवतरण गर्नुहुन्छ, कि त गर्नुहुन्न; त्यहाँ यी दुईवटा मात्र सम्भावनाहरू हुन्छन्। भन्न सजिलो छ तर गर्न गाह्रो। तपाईंले विज्ञानलाई विश्वास गर्नैपर्छ नभए टिकट नै नकिन्नु राम्रो। भनिन्छ हवाइजहाज यातायातको सबैभन्दा सुरक्षित माध्यमहरू मध्ये एक हो। तर मैले यो लेखिरहँदा, क्यालिफोर्नियामा एउटा बी-५२ बमवर्षक विमान दुर्घटनाग्रस्त भयो, जसमा सवार सबै आठ जनाको मृत्यु भयो, र फ्रान्समा भएको दुर्घटनामा १० जनाभन्दा बढी स्काईडाइभरहरू मारिए। यस्ता कुरामा हामी समय बर्वाद नगरौं।

बादल मडारिइरहेकाे थियो र अस्ताउँदो सूर्यले आकाश रंगीन थियो। प्राय आकाश निलो छ भन्ने गरिन्छ । हाे यो निलो छ, तर यो रातो, सुन्तला, कालो, गुलाबी पनि छ। यो दुःखी, खुसी, आक्राेशित, शान्त, आदि देखिन्छ। विस्तृत विवरण नभएपछि “इत्यादि” लेख्नु नै राम्रो हुन्छ। एक अल्छी लेखकले त्यसो गर्छ। मलाई पनि त्यसैमा गन्नुस् भनेर म भन्दिन। हिउँले ढाकिएका पहाडहरूले आफ्ना टाउका मात्र देखाइरहेका थिए, शरीर बादलमुनि लुकाएका थिए। हिमालय, विश्वकै सबैभन्दा अग्लो हिमशृङ्खला। हामी तिनलाई भव्य भन्छौं, र त्यसपछि तिनीहरूमाथि क्रूर व्यवहार गर्छौं।

बादलहरू, ती चुचुराहरूमा रहेका बाक्लो हिउँ, निरन्तर बगिरहेका नदीहरूलाई हेर्दैगर्दा मनमा अनेका तर्कना आए । पानीको एउटा थोपाले पृथ्वीलाई विभिन्न आकार दिन्छ। कहिलेकाहीँ त्यो बादल बनाउँछ, कहिले पग्लिन्छ र बग्छ, र भने कहिले चट्टानहरूमा बरफको रूपमा जम्छ। यो ग्रह पानीका विभिन्न रूपहरुको संगालो हो र ती थोपाहरूले जीवनका विभिन्न रूपहरू सिर्जना गर्छन्। हामी ती रूपहरू मध्ये एक हौं, जसलाई ती थोपाहरूले धानेका छन्। तर हामी विरलै तिन्लाई श्रेय दिन्छौं। हामी सोच्छौं कि हाम्रा फोक्सो वा मुटुको कारणले जीवित छौं, तर वास्तविक सहयोगी प्रणालीहरू हामीभन्दा बाहिर छन्, जसले हामीलाई चाहिने इन्धन निरन्तर आपूर्ति गरिरहेका छन्। हामी यसको लागि सिधै पैसा मात्र तिर्दैनौं। हामी सरकारलाई मात्र कर तिर्छौं, र ति सरकार पनि हामी परिवर्तन गरिरहन्छौं। हामीले परिवर्तन गर्नुपर्ने अर्को कुरा सोच हो त्यो चाहि विरलै परिवर्तन गर्छौ। खासमा सरकारभन्दा सोच परिवर्तन गर्न गाह्रो हुन्छ।

अहिले पृथ्वीमा हाम्रो जनसंख्या ८ अर्बभन्दा बढी छ। अब मान्छेकाे कुरा गरौं विमानमा, नेपाली ह्यान्डबल खेल्ने तन्नेरी खेलाडीहरु थिए, जसमध्ये धेरैको त्यो पहिलो उडान थियो। उनीहरु ढाकाको बारेमा उत्साहित थिए। एकजनाले भन्यो, “यदि यो प्लेन खस्यो भने के होला?” अर्कोले जवाफ दियो, “तैलें थाहा नै पाउँदैनस् किनभने थाहा पाउनु अघि नै तँ चैट भइसक्छस्।” यो कस्तो कुराकानी हो भनेर उनीहरुलाइ मैले सोधिनँ। मनमनै थोरै रिसाएँ मात्रै ।

मेरो छेउमा एकजना बंगाली युवा बसेका थिए। पछाडिका एक यात्रुले उनलाई आफ्नो सिट सिधा पार्न मिल्छ कि भनेर सोधे। तर उनले आँखा तरे र भने, You can do also। म अलमलमा परें, र पछाडिको मानिस पनि अलमलिए। मैले पछि बुझें कि उनको भनाइको अर्थ के रहेछ भने म जे चाहन्छु त्यही गरिरहेको छु यदि तिमीलाई आफ्नो सिट सिधा राख्न मन छने भनेआफुले पनि त्यसै गरे हुन्छ। भाइ, तिमी युवा छौ, अलिकति नम्र हुन सिक भनेर मैले उनलाई भनिनँ , मैले आफैंलाई भनें। लेखकहरु आफैसंग धेरै कुरा गर्छन्। यदि मैले त्यो समस्या आफैं सुल्झाएको भए, त्यहाँ लेख्नका लागि कुनै कथा नै हुने थिएन। लेखकहरू स्वार्थी हुन्छन्, मानिसहरू भन्छन् तर म त्यस्तो छैन।

उनी ढाकाबाट नेपाल घुम्न आएका रहेछन, मुस्ताङ र नगरकोट घुमेछन् ।, र अंग्रेजी साहित्य पढेका रे। त्यसोभए त्यस्तो व्यक्तिले कसरी you can do also भन्न सक्छ भनेर मैले फेरी मनमनै सोधें र उत्तर दिएँ त्यो पनि मनमनै, घमण्डले सिक्नका लागि धेरै ठाउँ छोड्दैन। उनी पछाडिका मानिससंग अनाहकमा रिसाएका थिए । त्यो पनि मैले उनलाई भनिनँ।

हामी बेलुका ७:१५ बजे ढाका पुग्यौं, त्यतिबेलासम्म अँध्यारो भइसकेको थियो। ढाका कथा र जीवनले भरिएको सहर हो, तर यहाँ धेरै कथाहरू र धेरै मानिसहरू पनि छन्। काठमाडौंसमेत भीडभाडयुक्त लाग्ने मान्छेका लागि ढाका सहर हाेइन, आन्दोलन भइरहेको सडकजस्तै हो। म ढाकाका बारेमा नराम्रो कुरा गरिरहेको छैन, मेरा बंगाली साथीहरू ।तर हामीले स्विकार्नुपर्छ कि हाम्रा सहरहरू धेरै फोहोर छन्। हामी जताततै फोहोर फाल्छौं। हामीले वास्तवमै हाम्रा सहरहरू बनाएका छैनौं बरु सामूहिक छाप्राहरु बनाएका छौं। हामीले योभन्दा राम्रो गर्न सक्थ्यौं। म काठमाडौंको बारेमा पनि कुरा गरिरहेको छु।

अनअराइभल भिसाका लागि अध्यागमन डेस्कमा चारवटा कुराहरू मागे: राहदानी, आयोजकको पत्र, फर्किने टिकट, र होटल बुकिङ। मलाई पाँच मिनेटभन्दा कम समयमा छाप लगाइयो र म बाहिर निस्कें।

पुरानाे ढाकामा रकिब र म।

बंगलादेश संस्कृति, खाना र संगीतमा धनी छ। मलाई यो सबै मन पर्छ। मलाई मन नपर्ने कुरा के हो भने त्यहाँ अत्यधिक मान्छे छन्। जब म ढाका वा दिल्ली जस्ता अत्यधिक जनसङ्ख्या भएका ठाउँहरूमा जान्छु, म साँच्चिकै सोध्छु ,तपाईंहरू किन यति धेरै बच्चा जन्माउनुहुन्छ । मलाई यो नभन्नुहोस् कि पश्चिमाहरुले जनसंख्या कम भएपनि हामीलेभन्दा बढी स्रोतहरू प्रयोग गर्दछन् । मलाई त्यो थाहा छ, र असमानता वास्तविक हो र अन्यायपूर्ण छ। तपाईं रमाइलो गर्न सक्नुहुन्छ र पनि थोरै बच्चा पाउन सक्नुहुन्छ। धेरैले तर्क गर्छन् कि वास्तविक समस्या जनसङ्ख्या होइन बरु असमानता हो । जस्ताे पश्चिमका थोरै मानिसहरूले पूर्वका धेरै मानिसहरुले भन्दा बढी जमिनको क्षयीकरण गर्छन् र बढी पानी प्रयोग गर्छन्। धेरै स्रोतको प्रयोग गर्छन । ठीक छ, तपाईं सही हुनुहुन्छ। धेरै मानिसहरू र धेरै उपभोग दुवै गम्भीर समस्या हुन्। तर हामीले जनसंख्या सकेसम्म घटाएकै राम्राे । यति त स्विकार्नैपर्छ।

हाम्रो होटलका कर्मचारी विमानस्थलको गेटबाहिर मेरो नाम लिएर पर्खिरहेका थिए। मलाई अक्सफाम भन्ने संस्थाले नदी सम्बन्धी एउटा कार्यक्रमका लागि ढाकामा बाेलाएको थियो तर मैले यहाँ लेखेका शब्दहरूमा उनीहरुको कुनै लागनी छैन । तर तपाँइ पैशा तिरेर पनि मेरो Newsletter पढ्न सक्नुहुन्छ। त्यसो हो भने डी एम गर्नुस् अनि म पैशा कसरी तिर्ने बताइदिन्छु है ।

ढाका विश्वविध्यालयकाे बस।

नयाँ बनेको फ्लाईओभर हुँदै चालकले मलाई आधा घण्टामा बनानीको लेकशोर होटलमा पुर्‍याए। फ्लाईओभरले ढाकाको भयानक ट्राफिकबाट बचायो। मैले उनलाई सोधें, “के नयाँ सरकार पुरानो भन्दा राम्रो छ”। उनले मुस्कुराउँदै भने, “उस्तै-उस्तै। "

अस्तव्यस्तता ढाकाको अर्को नाम हो। यदि तपाईं त्यसकाे आनन्द लिनु मन पराउनुहुन्छ भने,त्याे अद्भुत छ। ढाकामा २ करोडभन्दा बढी मानिस छन् जुन नेपालको कुल जनसङ्ख्याको झण्डै दुई तिहाइ हाे। चालकले पनि बालेनले भारतका सचिवलाई भेट्न अस्वीकार गरेको प्रसंग उठाए। बंगलादेशमा त्यो समाचार भाइरल भएको रहेछ । इमानदारीपूर्वक भन्नुपर्दा, विदेशमा आफ्नो देश र नेताहरूको बारेमा राम्रा कुराहरू सुन्न पाउँदा राम्रो लाग्याे। तर हाम्रा लागि त्याेभन्दा अरु धेरै महत्वुपुर्ण कुराहरु छन्। बंगालीका लागि चाहि मिश्री नै सबैभन्दा ठुलाे समस्या लागेकाे रहेछ। हाम्राे देशमा एकजना युवा सत्तामा आएका छन् तर मलाई लाग्छ घमण्ड हाम्रो कान्छो प्रधानमन्त्रीका लागि सबैभन्दा ठूलो जोखिम हो। तपाईं राम्राे नेता हुन सक्नुहुन्छ र पनि तपाईंमा अलिकति न्यूयाेर्कका मेयर ममदानीको केहि अंश राख्न पनि सक्नुहुन्छ। तर त्यसो भन्दापनि सरकारको विरोध गरिस् भनेर भन्न सक्छन्। यहाँ अहिले उनका बारेमा राम्रोमात्रै गर्नुपर्छ नत्र त सामाजिक संजालमा खाउँला जस्तो पो गर्छन त, उनका समर्थकहरु ।

मलाई थाहा छ भारतसँग हाम्रा धेरै मतभेदहरू छन्, र भारतले सधैं आफ्ना छिमेकीहरूलाई सुक्ष्म व्यवस्थापन गर्ने गरेकाे छ। बेलाबेला दुख पनि दिन्छ। तर छिमेकीहरूले पनि भारतबाट आफ्नो हिस्साको फाइदा उठाएका छन् । भारतले यस क्षेत्रको बारेमा बढी व्यावहारिक रूपमा सोचेको भए हुन्थ्यो ताकि हामी सबै सँगै मिले समृद्ध हुन सक्थ्याै। तर मैले सोच्ने तरिका र नेताहरूले सोच्ने तरिका मिल्दैनन्। यसलाई यहीँ पार्क गरौं।

०००

ढाका मैले सोचे जस्तो तातो थिएन, किनकि प्रि मनसुन वर्षाले यसलाई अलिकति चिसो बनाउन मद्दत गरेकाे थियो । अहिले त मनसुन नै आइसक्यो। ढाकामा यो मेरो तेस्रो यात्रा थियो, र अनुभवका आधारमा म भन्न सक्छु कि यहाँ समय भनेको एउटा अंक मात्रै हो। सबैजना हतार गरिरहेका छन्, तर कोही पनि समयमै कतै पुग्दैनन्। लन्च खाऔं भनेर कुनै साथीलाइ भन्नुस् उस्ले भन्नेछ, किन लन्च मात्र भोली ब्रेकफास्टबाट सुरु गरौंला, हुँदैन ? तर भाेली पल्ट उ लन्च त के डिनरका लागि पनि उपस्थित नहुन सक्छ। म सामान्यीकरण गरिरहेको छैन, तर अधिक वाचा गर्नु याे भेगका एउटा रोग नै हो, र बंगालीहरू यसमा निकै माहिर छन् । नेपालीहरू भन्दा बढी, म त्यति त भन्न सक्छु। तथापि, नेपालीहरु पनि यस मामलामा तगडै छन्।यसपटक मेरा एक मित्रले त्यसै गरे। त्यस्तो पहिला पनि भएकाे छ। कार्यक्रम ८ बजे भन्याेभने १० बजे बल्ल शुरु हुन्छ।

यस पटक एकजनाले धाेका दिएपनि अर्का मेरा सहकर्मी राकिब भने हामीले तय गरेको समयभन्दा आधा घण्टा अगाडि नै आइपुगे, जुन यति असामान्य थियो कि मलाई लाग्यो नयाँ क्रान्तिसँगै ढाका परिवर्तन भएछ। तर अर्का पुराना सहकर्मी, जसले म ओर्लिनु अघि नै रमाइलो गर्नुपर्छ भनेर बारम्बार वाचा गरेका थिए, तीन दिनसम्म पनि देखा परेनन्। मैले राकिबलाई पनि सोधें, “ के नयाँ सरकार पुरानो भन्दा राम्रो छ?”

मलाई त्यस्तो लाग्दैन,” उनले भने।

उस्तै भ्रष्टाचार, काम गर्ने उस्तै पारा। हामी हाम्रा विद्यार्थी नेताहरू सत्तामा आएकाे हेर्न चाहन्छौं। एक दिन उनीहरूले नियन्त्रण लिनेछन्। मैले मनमनै भनें “थप एक क्रान्ति तर कृपया कुनै आगजनी नहोस्। ”

मेराे साथी रकिब र म, पुरानाे ढाकामा।

तर मलाई विश्वास गर्नुहोस्, बंगालीहरूले साथीको रूपमा तपाईंलाई आफ्नो मनमुटु दिन्छन्। राकिबले मलाई पुरानो ढाका सहर लिएर गए र ढाका विश्वविद्यालयमा आफ्नो पुरानो कक्षाकोठा देखाए। हामीले लेकशोर हाेटलबाट शहबागसम्म सीएनजी अटाे लियौं, त्यसपछि रिक्सा। मलाई सधैं रिक्सा चढ्दा नराम्रो लाग्छ । एक जना मानिसले अन्य दुई जनालाई तानिरहेको हेर्दा त्यो कडा परिश्रम गर्ने मान्छेको माया लाग्छ। तर फेरि म सोच्छु, कम्तीमा यसले उसलाई गाँस र बास त दिन्छ।

मैले शहबागमा बंगलादेशको जेन जी आन्दोलनको केहि अवशेष हेर्न पाएँ। पुरानो शहीद स्मारक, र विद्रोह गर्ने मानिसहरूको आशा र सपनाहरूको झलक दिने चित्रहरु पनि देखें। तर भर्खरै भएकाे विद्रोहले नयाँ आशा दिनुकाे साटो मानिसहरु फेरी निराश हुन थालेको पनि पाएँ। यो क्षेत्रको दु:ख नै त्यहि हो । एउटा परिवर्तनले पुगेकै छैन। बारम्बार परिवर्तन भएपनि जनताको जिवनस्तर भने खासै फेरिएको छैन ।

हामी चर्चित हनिफ बिर्यानी खान गयौं । पुरानो ढाकामा। खचाखच थियो। केहिबेर लाइन बसेपछि बस्ने ठाउँ पायौं बिर्यानी मिठो नै थियो तर हेर्दा भने पुलाउ जस्तो देखिन्थ्यो। यसलाई कुन कुराले यति लोकप्रिय बनायो थाहा भएन, तर यो नयाँ सरकारभन्दा बढी लोकप्रिय रेहछ, यो पक्का हो। मेरो लागि, यसले एउटा सन्देश दियो। एउटै कुरामा ध्यान केन्द्रित गर्नुहोस्, र तपाईंले त्यसबाट उत्तम नतिजा पाउनुहुनेछ। हनिफ बिर्यानीले एउटा परिकार मात्र पस्कन्छ, मटन बिर्यानी, र केवल मटन बिर्यानी।

पुरानाे ढाकामा चर्चित हनिफ बिर्यानी

हामी विश्वविद्यालय क्षेत्रमा फर्कियौं र प्रथाेमा पुस्तक पसलमा छिर्‍यौं। मैले चारवटा किताब किनें। देशको सबैभन्दा ठूलो अखबार प्रथाेमाले चलाएको पसल भने खासै आकर्षक थिएन। मैले यस्तो ठाउँको अपेक्षा गरेको थिएँ जहाँ तपाँइ घण्टौंसम्म किताबहरु वरिपरी टहल्न पाउनुहुन्छ। मैले टैगोरको गीताञ्जली, काफ्काको मेटामोर्फोसिस, मार्क्सको कम्युनिष्ट म्यानीफेस्टाे, र मिल्टनको प्याराडाइज लस्ट किनें। चारवटा पुस्तकको कुल १,४०० टाका भयो। काउन्टरमा हामीलाई एउटा मात्र पुस्तकको, करिब ३०० टाकाको रसिद दिइयाे । बाँकी स्पष्ट रूपमा करछली। यस्ता साना कुराहरू थपिँदै जाँदा देश असफल हुन थाल्छ। स साना कुरा हुन् तर त्यहि त पछि ठुलाे हुने हो ।

तर, ठूलो समस्या त के थियो भने राकिबले मलाई तीमध्ये कुनैको पनि पैसा तिर्न दिएनन्। जब तिमी ढाकामाहुन्छौ तिमीलाई खुसी राख्नु मेरो जिम्मेवारी हो, पैशा तिर्न पाइँदैन भनेर उनले अडान नै लिए । मैले प्रयास गरें तर असफल भएँ। मैले रिक्सा चालकलाई थप ५० टाका मात्र टिप्सका रुपमा दिएँ। मेराे कुल खर्च त्याे दिन त्यति नै।

प्रथाेमा पुस्तक पसल।

ठिकै छ, मेरो साथी। काठमाडौं आउँदा म तिम्रालागि केही गर्नेछु। मैले खासै धेरै गर्नुपर्दैन। म डाँडातिर लैजानेछु, दुईवटा बियर किन्नेछु, र तिमीलाई हिमाल देखाउनेछु। बियर मेरो तर्फबाट, हिमालहरूले बाँकी काम गर्नेछन्। मैले जिस्क्याएँ।

अन्तिम दिन म , म लुगाहरू खोज्नका लागि मात्र होटलबाट बाहिर निस्किएँ — बंगलादेशको अर्को नाम कपडादेश राखेपनि हुन्छ। मैले गुलशनमा बिग बाेस नाम गरेकाे एउटा ठूलो पसल भेट्टाएँ र धेरै लुगाहरू किनें । मलाई भोक लाग्यो र त्यहाँका म्यानेजरसंग बंगाली खाना पाइने राम्रो ठाउँको बारेमा सोधें। पानी परिरहेको थियो उनले त एकजना सहायकलाई छाता ओढाएर मलाई रेस्टुरेन्टसम्म पुर्‍याउन पठाए । नाम रहेछ सुल्तान बिर्यानी । आउनुहोस् ढाकाको नाम नै परिवर्तन गरिदिऊँ र कपडापछि बिर्यानीदेश राखाैं। नेपालमा मःमः जस्तै, ढाकामा बिर्यानी मुख्य खाना रहेछ कि क्या हाे। खाना यति धेरै थियो कि मैले आधा भाग बेलुकाको खानाका लागि प्याक गर्नुपर्‍यो।

मैले केहि तन्ना किन्न चाहेकाे थिएँ । खाना खाएर फर्केपछि मैले म्यानेजरलाइ साेधें उनले त फेरी अर्को १० मिनेट छाता ओढेर मलाई एउटा यस्तो पसल देखाउन गए जुन मैले भनेकै थिइनँ। बढाे मेजमानी पाे गरे । खासै धेरै खर्च गरेकाे त हाेइन । बनानी फर्कने रिक्साको ५० टाका लाग्यो। रिक्सा चालक एक वृद्ध मानिस थिए, त्यसैले मैले उनलाई १०० दिएँ तर खुद्रा फिर्ता मागिनँ। उनले मलाई एउटा मिठाे मुस्कान दिए । त्यस्ताे मिठाे मुस्कान निकै सस्तोमा पाएँ भनेर मनमनै भनें । तपाईंले मात्र यो थाहा पाउनु पर्छ कि कोसँग मोलतोल गर्ने र काेसंग नगर्ने।

यस पटक मैले ढाका धेरै देखिनँ। यस्तो सहरको व्याख्या गर्नका लागि केही दिन पर्याप्त हुँदैन, तर यो मेरो पहिलो भ्रमण थिएन, र मलाई लाग्छ कि मैले केहि न केहि जानेकाे छु । यति धेरै आशा छ यहाँ । यति धेरै कडा परिश्रम गर्छन यहाँका मान्छे । यति धेरै गरिबी। यति धेरै पीडा। बंगालीहरू राम्रा दिनहरूको लागि व्यग्रताका साथ पर्खिरहेका छन्, तर सरकारहरूले त्यसरी सोच्दैनन् सायद ।तिनीहरू कसरी जित्ने र जितिरहने भन्ने बारेमा सोच्छन्। आशा छ यो सरकारले अघिल्लो सरकारले जस्तै गर्ने छैन र फेरी अर्काे आन्दाेलनकाे भार उनीहरुले बाेक्नुपर्ने छैन ।

पुरानाे ढाकामा एकजना रिक्सा चालक ।

मैले यो लेखिरहँदा, मैले साम डेलरिम्पलको Substack मा एउटा पोस्ट पढेँ। “ कुनै समय, बंगाल पृथ्वीकै सबैभन्दा धनी ठाउँ थियो। सन् १७००काे सुरुतिर, यसले विश्वव्यापी जीडीपीको झण्डै ५ प्रतिशत हिस्सा ओगटेको थियो, र यसको राजधानी मुर्शिदाबादसँग बेलायती कुलीन वर्गको संयुक्त सम्पत्तिभन्दा बढी सम्पत्ति थियो।” त्यसपछिका तीन शताब्दीहरूमा, यो सबैभन्दा धनीबाट सबैभन्दा गरिब मध्ये एकमा परिणत भएको छ।

के ढाकाका ति पुराना दिनहरू फर्केलान ? मलाई थाहा छैन। तर ति फर्किए भने, म पक्का छु कि काठमाडौंले पनि अलिकति फाइदा पाउनेछ। अर्को पटकसम्मका लागि, धन्यवाद, ढाका।

मेरो अर्को न्यूजलेटर काठमाडौं नजिकैको जंगलबाट हुनेछ, जहाँ मैले एक हप्ता कि त लेखेर कि त कोठा बाहिर जंगलको पर्खाल हेरेर बिताएँ। त्याे त्यस्ताे ठाउँ थियाे जहाँ म प्रकृतिमा नाङ्गै उभिन सक्थेँ, र मलाई देख्ने केवल रुख वा चराहरू मात्र थिए।

Image: Painted wall in Dhaka.Pic- Ramesh Bhushal

RAMESH BHUSHAL

Dot 6 pm, the plane was on the runway. A rare moment for a Kathmanduite — I don’t remember any recent flight I’ve taken on time. Believe me, I’m not talking badly about my country. It’s a beautiful country, beautiful people — most foreigners say so themselves. So what kept us at the bottom of the world rankings, backward and least developed? Huh. Come on. Let’s not talk about it.

We were heading east, but in Kathmandu, you normally need to make a loop, so we flew north, turned, then headed southeast toward Bangladesh, you could also say India, but Bengalis hate India, so it’s better not to say that for now. I’m going by the words of many Bengalis I’ve met. Sorry, my Indian friends. Maybe they only hate the Indian government. People don’t even love their own governments, who would love someone else’s? Government isn’t a thing to love. It’s a dangerous creature, but one created by the people themselves.

I don’t enjoy flights. I wish there were a bus from Kathmandu to Dhaka so I could drive down south, stop for tea, and talk to people. It’s not that far — just an hour-long flight but getting there by land is brutally hard. Flying around South Asia, I always imagine a trip from Afghanistan to Myanmar, crossing rivers and mountains, eating local food, and listening to music. But it’s a dream that never comes true. Imagine a train from Kabul through Pakistan, the Indian Himalaya, Nepal, Assam, Bhutan or Sikkim, into Myanmar, and onward to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos. A dream of dreams. I sometimes even fear dreaming because if it came true, how would I embrace it?

This region is so divided. Afghanistan is its own world now, ruled by the Taliban. India and Pakistan don’t talk to each other. Nepal is a bit more flexible but isn’t without its problems. India, our common big brother, has no good relations with its neighbors. Myanmar is ruled by the junta’s gun. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are no better off. We are so messed up. The rivers that originate in these mountains shape our lives; we’re the product of these mountains, yet we can’t be friends at all.

Let’s take off for now. The captain spoke, but I hardly listened. Who listens to those announcements? The rituals.

When you’re on a plane, it’s not worth worrying, but you keep worrying. At least I do. After you take off, either you land, or you don’t; those are the only two possibilities. Easier said than done. You must trust science, or don’t buy the ticket. They say it’s one of the safest modes of transportation. But while I was writing this, a B-52 bomber crashed in California, killing all eight on board, and a crash in France killed over ten skydivers. Let’s not dwell on it. Hope. Hope. Hope.

Clouds were hovering, and the sky was colorful with the setting sun. You think the sky is blue — it is, but it’s also red, orange, black, pink. It’s sad, happy, angry, silent, thundering. It’s better to write “etc.” when you lack the details. A lazy writer does that. Count me in. Snow-peaked mountains showed just their heads, bodies hidden under the clouds — the Himalayas, the tallest range in the world. Majestic, we call them, and then we treat them brutally.

When you’re in the air, you think a lot. Looking at the clouds, the thick snow on those peaks, the rivers flowing endlessly. A drop of water shapes the earth. Sometimes it becomes gas and forms clouds, sometimes it melts and flows, and sometimes it freezes as ice on the rocks. The planet is all about different forms of water, and those drops create different forms of life. We are one of those forms, supported by those drops, and we rarely credit them. We think we’re alive because of our lungs or our heart, but the real supporting systems are outside of us, continuously supplying the fuel we need. We just don’t pay for it directly. We only pay taxes to the government, and we keep changing them.

There are over 8 billion of us on Earth now. On the plane, young Nepali boys — handball players, many on their first flight, were excited about Dhaka. One said, “What if this plane crashes?” Another replied, “You won’t even know because you’ll die before you find out.” What kind of conversation is this? I didn’t ask.

A young Bengali man sat next to me. A passenger behind asked if he could bring his seat forward. He stared at him and said, “You can do also.” I was confused, and so was the guy behind him. I figured out later what he meant: I’m doing what I want; if you want yours upright too, do it yourself. A couple of minutes later, the air hostess made him upright anyway. Man, you’re young, learn a bit. I didn’t say that to him; I said it to myself. As a writer, you talk to yourself a lot. If I’d fixed the problem myself, there wouldn’t have been a story to write. Writers are selfish, people say. I am not.

I got curious about him afterward. He was from Dhaka, had been to Mustang and Nagarkot, and studied English literature. So how does someone like that say “you can do also”? Maybe attitude doesn’t leave much room for learning. That was an unnecessary bit of bad attitude. I didn’t tell him, though.

We reached Dhaka at 7:15 pm, already dark. Dhaka is a city full of stories and life, but also too many stories and too many people. For someone from Kathmandu, who thinks of it as polluted and crowded, Dhaka isn’t even close. I’m not talking badly about it, my Bengali friends, our cities are too filthy. We don’t have manners, and we litter everywhere. We haven’t really built our cities; we’ve built mass shelters. We could have done better. I’m talking about Kathmandu too.

Bangladesh is rich in culture, food, and music. I love it all. What I don’t like is that the country is overpopulated. When I visit overpopulated places like Dhaka or Delhi, I genuinely ask: why do you produce so many kids? Don’t tell me the West uses more resources than us — I know that already, and the inequality is real and unjust. But please, let’s still have fewer people. You can have fun and still have fewer kids. I have one, and I’m fine with it. The real problem, many argue, isn’t population but inequality — fewer people in the West degrade more land and use more water than many in the East combined. Fine, you’re right. Both, too many people and too much consumption are serious problems

Image: Old Dhaka, Pic- Ramesh Bhushal

At the immigration desk for a visa on arrival, they asked for four things: a passport, an organizer’s letter, a return ticket, and a hotel booking. I was stamped in under five minutes.

Our hotel driver was waiting with my name at the airport exit. I should mention I was invited to Dhaka for a program on rivers, organized by Oxfam. These words I have written here are unpaid, though, so if you’d like to change that, DM me. As soon as I said I was from Nepal, he praised our new prime minister, Balendra Shah — Balen, as people call him, and was especially happy Balen had refused to meet India’s foreign secretary, Mishri. He wasn’t happy with how Bangladesh’s new PM was handling India either. Most Bengalis I’ve met express frustration with India — sometimes I think more than Nepalis do. Either way, we can all agree India doesn’t have great relations with its neighbors.

He got me to the Lakeshore Hotel in Banani in half an hour via the newly built flyover, sparing most of Dhaka’s horrible traffic. I asked him, “Is the new government better than the old one?” He smiled and said, “Same-same.”

Chaos is another name for Dhaka. If you enjoy it, it’s wonderful. Dhaka has over 20 million people — nearly two-thirds of Nepal’s entire population. A newspaper ran an article with the byline of Jannatul Bushra, “ If you try to make of sense of Dhaka traffic only by using logic and Google Maps, you will very quickly realize that the city has no particular interest in cooperating with either of them .”

The Cab driver, too, brought up our Balen, refusing to meet India’s secretary; that news had clearly gone viral. Honestly, it was among my least concerns back home. I was more worried about inflation, the treatment of slum dwellers, fuel prices, and the dwindling stock market. But it’s nice to hear good things about your country and leaders for once. A young man has come to power, and I just hope he won’t end up like the young man on the plane. I think attitude is the biggest risk for our youngest prime minister. You can be a leader and still have a bit of Mamdani in you. I wish he had more of it.

I know we have plenty of differences with India, and India has always tried to micromanage its neighbors, but the neighbors have taken their share of advantage too. I wish India thought more pragmatically about the region so we could all be more prosperous together. But the way I think and the way leaders think don’t converge. Let’s park it here.

Dhaka wasn’t as hot as I expected, as the pre-monsoon showers helped a bit to cool it. This was my third trip to Dhaka, and by now I can say confidently: time is just a number here. Everyone is rushing, but nobody arrives anywhere on time. Say “let’s have lunch,” and someone will say, why only lunch? Let’s start with breakfast, then doesn’t show up even for dinner. I’m not generalizing, but over-promising is a disease across the developing world, and Bengalis are quite good at it — more than Nepalis, I’d say. We’re not different breeds, though.

Image: View from hotel Lakeshore in Banani. Pic- Ramesh Bhushal

This time, my colleague Rakib showed up half an hour before our agreed time, unusual enough that I thought Dhaka had changed with the new revolution. But another old colleague, who’d promised fun before I even landed, never showed up in three days. I asked Rakib, too: Is the new government better than the old one? “I don’t think so,” he said. “Same corruption, same way of dealing with things. We want our student leaders to be in power. One day they’ll take over.” One more revolution but no arson, please.

But trust me, Bengalis give you their whole heart as friends. Rakib took me to Old Dhaka and showed me his old classroom at Dhaka University. We took a CNG from Lakeshore to Shahbagh, then a rickshaw. I always feel bad taking rickshaws, watching a fellow human pull two others — such hard work. But then I think, at least it earns him bread and butter.

I caught a glimpse of the Gen Z protest site in Shahbagh, the old martyrs’ memorial, and the hope and dreams of the people who revolted. But is it translating into anything? Many already seem frustrated.

We ate at the famous Hanif Biryani despite a struggle just to get a seat. Not sure what makes it so popular, but it’s more popular than the new government, for sure. To me, it carried a message: focus on one thing, and you’ll get the best out of it. Hanif Biryani serves exactly one dish, mutton biryani, and only mutton biryani.

Image: Hanif Biryani in Old Dhaka. Pic- Ramesh Bhushal

We came back to the University area and got into the Prothoma bookstore. I bought four books. For a store run by the country’s largest newspaper owner, it wasn’t that impressive. I’d expected somewhere you could stroll for hours with a real range of books. I bought Tagore’s Gitanjali, Kafka’s Metamorphosis, Marx’s The Communist Manifesto, and Milton’s Paradise Lost. Four books came to 1,400 taka total. The counter gave us a receipt for just one book, around 300 taka — the rest untaxed, apparently. Small things like that, compounded, are how a country starts to fail. The bigger problem, though, was that Rakib wouldn’t let me pay for any of it. “When you’re in Dhaka, it’s my responsibility to make you happy, no money from your side,” he said. I tried and failed. I only managed to pay 50 taka as a tip to the rickshaw puller.

Rakib and I are in the Prothoma book store in Dhaka.

It’s okay, my friend. I’ll do something for you when you’re in Kathmandu. It doesn’t need to be much. I’ll take you to the hilltop, buy a couple of beers, and show you the mountains. The beers on me, the mountains will do the rest.

One day, I walked out of the hotel just to look for clothes — Bangladesh’s other name might as well be Cloth-desh. I found a big store called Big Boss in Gulshan and bought a ton, total under 300 dollars — branded clothes with unnoticeable factory defects, or so I was told. I got hungry and asked the manager for a good place serving Bengali food. It was raining; he kindly sent an assistant with an umbrella to walk me to the restaurant — Sultan’s Biryani, of course. Let’s just rename Dhaka already. Like momos in Nepal, biryani is the thing in Dhaka. The portion was so large I had to pack half of it for dinner. I’ve survived many days without proper food in my past life, so biryani, to me, is a luxury. I ate at night too.

I asked for bedding, and the same manager walked another ten minutes with his umbrella to show me a store I hadn’t even asked for. For a moment, I felt like Elon Musk. The rickshaw back to Banani cost 50 taka. The puller was an older man, so I gave him 100 and didn’t ask for change. He gave me a big smile — cheap, I thought, to buy a smile like that. You just have to know who not to bargain with.

I didn’t see much of Dhaka this time. A couple of days isn’t enough to explain a city like this, but it wasn’t my first visit, and I think I know it a little. So much hope. So much hard work. So much poverty. So much pain. Bengalis are desperately waiting for better days, but governments don’t think that way — they think about how to win and keep winning. Hope this government won’t do the same as the earlier one.

But once, Bengal was the richest place on Earth. In the early 1700s, it generated roughly 5% of global GDP, and its capital, Murshidabad, held more wealth than the British aristocracy combined. Historian Sam Dalrymple has written about how foreign trading companies competed for the favor of the Bengali elite, and how a forty-mile stretch of river once hosted trading posts from five European empires at once. In the three centuries since, it’s gone from richest to one of the poorest. By the way, I read this post on Sam’s Substack post.

Will those old days return to Dhaka? I don’t know. But if they do, I’m sure Kathmandu will benefit a little too. Until next time, thank you, Dhaka. Don’t lose your hope.

My next newsletter will be from JungleMahal Wellness Resort in the vicinity of Kathmandu, where I spent a week either writing or staring at the forest wall in front of the room. I could stand naked out in nature, and the only ones to see me were trees or birds.

I wrote it all. AI was used to check grammar; no words were added by AI.

Dambar Bahadur Gurung in Lwang village. Pic: Ramesh Bhushal

By Ramesh Bhushal

I am back from the mountains. In fact, I returned over a couple of weeks ago, but you know it takes time to write things. And for those like me who think more and write less, it takes even longer. I read somewhere that thinking is not writing. Writing is putting something on paper or a computer. But thinking is part of the process, right? Either way, only thinking won’t cut it; get some ink on paper.

Am I giving advice? Oh, that’s not what I wanted to do. But you know, sometimes you should tell people how knowledgeable you are just to lure them into reading your work. Believe me, though, I am not doing it that way here.

In Nepal, when you say you are back from the mountains, it really doesn’t mean you are back. Generally, you are just back from one mountain to another. We mostly do mountain-hopping. I am back from the Annapurna mountain range in western Nepal. If you don’t know what it looks like, here is a picture for you.

Annapurna mountain range as seen from Astam. Pic: Ramesh Bhushal

If you haven’t read about what it looked like in the 1950s, look up Annapurna by Maurice Herzog—a formidable French climber whose book sold millions of copies.

I wish my book had sold a million so that I could have bought a beautiful piece of land near these mountains, built a house with a wonderful library facing those lofty peaks, and watched the drifting clouds. But no worries, I can still manage a few things. My book Chhalbato- Kailash Dekhi Ganga Samma ( a 2000 km journey from Tibet to India following the Karnali river that flows through western Nepal) was among the bestsellers in 2025 and won the Padmashree Literature Award, which came with a $2,000 USD prize. I won’t reveal what I received from my publisher 😊, but I earned enough to make multiple trips back to these mountains and maybe start writing another book.

To me, Annapurna Eco Village in Astam is like a home. In 2024, I finalized my book there by spending a couple of weeks. I am welcome anytime at a discounted rate, and they even say I can stay in their house if I want. Doesn’t that sound cool? I don’t need to buy a house; I just need to spare some time to go there often. The owner, Bishwo Adhikari, and his two brothers run this eco-lodge, and it is genuinely eco-friendly. Don’t get confused by the word “eco,” as it is just a buzzword for many hoteliers in Nepal. Merely adding “Eco” to your name doesn’t make you sustainable, but the place I am talking about is a good Eco.

My room in Annapurna Eco Village in Astam: Pic: Ramesh Bhushal

At Annapurna Eco Village, they don’t have hot water in the bathroom; you must fill a bucket from a solar tap or a firewood-heated tank. In the evenings, a zigzagged metal pipe under the firewood transports hot water to a nearby tank that you can use the next morning. That’s a bit of Eco, isn’t it? They also use sand filtration technology for drinking water. There are no plastic bottles, and you can get as much water as you need within the package rate. It’s rare now in Nepal for hoteliers not to force plastic bottled water on you. Wherever you go, they first bring you a plastic bottle and charge you. It’s a shame. In a country that has 6,000 rivers and rivulets and drains billions of cusec of water every year, it’s a shame to charge people for a bottle of water. We could have used traditional ways to serve water, conserved our springs, and cleaned our rivers.

Don’t even talk about clean water. I am writing this from a cafe in Patan, but if you walk 10 minutes north, you will see how filthy the Bagmati, our holiest river, actually is. It’s a dead river. Most of the time it’s just sewage. That’s how we have developed this country. I shouldn’t talk badly about my country; our youngest prime minister might send the police.

Oh, wait. He might just say, “What the f*ck am I doing?” It’s a normal phrase in Nepal nowadays. A few months ago, he said, “F*ck America, f*ck China, f*ck India.” If you can f*ck them, who else do you need to defeat and become a superpower? Don’t ask me; I only have words.

I spent a week around the Annapurna mountains, though it was just a two-to-three-day hike in between. Three days is a peanut for many Nepalis. I walked a whole day just to catch a bus when I was seven back in 1990 and walked over three weeks continuously to write my book. I was born near Pokhara in Parbat district. I love mountains, and I love walking. Walking used to be a way of life when there were no vehicles and no electricity. This time, I walked solo. I talked to the stone-paved trails, which we call Dahar (डहर) in Nepali, listened to the birds chirping around, and drank water from springs. Nowadays, those old trails are being replaced by black-topped roads or cemented, uniform steps. Our model of development just hates every old thing.

Trail from Astam to Mardi river: Pic: Ramesh Bhushal

I would say there is only one “ism” prevailing in Nepal right now: Cementism. Forget Capitalism or Communism; those are just names. Our leaders buy cement, put money in their pockets, build ugly structures around these mountains, and call it development. If you don’t believe me, look at the concrete tiger built near Pokhara in Baglung district. It cost $2,000 USD, and it isn’t a tiger for sure. It’s a shame.

Laughing (crying) Tiger in Baglung district made by the public money, uff. Picture Courtesy: Setopati.com

These kinds of structures are popping up all over the country, including mini “Great Walls,” like the one in Shailung. It’s weird to build a mini Great Wall when you already have the planet’s tallest mountain range. If you question it, they will say, “F*ck your idea.” I am getting older, so I am trying to learn these young words with ‘F’ to keep myself young. Sorry for that.

Mini Great Wall in eastern Nepal’s Dolakha district. Pic: Ramesh Bhushal

From Astam, I walked to Lwang. It took four hours. It was a nice day; the sun hid above the clouds, coming down occasionally to check on me. I walked through the jungle and reached the banks of the Mardi river. My footsteps were the only noise alongside chirping birds and cicadas singing. Unfortunately, the roadside hotels mostly sell packaged junk food and beer. In Khora ko Mukh, I met a bunch of old men. That’s the reality of the mountains now: the youth are leaving the country, sending money back so the older generation can live a bit longer and play cards or chat in Chautari—a common seating place in villages.

Lwang village. Pic: Ramesh Bhushal

A long-tailed minivet chirped as I climbed uphill to Lwang, a beautiful Gurung village. Near the top, I met an old man in his 80s singing while herding his buffaloes.

He kept singing, and nature was at its best.

Eating Dal Bhat in Nepal is the best thing you can do. They say, Dal Bhat Power, 24 Hour. I ate some and had a bottle of Barahsinghe Beer. People love to name beers after the wildlife they kill—Tiger, Rhino, Arna. Apparently, putting their names on beer bottles is our best way to protect biodiversity. It was cheap, though. The whole meal cost nearly $10 USD. In London or New York, that would barely buy you a glass of beer. If you come from the West, it’s like buying a beer and getting a free lunch. Please come to the mountains. Nepal needs tourists who can afford to spend a bit and who care about the environment as well. Otherwise, you end up as a Jhole Tourist— travelers escaping their own countries just to live cheaply. But don’t worry, you can be a jholey as it’s your planet too. You can be a bit nice jholey.

By 4 PM, it was raining a bit, but the meal pushed me to reach Dhampus by 7 PM. Pre-monsoon rains have lashed the region over the past few weeks. This is unusual, and the heavy pre-monsoon rainfall is worrying people, especially as a drier monsoon has been forecast. Monsoon hasn’t arrived yet. Not only rains, but there has been unusual snowfall this year. This is what Climate change would do. Bring more unusual things and unease to you and the planet.

I found a beautiful trail along an old motorable road that hadn’t been in operation for years, complete with a stunning suspension bridge. I wish I could live right next to it. Who wouldn’t want to stay nearby? But the villages nearby are nearly empty.

A bridge on the way from Lwang to Dhampus. Pic: Ramesh Bhushal

When I arrived at Dhampus, the hotel owner noted a major shift: “In the past, every young person used to have a plow (Halo), but now every young person has a motorbike.”

The mountains are changing fast. Roads are cutting through the hills, the youth are leaving, and the elderly are left waiting. It leaves you with mixed feelings. I always wonder: what keeps people in the mountains, and what forces them out? Will people ever return? What is keeping me from returning? Is it just money, or is there something else? I am back with more questions than answers. I am a very confused man, but that gives me an excuse to go back time and again. If you want to see the mountains, please go now and hold them in your eyes, keep them in your memories. They are changing fast.

I wrote it all. AI was used to check grammar only.

My next newsletter will cover the Bay of Bengal. I am just back from Dhaka. Do send any comments or compliments:). I won’t mind.

‘Moving base camp will create chaos,’ says Kami Rita Sherpa. (Image: Daniel Prudek / Alamy)

Climbing Mount Everest – at 8,849 metres, the world’s highest mountain – is on many people’s bucket list. Even just reaching Everest Base Camp in northeastern Nepal, at 5,364 metres, is something few people achieve. Except for Kami Rita Sherpa that is, for whom climbing Everest has been a routine for over two decades, sometimes twice or even three times a year.

Born in Thame, a Sherpa village in the Everest region of Nepal, he started working as a porter for trekking companies when he was just 12. Now 55, Kami Rita climbed Mount Everest for the first time in 1994 when he was just 24. This year, Kami Rita reached the summit for the 32nd time, a new world record.

On a sunny day in July of 2022, he spoke to Ramesh Bhushal in a café in Kathmandu. With monsoon clouds advancing from the Bay of Bengal towards the Nepalese capital, he had a bit of leisure time between the spring (pre-monsoon) and autumn (post-monsoon) climbing seasons.

Kami Rita Sherpa, record-holding Everest Climber , image: Ramesh Bhushal

The Nepalese government reportedly wants to move Everest Base Camp to a lower elevation, because of risks associated with climate change – including melting of the glacier the camp is located on – and an increasing number of climbers. But as Kami Rita explains, the plan is not supported by all.

What is your opinion about the government’s plan to move Everest Base Camp?

There is no valid reason to move it. Do you think climate change has impacted just Base Camp? What about the other camps [on the Everest route]? Where will you shift them? If you say climate change has impacted Base Camp, then don’t you think the other camps have also become riskier due to rapid melting of the ice?

Moving Base Camp will create chaos. The camps were established on the basis of the availability of a suitable place, identified through experience and practicality. If you move Base Camp lower, say to [the village of] Gorak Shep [at around 5,150m], then it will just be a stopover before the current base camp, as it’s nearly impossible to hike from the moved Base Camp to Camp I [at 6,150m]. And you can’t stay anywhere in between, as there isn’t any suitable spot except the current base camp. It will be just an added camp, not an alternative.

But the government says it’s becoming more dangerous, and that the decision would create a safer environment for climbers and climbing expeditions’ support staff.

I don’t really think Base Camp has become unsafe or less safe. I think it’s the safest point to camp for preparation before heading up and there isn’t a place nearby that’s more suitable. If you move down a little, it’s even more dangerous. Currently, Base Camp is on the edge of the Khumbu Glacier, and moving it down a bit will take you near the foot of Pumori mountain. That’s the place where an avalanche occurred during the 2015 earthquake and killed scores of climbers and Sherpas.

If you move it further down to Gorak Shep [where a flat area is available], which is over three kilometres south, then how would you provide water? There is no water source nearby and you must walk for an hour or so to get some water from the ice. Currently, Base Camp has meltwater [from glaciers], and even when there is no meltwater, we can crumble ice and melt it to drink. It would be nearly impossible to carry out expeditions at lower levels far from glaciers unless there is a continuous supply of water. It’s about feeding over 1,500 people for over two months [including climbers, porters and support staff], and we need a large amount of water every day.

The Everest climbing route, Camp I to IV, is on the Khumbu Glacier. Studies have shown that the glacier has been shrinking due to rapid melting resulting from global warming. How has this affected climbing?

Rapid melting exposes more rock on mountains and it’s harder to climb rock than ice-covered terrain. It also increases the chances of rockfalls that could cause serious injury or even death. I have noticed more exposed rock, and the length of rock [that has to be climbed] has increased in the past two decades. Between Camp III and Camp IV, there used to be about 50m of rock when I started to climb Everest, but now it’s over 70m.

Likewise, there is a spot called Geneva Spur [an anvil-shaped rib of rock] at 7,300m and more rock has now been exposed there, too. Between Camp IV and The Balcony [a small platform where climbers rest before the summit], there is a triangular face that used to [feature] about 100m of rock to climb, but now it’s about 130m. It’s quite rocky near the Hillary Step [a short rock face near the summit] and that has also increased in length.

Base Camp and camps 1 to 4 on the Nepal route up Mount Everest • Graphic by The Third Pole • Imagery: Landsat/Copernicus via Google Earth

What changes have you seen on Everest since you started climbing?

A lot. I can say that the amount of ice on Everest is less than when I climbed for the first time in 1994. Ice is melting at a faster rate and it’s moving [higher] up, but the bigger problem is that the timing of rainfall and snowfall has become irregular. In 1994 and the following expeditions for some years, it wasn’t normal to drink meltwater in Base Camp at the beginning of climbing in late April. We used to crack ice and then melt it to drink. But now you can get melted water not only in Base Camp, but often in Camp II. This year in April, we got water in Camp II. Now I feel like Camp II is the new base camp.

If shifting Base Camp is not a good idea, what do you think the government should do to ensure that climbing Everest in Nepal is safe and appealing?

I think if a decision is made [to move Base Camp], it will shift more climbers to China. It’s already expensive and challenging to climb Everest from the Nepal side. The Tibet side in China has a lot of facilities and it’s easier to climb from the northern side rather than the southern one. China has electricity and roads up to the base camp. You can go up to 6,500m on yaks. Why would someone come to the Nepal side if you prolong their stay without reason [by creating a longer route]?

Just doing things to make a news headline won’t solve the problem

Instead of moving Base Camp, the government could spend money on providing electricity at the camp, so that we can reduce the use of gas to cook food. [The use of gas canisters by climbing expeditions has been suggested as a factor in the warming of the area.] One expedition uses three gas canisters per day, and there are about 50 expeditions a year. One expedition takes around two-and-a-half months from Kathmandu and back, and most of the stay will be in Base Camp. You can reduce the use of gas if you provide electricity.

Secondly, the government can spend money on providing folding toilets to all expeditions so that we don’t have to carry them every time, and they can charge for the usage. They could invest in providing more reliable weather information and focus on clean-up campaigns [of rubbish left by climbers] along the trail up to the summit.

Toilets on Everest?

Just doing things to make a news headline won’t solve any problem. There are many more things that could be done to create a safer climbing environment and save the mountains, but an easy [fix], like moving Base Camp down, is just a waste of time.

What is your message to the world, which has responded very slowly to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, causing snow and ice in the mountains to melt faster?

The mountains are not just ours. It’s not just Sherpas who would be impacted, or Nepal that would lose revenue from tourism [if the snow and ice melts]. It’s the source of water for billions of people. It’s the heritage of the world. If it’s gone, we are done. I think the only way to keep our mountains white is to reduce emissions from factories, planes and vehicles.

I remember the Dalai Lama saying that one day we will die because there won’t be water to drink. I feel like that will happen some day soon. I would urge the global community to think about it seriously and act immediately. I can’t do much as a climber, except inform people about the situation out there.

I just want to say that the ice on the mountains is vanishing. That’s my information based on experience and it’s up to you to make a decision.

It was first published in Dialogue Earth in July 2022.

Raju Majhi, a fisherman from Majhitar with his catch of the day in the Dhading district, Nepal. Majhi is among thousands who fear resettlement when the project work begins [image: Nabin Baral/Dialogue Earth]

Plans to build Nepal’s biggest-ever hydropower project in western Nepal have undergone a bewildering series of politically motivated changes since 2011. Now it seems the Nepali government cannot get the Chinese contractor to say when construction might start.

Meanwhile, the lives of some 50,000 people are being disrupted for a project. Nepali energy sector experts have criticised as fast becoming financially unviable, due to the falling costs of other renewables, such as wind and solar.

The Budhi Gandaki hydro project was meant to be finished by 2022, almost doubling Nepal’s electricity supply by adding 1200 megawatts (MW). The project plans envisage a lake 45 kilometres long, behind a dam 263 metres high (one of the world’s 10 tallest). The reservoir’s steady flow should permit output of 3.38 billion units of electricity a year. The Budhi Gandaki river is a major tributary of the Gandak river which carries turbulent Himalayan waters into northern India.

The problem? China Gezhouba Group Corporation shows no sign of starting work. It was awarded the contract without a tender in September 2018, a decision that was controversial at the time.

“We have tried to communicate with the company in the past few months, but it hasn’t responded clearly. We can neither say the company is out, nor it’s in. It is between somewhere and nowhere,” said Gokarna Raj Panta, deputy spokesperson at Nepal’s Ministry of Water Resources, Energy and Irrigation.

Between somewhere and nowhere is a fitting description of the lives of farmers and traders whose homes, land and livelihoods are due to be submerged.

In the project office in Siurenitar which was set up to deal with compensation claims, there is frantic activity. Phones ring constantly, and staff are busy taking calls from claimants.

“The government’s first priority is land clearance, so we have already paid about 33 billion rupees (USD 0.3 billion) as land compensation,” said Krishna Bahadur Karki, head of the compensation and resettlement unit. Another 20 billion rupees (USD 0.2 billion) is earmarked to reimburse locals for their houses, animal sheds, trees and other valuable infrastructure, he added.

Most villagers got their first inkling of the coming upheaval in 2013 when the government put restrictions on their rights to sell their lands and property, stating the area would be submerged.

At the time, new roads were under construction, and new towns were forming along the river valleys, driven by two decades of rapid migration from the hills to the valleys.

A drone shot of Khahare Bazaar, one of the biggest settlements on the tributary. The bazaar will be submerged in water [Image: Nabin Baral]

Compensation shortfalls

Forty kilometres north of the dam site, Ghare Gurung runs a roadside grillhouse. Two decades ago, he bought his roadside land in Arkhet township, Gorkha district, using money he had earned as a migrant labourer in Malaysia. He received USD 1,000 in compensation for his land. “Now they have been saying that a 10% depreciation cost would be applied to our infrastructure. If it happens, then I need to pay them instead of receiving money,” he said.

The area affected is a huge proportion of this small country. The project will submerge 45 kilometres of the Budhi Gandaki and another 22 kilometres of the valley of Aankhu Khola, the largest settlement on the tributary.

Gyanu Maya Shrestha, who sells samosa, noodles, tea and sel roti (rice flour bread) in her small hut close to the tributary’s bank in Hepne, in Dhading district, said her business has been blighted twice over.

In April 2015, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake shook Nepal. It destroyed her concrete home and her animal shed, killing her buffaloes, oxen, and goats. Before the quake, officials from the project had measured both structures. “After the earthquake, they remeasured and are telling us that they will compensate for these new makeshifts, not the older house,” she said.

Officials at the compensation and resettlement office responded that the pre-quake measurements were for an environmental impact assessment (EIA) report, not compensation.

While many other quake-hit communities have built new houses, people along these two rivers have not.

Krishna Majhi lives in Gumti village, 10 kilometres north of the damsite. He and his fellow villagers have been living on unregistered land for decades. In May 2017, the council of ministers agreed to include structures on unregistered land in the compensation programme. More than three years later, no payments have been made. Project officials said the payments are in process but could not give any dates.

Meanwhile, Krishna uses part of his cracked old house as a kitchen but has spent five years living in a makeshift structure. There are severe cracks in the house walls. “Another small earthquake would be enough to kill us. We can’t dismantle it as we need to show the authorities if they come to check while paying compensation,” he said.

Krishna Majhi pictured at his house. The walls has cracks from the 2015 earthquake in Gumti, a village in Dhading. [Image: Nabin Baral]

Many promises were made to locals to persuade them to handover their land, including the promise of resettlement. They were asked to fill in forms saying where they wanted to be resettled and what facilities they needed.

“We were told that new villages will be built around the reservoir area up in the hills and we would be provided with all facilities, and a 235 kilometre-long ring road. Now we are hearing that they will build a link road not a ring road. Resettlement plans are not even on the horizon. All these years they made fools of us,” said Sushil Dharel, from Khahare, another village on the Ankhu Khola.

Back at the compensation office, the villagers’ dissatisfaction is no surprise to Karki: “A lot of people are unhappy, which I can understand,” he said.

“The compensation amount is many times higher than the government rates that are in the system. [But] we can’t do what we want, as there are rules,” he said, adding, “There are people who have received hundreds of thousand dollars and have bought houses in cities like Kathmandu too.”

A drone shot of Arughat Bazaar, one of the biggest settlements on the Budhi Gandaki River valley bordering Gorkha and Dhading district in Nepal. The bazaar will be submerged in water. [Image: Nabin Baral]

But locals take a different view. The land market operates informally, and actual rates are much higher than government allocated rates.

While some have done well from compensation payouts, the majority are from marginalised and poor communities. They resent the way the authorities persist in glorifying those who have benefitted, while downplaying the real problems faced by many.

“Our field is irrigable, there is a market nearby and we can produce three crops in a year. Even a small amount of land would make a comfortable living of a family of five to six. I can’t buy a piece of land in an urban area with what I have received from the project compensation, how do I make a living there?” said Pampha Khadka from Khahare, who burst into tears as she spoke.

Nor do government officials in Kathmandu have any clear answers on resettlement timetables. “We have drafted a resettlement policy for the Budhi Gandaki project, but the problem is that there isn’t clarity over the modality of project implementation. Unless its finalised, resettlement is not possible,” said Gokarna Raj Panta, deputy spokesperson at Nepal’s Ministry of Water Resources, Energy and Irrigation.

Botched resettlement policies are creating social problems. Some have spent money on frivolous celebrations, which means they will be homeless and landless if not resettled. Many have used payouts to meet their daily needs or pay debts, buy motorbikes or educate and marry off their children. “I received about USD 900 for a piece of land. I spent USD 100 on my grandchildren and sent USD 800 to my daughter in Kathmandu for her studies,” said Purna Bahadur Ale Magar from Arkhet village.

Environmental damage ignored

According to the environmental impact assessment report, the reservoir will submerge 2,400 hectares of forest holding, 3.5 million individual trees in 38 plant species, and 19 mammal species, 9 of reptiles and 54 of birds. They include 15 protected species, and there are five fish species on the IUCN red list, whose habitat will dramatically change.

Despite this, civil society groups in Nepal have shown negligible concern.

Forty-four cremation grounds, 74 religious sites and 29 historic and cultural sites will vanish.

“Even if you raise genuine and serious concerns, you are tagged as an anti-development goon. I think this has helped to instill fear at all levels and civil society has fallen prey to it,” he added.

Forest conservation achievements are being reversed; 1,500 hectares of community forest managed by 62 community forest user groups that will be impacted. The Pashupati community forest in Majhitaar is one of them. About 200 metres above the riverbank, Suresh Shah pointed out multiple freshly cut tree stumps. “When I try to stop them, they say why do you care about these woods as we have lost everything,” he said. “Feelings of ownership are something that had helped conserve the forest but they’re no more,” he added.

Karki, the project office manager, was unable to answer any questions on environmental issues, and his engineer was equally at a loss. “This is an issue which will be dealt with when construction starts. We have not thought about it and have not been advised on how to deal with it,” Karki said.

With climate change impacting glacial meltwater and making river flows uncertain, Dixit questioned the value of mega-hydro projects: “I think the country is moving towards a very serious and risky business without proper assessment.”

Political chaos

In Kathmandu, three successive governments in the last three years have made as many decisions to award or scrap the contract with China Gezhouba Corporation.

After pre-feasibility study in 1984, the project was sidelined till 2006, when it was opened to international bidders. No expressions of interest were received.

It was next revived in 2011, when Nepal’s power outages exceeded 12 hours per day. Once again, international companies showed no interest, so the government opted to make Budhi Gandaki into a national pride project – a development priority with a bigger budget from domestic resources.

In 2016, the Belgian multinational Tractebel completed a detailed design.

The project was set to move ahead with national funds and management, then China entered the scene abruptly in 2017. A few days before leaving office, erstwhile Nepal Communist party (Maoist) supremo Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s cabinet decided to award the project to China Gezhouba Group Corporation, without any bidding.

In November 2017, the incoming Nepali Congress Party-led government scrapped the contract with China Gezhouba, stating irregularities and lack of transparency surrounding the award. A court action followed. Nepal got another new government four months later, in February 2018. K P Oli became prime minister heading a coalition of Communist parties, which returned the project to China Gezhouba in September 2018.

Now the problem is that China Gezhouba is showing little interest and failing to respond to Nepali government requests for information.

Gyanu Maya Shrestha pictures at her shop in Hepne in Dhading district. [Image: Nabin Baral]

“It’s not that Chinese are less interested now. They are just waiting for a favourable time as there is political chaos in the country,” said Nepali hydro-economist Ratna Sansar Shrestha.

In his view, China’s interest in Nepali hydro projects is limited to making money from construction contracts.

“India has more interest in Nepal’s water as it depends on water that flows from the mountains for irrigating vast swathes of land in the Gangetic plains,” Shrestha said.

Geopolitical friction

The Gandaki river, of which the Budhi Gandaki is a tributary, enters India’s Bihar state and eventually flows into the Ganges.

Both countries signed the 1959 Gandak treaty, which bars Nepal from upstream activities that would impact water flow in Bihar, where millions of hectares of farmland depend on the Gandak’s waters. Water distribution has long been a sensitive issue between the two countries.

However, China’s growing influence within Nepal (it is the largest provider of foreign direct investment) could lead to geopolitical friction, according to a 2018 report from the Asia Society, “The Price of Power: The Political Economy of Electricity Trade and Hydropower in Eastern South Asia.”

Chinese firms recently built two other hydro projects in Nepal at Upper Marsyangdi A and Upper Madi, with combined capacity of 75 MW. Indian state owned and private firms have not built a power project in Nepal since the mid-1980s, the report said.

However, India is promoting cross-border trade in electricity as part of cohering the nascent BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal) regional sub-group of nations as a sphere of influence. Both Nepal and Bhutan have objected to the Indian power ministry’s statement in December 2016 that electricity was a “strategic commodity” so non-BBIN foreign powers could not be involved in the supply chain. Both countries have rich potential hydropower exports.

In Shrestra’s view, India is unconcerned about China’s involvement in the Budhi Gandaki project, whose power is solely for domestic use, and it views the reservoir positively.

India made clear it had no interest in investing in or building the Budhi Gandaki project; it withdrew from bilateral talks in the late 90s.

Faulty design?

“While designing the project, the irrigation aspect has been completely ignored,” said Dipak Gyawali, former water resources minister and a noted water resources expert in the country.

Gyawali has also headed a review committee formed by the government to review the design.

“About 100,000 hectares of land in Nawalparasi and Chitwan districts downstream could have benefitted in Nepal, which seems to be a strategy to make India happy,” he said.

“The water that flows in dry months from the reservoir is not flowing water, it’s produced by submerging our land and through our investment. If India uses this water then we should get financial returns,” added Gyawali.

Another problem Gyawali sees in this project is that the dam type is faulty. “For a seismically active region like Nepal, rock filled dams are better than concrete double arch dams as proposed on the design,” he said.

But Laxmi Devkota, the former Chair of the Budhi Gandaki Development Committee, claimed that it has been designed with a serious consideration for earthquake impacts.

“We have designed the current dam with the highest level of earthquake resistance along with international safety standards. There isn’t a point as such to worry,” added Devkota.

Changing market, increasing costs

However, the delays risk making the Budhi Gandaki project financially unviable. Costs are plummeting for other renewables, such as solar and wind power, and emerging hydrogen energy technology.

According to the Asia Foundation report, solar electricity tariffs in Rajasthan, India, fell from more than 19 US cents per unit in 2010 to 3.6 US cents, and wind energy was around 3.7 US cents. Nepal’s hydropower costs 7 US cents per unit to produce.

India, which is Nepal’s expected energy export market, is ramping up renewable energy capacity fast with 37 gigawatts of solar and 38 gigawatts in wind by 2020.

However, Budhi Gandaki’s output is planned for domestic use so need not compete directly in the regional market.

Nonetheless, the technical costs are making its value questionable, even for domestic use. “If we can develop this project within five years then we will definitely save some money, but if it is the next 20 years then it would be a hotpot of corruption for politicians and bureaucrats. It looks like this project is losing its technical strength in terms of cost already,” said Dipendra Bhattarai, an energy expert and doctoral student at the University of Tasmania, Australia.

Finally, the daily power cuts that drove Nepal’s policymakers to revive the project in 2011 have ceased. Nepal doubled its electricity production from 700 megawatts (MW) in 2010 to 1400 MW in 2014. Another 700 MW is likely to be added in the next couple of years. However, Nepal has been importing about 600 megawatts from India in the dry, winter months (November to April) to meet peak demand as the smaller “run-of-the-river” hydropower projects struggle when water levels are low – one motivation to build a big reservoir.

The Budhi Gandaki hydropower plant should have been completed by 2022. In 2015, the project cost was estimated at US$2.5 billion— more than one fourth of Nepal’s total budget that year.

“We have already lost about half a billion dollars in the last four years if we consider just 10 per cent inflation rate. Another one and half billion dollars could have been gained by selling electricity in the four years that were delayed. We are already on loss at total project cost amount” said Laxmi Devkota.

There is always a queue of jars at the stone spouts [image by: Ramesh Bhushal]

RAMESH BHUSHAL

Every morning, just a few metres away from a busy, dusty road in Kalanki, Kathmandu, Ambika Thapa sells water from a 5,000-litre tank. From where she stands, you need only turn your head slightly and the lofty, snow-capped Himalayan mountain range rises into view. Sadly, this vision provides nothing to quench a thirst.

Prabhat Tamang, a customer of Thapa who owns a small, mobile food stall in the area, knows the mountains’ torment all too well. “What can you do with these mountains if they can’t even provide water to drink? It’s like money in the bank – you can see it, but you can’t get it,” he says, smiling.

Thapa’s two tanks rest easily against the landscape, pierced by two taps and covered in advertisements for Nerolac paint. The water she sells comes from a spring nearby, in the hills that surround the valley.

Customers queue, fill their jars and pay, a process more commonly seen at petrol stations. Unlike a regular petrol station, however, Thapa does not have access to automated price and volume readings. Instead, she calculates the sale of the water based on the size of the jars and buckets people bring to fill. The profits she makes are her family’s bread and butter.

Roshni Rana, one of Thapa’s regular customers, lives in a rented house nearby. As she leans her pregnant body towards the tank to fill her jars and a two-year-old boy clings to her side, she explains : “We get water once a week for half an hour from government-installed taps in rented houses. Sometimes they release the water at midnight and we don’t even know as we are all asleep. There aren’t any other options than buying from here.” Once Rana’s 20-litre jars are full, she hands over 10 Nepalese rupees (about seven pence) from her trousers and returns home.

At the end of the working day, Thapa locks up the tank’s water taps before leaving for home herself. “I sell about 3,000 to 4,000 litres of water every day,” she says. “Water has become so precious that every drop has value,” she adds, explaining the strong locks securing the taps in her absence.

According to the Nepalese government’s Central Bureau of Statistics, one in every five Kathmandu households has no access to a domestic water source and two-thirds of its urban households live with an inadequate water supply.

Estimates show that the city of 4 million has a severe water deficit. The demand is triple the current supply of 106m litres a day , which further reduces to 75m litres a day during the dry season [PDF] . Despite growing demand, little has been done to increase supply.

In recent years, the water crisis in the capital has deepened, resulting in a rise in the number of water-selling stations. While the city’s residents are calculating drops of water, scientists estimate 224bn cubic metres of water is lost annually from Nepal into India and Bangladesh. “If you calculate per capita water availability, then Nepal has one of the highest in the world with 9,000 cubic metres (9m litres) and the country holds about 2.7% of the world’s total fresh water available,” says Pennan Chinnasamy, a water resources expert at the International Water Management Institute in Kathmandu.

The answer to why the capital of the world’s most water abundant country is in such a dire situation is as diverse as the rivers that flow through it. About 6,000 rivers and rivulets flow through the small landlocked country between China to the north and India to the south. None of the rivers that flow through Kathmandu city is clean, wells are drying up, the groundwater table is lowering and the water distribution system is weak and inefficient.

Many cite the city’s haphazard development as the main reason for the crisis, while some see politics over water projects as the cause. “We failed to implement our laws effectively on urban development, which led to haphazard urbanisation. Too much politics on development projects aimed to bring water to serve the capital has resulted in this dire situation,” says Kishore Thapa, a former secretary of the ministry of urban development.

The water Ambika Thapa sells comes from a spring nearby. Customers queue, fill their jars and pay. Photograph: Ramesh Bhushal

One of the over-politicised projects he is referring to is the Melamchi water project. The unfinished project was designed in 1998 and set to divert 170m litres of water per day to Kathmandu from the Melamchi River in the Sindhupalchowk district bordering China. Tensions between locals demanding compensation for water diverted from the river, government tussles over various issues, inefficient contractors for tunnel construction and, most significantly, corruption has hampered completion of the project.

But in many parts of the city, pipeline construction for the nearly two-decade-old Melamchi project has gained momentum in the last couple of months, keeping many Kathmandu residents’ hopes alive. “The pipe has arrived after 17 years. Let’s hope some day water will flow down from our taps, as they have been providing air instead of water for many years,” Hari Narayan Maharjan, a resident of Patan in the southern part of the city says with a big smile.

This article was first published in The Guardian .

As the situation has worsened, people have migrated in search of a more reliable source of water near the riverbanks, in areas that were once paddy fields. The villages of Puranogaun and Nibhare in eastern Nepal’s Khotang district are nearly empty. Most households have migrated down to the banks of the Sapsu and Koshi river, an hour’s drive down the mountain. This film by Ramesh Bhushal and Nabin Baral tells the painful story of the people who had to leave their homes.

Production credits:

Directed and produced by Ramesh Bhushal and Nabin Baral
Filmed by Sushil Basnet
Drone operation by Nikesh Maharjan
Edited by Man Bahadur Thapa
Colour by Mitra Dev Gurung

Music:

“The tree told me” by Jeris, CC BY NC
Other tracks not known

Copyright notice:

This video is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial licence.

This video was first published in Dialogue Earth.

A Bengal tiger in Nepal’s Bardia National Park, home to one of Nepal’s three distinct tiger populations (Image: Marc Anderson / Alamy)

RAMESH BHUSHAL

By the latest estimates, Nepal is home to 355 wild tigers – almost triple the country’s tiger population in 2010, which stood at 121. Nepal was the first country to achieve a target agreed in 2010 among all countries then home to wild tigers: to double their tiger population by 2022. Nepal’s success is all the more notable when compared with the track record of some other countries since 2010: tigers are now considered extinct in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

But an increase in tiger numbers in Nepal has raised some important questions. How many tigers can the country’s protected areas hold? How healthy is the population? And with a growing tiger population posing a potential risk to the communities they live near, what strategies can help to reduce human-tiger conflict?

Dibesh Karmacharya, a noted genetic scientist in Nepal, believes that tiger DNA holds the key to answering some of these critical questions. In 2007, Karmacharya founded a wildlife genetics laboratory, the Centre for Molecular Dynamics Nepal, in Kathmandu. Then in 2011, he launched research into tiger genetics – the first of its kind in the country – which involved collecting tiger scat across Nepal and profiling the animals’ DNA. He has recently published a book based on this research: ‘A Molecular Approach to the Conservation and Management of the Bengal Tiger in Nepal’.

Ramesh Bhushal met Dibesh Karmacharya in his lab in Kathmandu, to learn what secrets of the lives of tigers can be unlocked through studying their DNA, and how this could help both big cats and people in Nepal.

How can using DNA help to accurately count tiger populations?

Traditionally, tiger counting was done mostly by using pugmarks [footprints] to identify individual tigers. This technique relies on measuring a paw print, with a presumption that each paw print is unique. But environmental exposure like ground texture and moisture influences the paw prints, [and] that could result in wide errors in estimates. After pugmarks, camera traps have been in use as a more reliable alternative – this uses a remote camera to capture tiger images with an assumption that each individual tiger has a unique stripe [pattern]. However, there are several disadvantages of camera trapping, including poor performance in difficult terrain, adverse weather conditions, susceptibility to theft or vandalism, and low detection in larger areas. It also demands more human resources.

The molecular approach has advantages over most of those problems. We collect DNA from tiger scat [droppings] to derive a genetic profile of an individual tiger. As DNA differs between every individual tiger there is less error in tiger population estimates.

Could DNA replace camera traps when it comes to counting tigers?

I don’t think at this point [DNA] can totally replace camera traps immediately. We don’t have to carry out DNA study separately, but we can embed this component while conducting tiger surveys. With advancement in the science, it’s not that far off that it could be the principal method [used] to count tigers.

There is resistance from government authorities and a chunk of the conservation fraternity to making a shift from camera traps to DNA. I think it’s mostly because there is a fear about the results. Given nobody wants to say tiger numbers have decreased, there is less space to manoeuvre any result from genetic studies, but it could be a bit easier while using camera traps if anybody wants. Secondly, countries have been saying they don’t have resources to do it.

How expensive is the DNA profiling of tigers?

Currently, half a million dollars is being spent to count tigers by camera trapping in Nepal, but we can do DNA-based counting and analysis with half of that amount.

Dibesh Karmacharya in his wildlife genetic laboratory in Kathmandu, Nepal (Image: Ramesh Bhushal)

What can DNA studies tell us about the genetic health of tiger populations, and the extent to which populations may be isolated?

The tiger population in Nepal can be split into three isolated sub-populations that are separated by agricultural lands or human settlements. The largest population is in Chitwan National Park and the adjacent Parsa National Park in the lowlands of central Nepal. To the west of Chitwan there is another isolated population in Bardia National Park and – further west – a third population in Shuklaphanta National Park. Between 2011 and 2013, the Nepal Tiger Genome Project which I led carried out the first comprehensive genetic study [of these] tigers. We collected 396 tiger scat samples [and] counted 125 individual tigers, 77 male and 48 female.

[We found that] that genetic diversity was slightly better in Bardia National Park compared to others, and this meant that in Chitwan National Park, conservation focus should be more on increasing heterozygosity [genetic diversity] for maintaining a healthy and sustainable population.

We found seven migrant tigers (five males and two females) moving between sub-populations in Nepal. For example, we found evidence of one male and two females moving from Shuklaphanta to Bardia National Park. If they [were to] breed there, then that would likely avert the detrimental effects of inbreeding depression.

What can DNA tell us about the lives of tigers and other species?

When we collect scat, it’s not just tiger DNA that can be profiled. Dietary composition is among other important information we collected in our study – that is not possible through camera trapping. In our study we were able to create a dietary map of tigers.

When we carried out the same kind of study on snow leopards in mountain areas of Nepal, especially in Mustang, we found that the snow leopards’ diet included 43% domestic goats, 55% bharal [wild blue sheep] and 2% domestic sheep. [This means] the snow leopards’ main diet is domesticated animals, and that’s the reason for the human-wildlife conflict.

DNA can be a very effective forensic tool to pinpoint the source of trafficked wildlife body parts – is this being used in Nepal to tackle tiger trafficking?

It’s an emerging science, that has been used in several other species across the globe. We can identify the sex and geographical origin of seized tiger body parts from Nepal by using our genetic database of wild tiger populations that we collected during our study. We applied this technology with 15 seized putative tiger parts, including 13 skin pieces and two blood-smeared knives, which were confiscated by the Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police between 2014 and 2016.

All forensic samples were found to be of tigers: 10 males and five females. One genotype of a forensic sample matched 100% with a previously profiled female tiger in Bardia National Park – DNA we have in our laboratory. That meant the female tiger was alive during the period 2011-2013, and that tiger could have been poached very recently [before the confiscation]. The remaining samples didn’t match our DNA profiles, but we were able to identify where those tigers came from. Most samples were from Bardia and Sukhlaphanta regions, pointing to where the poaching pressure was.

How can countries in South Asia better collaborate to embed use of DNA in conservation science?

There are a few labs in India, but they also work in silos. We have one lab in Nepal, whereas Bangladesh and Bhutan have no such lab facilities. Most of the [tiger] habitats in Nepal are connected to protected areas in northwest India. India and Bangladesh share the Sundarbans, and Bhutan and India also share tiger habitats. We can establish a regional tiger genome centre and leverage resources and expertise.

When it comes to genetic research, there is a deeply embedded fear among countries. They regard it [genetic information] as a resource and worry – what if others get information about their tigers? But the overall goal should be to understand endangered species better and act jointly to save the species, as several habitats are connected in the region. We need to build trust and should have willingness to act. We must go into genetic level study if we really want to save tigers and implement management strategies more effectively.

Himalayan Musk Deer: image taken by Martin Walsh and submitted to iNaturalist .

This article was first published in Dialogue Earth ( formerly, The Third Pole) in 2021.

As soon I sat down with Hari Bhadra Acharya, spokesperson at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC), at his office in Kathmandu in April 2021, he received a call. He was kind enough to put his mobile on speaker mode. “I want to apply for a wildlife farming licence and get the Himalayan musk deer as a seed animal. When should I come to the department and what are the requirements?” a male voice said.

Acharya threw me a smile and answered the caller softly. “We are yet to finalise criteria for wildlife farming, so I am not sure by when that would happen,” he said. The caller insisted: “Last year, we were told we would be able to apply for the licence in a couple of months.” Acharya blamed Covid-19 for the delay and ended the call.

In 2021, Nepal is set to embark upon a new venture: farming wild animals for commercial purposes. Ever since the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act was adopted in 1973, the country’s wildlife policy has been based on a philosophy that seeks to protect terrestrial wild animals from commercial exploitation, including strict bans on buying or selling wild animals and their body parts. These protections apply to non-domesticated mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects, but not to other invertebrates or fish.

Now, Nepal is on the verge of a shift to the commercialisation of wild animals. While some are enthusiastic, others are fearful for the future of wildlife conservation in Nepal.

A new law for wildlife farming

Fifteen minutes after the first call, Acharya’s mobile rang again. “We are planning to apply for a snake farming licence so what are the criteria?” the caller asked. Acharya again blamed the pandemic for delays. “Every day, I get about 10-12 calls like this from people seeking information on wildlife farming,” he said.

There is a reason for these frequent calls. In 2017, Nepal’s parliament passed an amendment to the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act, with a new provision to allow farming of wild animals for commercial purposes – the first of its kind in the country’s history. The Ministry of Forests and Environment has since had work to do to make the law implementable. Two years later in 2019, the ministry published a list of wild animals that could be farmed under the amended act, along with regulations laying out details around licensing of commercial wildlife farms. The list named 10 mammals – including several endangered deer species – 12 birds, and all reptiles except pythons.

A crucial element yet to be finalised is a document that lays out criteria and procedures for obtaining ‘seed’ animals – individuals caught from the wild to start captive populations. This would cover how the animals are collected, transported and sold. “If there wasn’t Covid-19 we would have finalised it already,” said Acharya. “Once it is done, anybody interested in farming wild animals listed by the ministry can apply for a licence and, once approved, will get seed animals to start up a business.”

From monkeys to musk deer – a bumpy ride for two decades

Nepal has had a storied journey in wildlife farming so far. In 2003, the Ministry of Forests and Environment passed a policy to enable captive breeding of wild animals for conservation and research purposes. A breeding centre for rhesus macaques, a species of monkey used in biomedical research in the US, was then established in Kathmandu in 2005, with 200 wild-caught macaques as seed animals. US labs were struggling to source an adequate number of monkeys at the time, as India – previously the main supplier – had banned their export in 1978.

Protest groups soon formed to pressure the Nepalese government to end the venture. “It was primarily to serve that purpose of selling monkeys to USA. That policy had nothing to do with conservation or research,” said Mangal Man Shakya, chairman of Wildlife Watch Group, an NGO working on wildlife conservation in Nepal.

In 2009, the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources directed the government to immediately ban export of the monkeys, due in part to lack of provisions in the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act enabling sale of wild animals. The Ministry of Forests and Environment decided to scrap a deal with the breeding facilities, and freed the captive monkeys. Unfortunately, the majority died as they could not adapt to life in the wild.

Wildlife farming in Nepal then stalled for almost a decade. It made a grand comeback in 2017 with the passing of amendments to the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act to allow commercial farming of wild animals. Once again, animal rights and conservation groups vowed to fight against wildlife farming.

“We are preparing to fight against this law in the court and are busy doing paperwork. Nepal is going in the wrong direction and we will keep fighting to ban any kind of wildlife farming in the country,” said Shristi Singh Shrestha from the Jane Goodall Institute in Nepal. She has posted a petition which has received nearly 10,000 signatures. “First of all, it’s immoral to farm any wild animal for commercial purposes. Secondly, this law also allows animals to be used for entertainment like zoos and other exhibitions. It’s insane,” she added.

Lack of consultation and errors raise alarm

The new list of wild animals that may be farmed includes the Himalayan musk deer, a species listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The IUCN assessment highlighted the threat posed to the species by trade in its body parts. Musk deer ‘pods’ – scent glands found in male deer – are traded for use in traditional Chinese medicine and perfumery. Much media interest in Nepal has focused on this species, portraying musk deer farming as an opportunity to make a lot of money by selling the high-value musk pods.

Also on the list are hog deer, listed as endangered by the IUCN, and the swamp deer or barasingha, considered to be vulnerable to extinction.

“There is no clarity on how these species were selected. It is an ad hoc decision of the government. No consultations with stakeholders were held, no scientific studies were done before selecting these species,” said Raju Acharya, executive director of Friends of Nature Nepal, a conservation research organisation.

The selection of birds for the list raises more questions. Out of 12 bird names on the Nepali-language list, two refer to the same species yet give different fees for licences and seed animals. “Ban kukhura and luinche are local names for the red junglefowl but the rules document has listed them as two species. This level of carelessness while taking such a huge decision is worrisome. It’s ridiculous,” said Vimal Thapa, board member of Bird Conservation Nepal, an NGO.

Hari Bhadra Acharya at the wildlife department agreed that no consultations with ornithologists were conducted, and listing the junglefowl as two species was a mistake. “Thanks for pointing out the issue, we will discuss about it in detail and make necessary changes,” he said.

The use of generic terms elsewhere in the list poses potentially greater problems. “[The list] mentioned pigeon or partridge or francolin but there are several species within that family and some of them are threatened too. I don’t know how they are going to execute this policy,” added Thapa.

Similarly, the wholesale listing of ‘frogs’, ‘toads’, ‘tortoise’ and ‘all reptiles except pythons’ means that threatened species within these categories could potentially be covered by the farming guidelines, which allow capture of wild individuals as seed animals. This includes species like the Nepal paa frog, which is endemic to Nepal and nearby northern India. It is found nowhere else in the world.

In seemingly another error, ‘tortoise’ is listed under the heading ‘amphibian’. “Tortoise is a reptile not an amphibian. It’s a shame for the conservation community as a whole that the country’s official legal document fails to recognise where the species listed for farming fall into let alone go other details,” said Karan Bahadur Shah, an expert on herpetofauna and a retired professor at the Natural History Museum at Tribhuvan University of Nepal. “Just a few phone calls with experts would have been enough to avoid these mistakes but no consultations were done.”

Putting policy into practice: frustrated government officials and divided conservationists

While Nepal is just a step away from launching its wildlife farming industry, some authorities within the government are not on board. “Personally, I am against wildlife farming and not happy with what’s going on,” said Hari Bhadra Acharya at the wildlife department. “A couple of other senior officials I talked to have the same opinion.”

I asked Acharya why he was going ahead with implementing the policy if he was not happy with it. His answer was simple: “Lawmakers are keen to move it forward. We cannot hold it [up] any more as it’s beyond our capacity.”

Support for wildlife farming is not solely restricted to politicians. Some conservationists have also argued that wildlife farming is something that Nepal should move ahead with, but carefully.

“I don’t see wildlife farming as a problem. If done properly and monitored effectively it will be a win-win for both conservation and economy,” said Raju Acharya of Friends of Nature Nepal.

How would that happen? I asked. “Regulated farming of abundant species for commercial purposes would provide economic benefits to the communities and reduce pressure on wild populations as it would eventually help to reduce poaching,” he said.

Conservationists in favour argue that economic benefits to local communities are essential to sustain conservation of wild animals. They suggest that wildlife farming could offer a source of income that means communities don’t have to rely on hunting animals from the wild.

The kalij pheasant is found throughout the Himalayas into Southeast Asia. It is included on the Nepali government’s list of wild animals that can be farmed for commercial purposes (Illustration: Kabini Amin)

“It’s not an issue of for or against wildlife farming in general. We need to be wise and think about how economic benefits could be harnessed without undermining the values of wild conservation, and much also depends on the status of species we select for farming,” said Ghanashyam Gurung, head of WWF Nepal.

However, Hari Bhadra Acharya at the wildlife department worries that in practice, commercial farming could lead to more illegal killing and trade of wild animals. “If somebody who establishes a farm kills animals from the wild, or buys from poachers and sells its meat or wild body parts, then how do we identify the source of that product? It’s technically tough to deal with these kinds of issues.”

In other countries where wildlife farming is practised, such as in China and Vietnam, such issues have occurred repeatedly. They include farms capturing wild individuals to top up captive populations or passing off wild-caught animals as farmed without the costs involved in raising them.

Acharya questions the supposition that wildlife farming can be effectively monitored in Nepal. “We are already understaffed so monitoring is nearly impossible with current human resources,” he added.

However, others don’t see this as an adequate reason to eschew wildlife farming. “If we lack capacity to implement rules and regulations effectively then we need to increase it. I don’t think just prohibiting every legally possible activity to operate is a good idea,” said Raju Acharya from Friends of Nature Nepal.

With preparations for wildlife farming developing apace, other government departments are also laying the groundwork. The Forests Act, amended in 2019 by the Department of Forests, lists wildlife farming as a type of “forest enterprise” that could be promoted. “Any person, body, group or community may, subject to the prescribed standards, also carry out agro-forestry, herbs farming and wildlife farming,” the act reads.

“Imagine if all community forests or private forest owners start up wildlife farming as a potential source of income, then where do you go to monitor?” said Hari Bhadra Acharya. There are over 20,000 community forest users groups in Nepal, with significant areas of private forests across the country.

Advocates have an answer to this, though not a complete solution. “We can put up a quota system based on availability of seed animals, we don’t have to give it to everybody who arrives at the doorstep with an application,” said Mukesh Chalise, founder of the Natural History Society of Nepal, an NGO.

While regulations over sourcing of seed animals are for now still on the desks of officials at the central Ministry of Forests and Environment, provincial governments are already gearing up to prepare themselves for the business. “We have allocated a USD 150,000 budget for a project to establish a Himalayan musk deer farm in Mustang district. Field-based study has been done and we are currently finalising it,” said Maheshwar Dhakal, secretary at the Ministry of Forest, Environment and Soil Conservation in Gandaki province.

Will wildlife farming saturate, or increase, demand?

One major argument made by advocates of wildlife farming is that if farming is allowed, it will eventually reduce hunting pressure on wild population of the species. “We should allow farming of animals that are abundant. For example, the kalij pheasant is among the most illegally hunted species in Nepal and is relatively abundant. If [it is] farmed then that would put less pressure on the wild population as the meat demand would be met from the farms,” said Raju Acharya of Friends of Nature Nepal.

But whether wildlife farming actually increases or saturates demand for wildlife products is a contested issue globally. “There is no evidence that farming of tigers or trade in products from farmed tigers reduces demand for wild tiger products,” said Debbie Banks, campaign lead for tigers and wildlife crime at the Environmental Investigation Agency, a UK-based NGO. “Even with a supply of farmed tiger products, perceptions among some consumers that wild is better persists,” she added.

A 2018 study from Vietnam on consumption of bear bile – used in traditional medicine in East and Southeast Asia – found that consumers were less interested in consuming bile from farmed bears. They were willing to pay more for bile from wild bears. The study concludes that “the case of bear bile farming in Viet Nam provides an example of wildlife farming failing to reduce pressure on a once widely distributed and relatively abundant species.”

A 2016 study on wildlife farming by conservation researcher Laura Tensen argued that wildlife farming can only benefit wild populations if five conditions are met, including that consumers show no preference for wild products versus farmed alternatives; farms do not need to take animals from the wild for restocking; and farms do not ‘launder’ illegal wildlife products. “For most species encountered in the wildlife trade, these criteria are unlikely to be met in reality and commercial breeding has the potential to have the opposite effect to what is desired for conservation,” Tensen concluded.

“Already a hotspot for poachers and an established trade route for illegal wildlife body parts, Nepal is likely to [face] bigger problems if the country jumps into this new business without adequate preparation,” said Kumar Paudel, co-founder of NGO Greenhood Nepal. “You have to comply with stricter rules if you go legal, so farm owners may show a part of the business as legal and [also] opt for illegal trade which would be easier to operate.”

Community benefits called into question

Several conservationists have questioned one of the foundations of the new wildlife farming policy, namely the assertion that rural communities would reap economic benefits. “With the current policy there are slim chances that the poor and marginalised will be benefitted. It is designed for those who have enough [money] to invest and take it as a business venture,” said Paudel.

The costs as laid out in government documents would likely be unaffordable for many Nepalis. According to the regulations published in 2019 by the government, it will cost around USD 900 to get a licence to farm Himalayan musk deer, and more than USD 700 for each seed animal bought from the government. The prospective wildlife farmer must also cover all costs including travel for government officials to source seed animals, and transport of the seed animals. The annual per capita income for Nepal was around USD 1,070 in 2019, according to the World Bank.

Acharya at the wildlife department is unclear on how communities would benefit. “Our plan is to provide farming licences to a few selected companies,” he said. If so, the policy offers little possibility of uplifting the lives and livelihoods of poor and marginalised communities, I suggested. “I agree to some extent, but it can create jobs for communities and in the long run as the business flourishes they would be able to get seed animals from those farms established and start up their [own] businesses,” said Acharya.

Image: White-rumped Vulture in captivity at Betana Wetland in Morang District, eastern Nepal. In Nepal, rescued animals like this are kept in captivity by Community Forest User Groups, which refer to these facilities as mini zoos.( Ramesh Bhushal)

Traditional Chinese medicine companies see a business opportunity

Since the wildlife farming law was passed by parliament in 2017, traditional Chinese medicine companies have been trying to partner with established conservation organisations in Nepal.

According to Acharya, at least one Chinese company has filed an application at Nepal’s Department of Industry seeking approval to establish a traditional Chinese medicine factory in Nepal. “The industry department has forwarded their proposal to us for review as it has mentioned use of musk deer scent and snake venom to produce such medicine. It’s under review,” he said.

Two major traditional Chinese medicine companies – Beijing Tong Ren Tang and Beijing Sheng Shi Xingwen Company Limited – are trying to get involved in wildlife farming in Nepal. The Third Pole has seen a letter from Beijing Sheng Shi Xingwen Company Limited and Beijing Tong Ren Tang to the prime minister of Nepal stating their interest in working on wildlife farming.

The National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) – a semi-autonomous organisation established by the government of Nepal – told The Third Pole that Beijing Sheng Shi Xingwen approached it to invest in its Himalayan musk deer farming centre that is under construction in Manang district in western Nepal. “As it’s a private company we told them to get a letter from the Chinese embassy in Nepal stating it’s a recognised agency in China, but they haven’t come up with the document,” said Siddhartha Bajracharya, executive officer at NTNC.

The Third Pole approached both companies for comment prior to the publication of this article, which will be updated if any responses are received.

Farming of musk deer for their body parts is well established in China, beginning in 1958. According to a news report published in 2017, there are over 20,000 musk deer in captivity in China. Nonetheless, wild populations continue to decline due to hunting for their musk as well as because of habitat loss. Musk pods are also frequently seized in Nepal en route to China. “If farming and trade is opened then how would anyone identify whether the musk scent that is being traded is legally acquired or it was extracted illegally from musk deer in the wild? It would make illegal trade easy,” said Kumar Paudel from Greenhood.

Interest from Chinese companies and government agencies in wildlife farming in Nepal, especially of musk deer, is not new. In 2009, a meeting was held with the Chinese embassy in Nepal and the National Trust for Nature Conservation during which potential support from China to establish a musk deer farm in Manang district was discussed. This did not materialise as the development of the wildlife farming policy stalled that year.

But private traditional Chinese medicine companies started to contact agencies in Nepal following the law amendment in 2017. “As it is our pilot project, we want to get Chinese support on technology, help our people get trained by them. If they agree then we can partner to farm musk deer in larger scale to produce musk scent and export to China,” Bajracharya said.

Not all are convinced that foreign investment will come flowing in. Paras Bikram Singh, an expert on Himalayan musk deer who studied at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that Chinese companies are assessing the situation in Nepal rather than jumping into investment. “I don’t think China is keen to invest in wildlife farming here immediately, but they want [to] help set [up] farming companies and buy wildlife products, at least for now,” said Singh.

“We need to have clarity on policy whether we want to have foreign direct investment on wildlife farming or not,” added Singh. “If we want investment, we have to speed up our decision-making process and negotiate clearly with those interested to invest. Unless we do that, I do not think anybody will come to invest here.”

In 2019, Nepal and China signed a list of instruments to enhance cooperation between the two countries, one of which was establishing cooperation on traditional Chinese medicine. “Normally traditional Chinese medicine uses a lot of varieties of wildlife body parts and products so eventually this wildlife farming would feed that cooperation that has been envisioned between two countries,” said Kumar Paudel.

A question of timing

As Nepal was finalising criteria for permits for wildlife farming in early 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic started to rage. Experts at the World Health Organization have pointed to wildlife farming in southern China as the most likely source of the virus. Concerns over the disease risk of wildlife farming and trade have prompted calls from across the globe, including in China, to ban consumption of wildlife.

In February 2020, the Chinese government enacted a sudden ban on farming and trade of terrestrial wild animals for food consumption. Farming for traditional medicine, fur and other uses was exempted, and trade in aquatic species – from fish and turtles to giant salamanders – remained legal. Nevertheless, it had a large impact. The government shut down over 12,000 wildlife-related businesses thereafter.

Nepal’s wildlife farming trajectory is seemingly at odds with its neighbour’s turn against farming wild animals for food due to the public health risk. “Our major focus is on meat-based wildlife products, not in… other products, so there is a market that could consume meat-based products domestically. It should be linked more with food security than selling other wildlife products from the farmed animals,” said Maheshwar Dhakal, secretary at the Ministry of Forest, Environment and Soil Conservation of Gandaki province.

But pandemic-induced delays and a change in public opinion may not mean a reversal on wildlife farming from the government of Nepal. “It is not a right time to jump into this business as the world is against it. Though it has stalled sooner or later this is going to happen. It’s just a matter of when,” said Hari Bhadra Acharya.

Landslide in the district of Sindhupalchowk, Nepal (Image: Richard Friedericks)

This article was first published in 2020 in Dialogue Earth.

Basanta Raj Adhikari, an engineering geologist at the Institute of Engineering in Nepal’s Tribhuvan University, pulled out data from his yet-to-be-published research as he spoke to me on Skype in late August. He told me the death figures due to landslides in Nepal. “Between 1972 and 2016 a total of 5,190 people lost their lives in 3,419 landslide events on record,” he said.

While Adhikari was explaining past tragedies, headlines in Kathmandu were dominated by the search operation to retrieve dead bodies after a landslide in Lidi village, near the Koshi river in the district of Sindhupalchowk bordering Tibet. Thirty-nine people died. Only a few kilometres away, in 2014 156 people were killed after a massive landslide swept away another village, Ramche, and blocked the Koshi.

According to a report by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization published in 2011, Nepal has one of the highest fatalities from landslides in the world. “Between 1950 and 2009, the frequency of fatal landslides was highest in China, followed by Indonesia, India, the Philippines, Japan, Pakistan and Nepal. These seven countries accounted for 87% of the 17,830 landslide-related fatalities reported during that time period in Asia,” the report said.

Relative to population, Nepal has the highest fatality rate in the world.

Counting the bodies

Since 2017 (after the time period studied in Adhikari’s research paper), an additional 490 people have been killed by landslides, according to recent government data. This year alone, 243 have died and 51 are missing. This is the second highest of confirmed casualties on record in the past 10 years, and nearly three times higher than 2019.

So why have authorities failed to respond to one of the country’s major disasters? Adhikari was quick to answer, citing a “lack of prioritisation and willingness to see the depth of this problem”. A report by Department of Water Induced Disaster Management – the authority that used be responsible for dealing with landslides which was scrapped in July – supports this claim. The report reads, “Although huge amounts of funds have been invested every year in disaster management, landslides are not treated as one of the important parameters during the planning and designing stage. Even if treated, it is done without detailed study and investigation, which further enhances the problem.”

Landslides are not a new phenomenon in a country where more than 80% of land is on a slope – and many occur naturally. But experts say that increasing human activities, such as road building, have been making the situation worse. “In tectonically active mountains such as the Himalayas, natural landslides play a fundamental role in the evolution of the landscape. But there is a clear anthropogenic influence in the occurrence of landslides in Nepal,” wrote David Petley, a professor at the University of Sheffield in the UK who is a global expert on landslides, including in Nepal and also runs a landslide blog.

Shaken by earth movers, mired in controversy

Nepal has built thousands of kilometres of roads in the past three decades. After the restoration of democracy in 1990, the country embarked on an aggressive rural road building policy that has led to haphazard construction. According to the Department of Local Infrastructure Development and Agricultural Roads, there are over 6,600 rural roads with a combined length of almost 60,000 kilometres. Most of these roads were built by local leaders, and were not designed by engineers. They are also poorly maintained.

Global companies that make earth movers, excavators and heavy equipment have rushed to the country. In 2017 Nepal imported 12,712 excavators, bulldozers and cranes, a 30% increase compared with 2016. In 2017, MAW Earthmovers in Nepal sold the most JCB equipment in South Asia and the second-highest amount globally, according to a JCB India statement.

Anil Pokhrel heads the recently established National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Authority (NDRRMA) under the Ministry of Home Affairs. Over the past few months, he has been flying around the country with top politicians handing out relief packages to landslide victims. “Everywhere we visited, the local leaders said that haphazard road construction has put the communities under threat but said they had warned people not to cut the slopes so brutally,” he said.

Then who is responsible? “Central government is not effective in monitoring and guidance, whereas local governments lack capacity to handle it properly. And then there is pressure from the communities themselves to construct roads. So, it’s a mix of everything,” Pokhrel said.

But Madhukar Upadhya, a watershed expert and the author of a book Ponds and Landslides, said, “Most of the local leaders have investments in this heavy equipment so they are keen to make money by providing contracts to these earth movers.” Upadhya added, “It’s not local individuals who put pressure to build roads. It’s mostly a nexus between local leaders and contractors.”

Roads built without oversight by engineers are more prone to landslides. “An average villager on the hillside dreams of having a house near the road and starting up a business. So people crowd near these haphazardly built roads without proper assessment of the risk. This has also increased loss of lives in recent years,” said Pokhrel. A recent study by Adhikari and his team showed that more landslides happen along roads. “We found rainfall-triggered landslides are more than twice as likely to occur within 100m of a road than landslides generated by earthquakes,” the report said.

Ignorance is not strength

Geologists say that many villages in the hills of Nepal are located on old landslides, but people tend to forget quickly. At first, people start to grow crops on landslide debris and then they construct houses. After a few years or decades this becomes a new settlement. New vegetation covering geologic scars helps people to forget what lies beneath. “Everything looks OK from the outside, but the unstable slopes are buying time. Unless we monitor them closely, we won’t know,” said Adhikari.

A study from 2001 recounts one such tragic landslide in western Nepal’s Myagdi district. The report reads, “In 1998, a huge landslide in Myagdi Khola… killed 109 people and the river was temporarily blocked. But, 62 years before that incident, the same landslide had buried the Darbang Bazaar and killed nearly 500 people.”

“If we had had institutional memory, we could have saved those lives. We just wait for another disaster to happen,” said Adhikari.

Trees don’t reduce risk

Some experts say that Nepal has a misguided approach to landslides, due to the widespread belief that tree planting helps minimise risks. “When I first challenged authorities at the Ministry of Forests and Environment, they asked me whether I was an anti-forest campaigner. But I would like to reiterate that forests do not help reduce landslides,” said Madhukar Upadhya.

Nepal nationalised its private forests in 1957, resulting in massive deforestation as people rushed to cut trees. At the same time there was forest encroachment and tree cutting in the lowlands due to state-backed migration from the hills to the densely forested plains bordering India. In response the government introduced new plantation programmes in the 1970s and 80s. Thousands of hectares of community forests emerged.

Experts say while these plantations were not a bad idea it was wrong to understand forest management as a panacea for landslides. “Heavy monsoon downpour causes mass failure of inherently unstable slopes on a large scale and at depths far below the root zone of trees (normally three metres). Forest cover, while desirable for many good reasons, plays little or no role in stopping such mass wasting,” added Upadhyay. “While we covered land with greenery, we forgot about soil management, which has resulted in more destructive landslides.”

One of the landslides that occurred this year is a typical example. In Durlung village in western Nepal’s Parbat district, densely forested land collapsed and washed out four houses on the flat land more than a kilometre downhill, killing nine people. “Nobody would imagine by just looking that such a forested land could collapse. We should remove this deeply rooted belief and put other appropriate measures to control landslides,” said Pokhrel, who visited the area after the event.

Early warning system not rocket science

Setting up early warning systems is one such measure. But while early warning systems for floods have worked well in the past few years, there have been negligible efforts to set up such systems for landslides. In 2018, Adhikari and his team piloted a successful early warning system in Sundrawati, a village in the eastern district of Dolakha. “The pilot system saved 495 people from 117 households in August 2018,” he said.

Landslide early warning systems (LEWS) are more complex than flood systems because robust monitoring of land displacement is required. “But after a short training course, locals can handle this by themselves,” said Adhikari.

A LEWS consists of a microcontroller, extensometer, solar panel, siren and soil moisture sensor. If the system detects deformation or soil moisture changes that exceed a certain threshold, it will alert an assigned person from the community and government security personnel. “This is not rocket science. It can be done if we reduce a minister or high-profile visitor’s chopper costs that happen after each of these landslides,” Adhikari added.

But in many places where landslides have occurred authorities did not take warning signs seriously. Google Maps images of before and after the 2014 landslide in Sindhupalchowk show that several scars emerged on the slope before the huge slope failure that blocked Koshi river for 12 hours, but no one noticed. “A landslide-prone area provides several signs before failing. We need to monitor this closely and act accordingly,” said Adhikari.

Science not a priority

More than 90% of landslides in Nepal occur during the monsoon between June and September. Even within those four months, landslides peak during July and August, according to some research. So any changes in monsoon rainfall patterns directly affect disasters.

See: Extreme rainfall events have more than doubled in the Himalayas
See: Himalayas will see dramatic rise in landslides by end of the century

Landslide risks are only expected to grow. Several studies suggest that monsoon rainfall has intensified in the past few decades due to climate change. “As the majority of landslides are triggered by rainfall, any changes in this pattern would have a direct impact. More studies are needed and science should play a strong role in policy ­– which is not happening in Nepal,” said Adhikari.

For this to happen some experts argue there needs to be a department dedicated to landslides – but responsibility for this has been muddied over the years by bureaucratic restructuring.

Landslides now fall under the remit of the new disaster management authority. But many are sceptical the NDRRMA will be able to deliver an effective response. “I don’t see any dedicated organisation for landslides as the national disaster authority is responsible for everything from forest fires to earthquakes,” said Ahikari.

Disaster management overcentralised

Critics say that the major hurdle in managing disasters is that the home ministry dominates the rescue and relief approach. They say authorities have ignored calls from civil societies, experts and NGOs to split the responsibility for rescue and relief from risk preparedness and mitigation. “Unless we detach them no miracle is going to happen with a newly established agency,” said Amod Mani Dixit, adviser to NGO, the National Society for Earthquake Society.

The NDRRMA’s Pokhrel said that the new set-up is not meant to undermine other agencies but play a “powerful coordinating” role between all agencies. “Landslide research will be at the core of our work in future. However, the most important thing is to build the capacity of communities who are the first responders,” he said.

Pokhrel, who was appointed seven months ago, said there is a silver lining in the new set-up. “My experience over the past few months tells me that due to the authority’s presence, there has been a very high attention to landslides. Two meetings were held with the prime minister alone,” he said. “We will be installing at least a few landslide monitoring stations shortly. There will be an insurance system for all losses and a dedicated wing to research landslides.”