View On View Towers

Nepal has been an excellent destination to travel and rediscover and regenerate one’s self-esteem. The enthralling landscapes, cultural diversity, the ancient history, the highest mountains, and the varieties of biodiversity with the unique geography never fail to attract anyone. The picturesque scenery and the beautiful mountain peaks seen from the lofty heights of the Himalayas are one of the main factors that make people from different places visit Nepal. 

Many tourists come to enjoy the mystic view of snow-capped mountains, and for this reason, the number of tourists visiting the high hills around the cities has also increased in recent years. Not just the mountains but the view of lush jungles, local villages, and the hustled city also looks amazing from the high points. The breathtaking foggy weather and the sunrises and sunsets seen from the peaks are just perfect to chill and loosen all the stresses. Bearing this in mind, the government has brought so many strategies to facilitate tourists to visit these areas. Building homestays, and starting adventurous activities like paragliding, sky cycling, sky jumping, bungee jumping, and zip lines have somehow been helpful in boosting tourism.

But the governmental idea of building view towers and monumental statues at the top of the hills destroying their natural beauty is quite unjustifiable. Pouring millions of rupees into constructing towers is completely a waste. Nepal’s high mountains and hills are already so high that they serve as natural view towers. Adding an extra few metres to them gives nothing more to the panorama. Chopping down trees for concrete towers is an obsolete idea. Besides, the view towers have never been the demand of the locals as they serve no purpose. There is no analysis of return on investment.  And the irony is that the roads leading to such view towers are all rough with barely any transportation facilities.

In such a situation, the first priority of a government should be expanding and constructing roads rather than building a tower. An erected view tower emerging as a great interest of people in power clearly says that it is all being built for personal monitory benefit. Many hill areas of Nepal lack electricity and have been facing a host of health and education-related problems. In this instance, the government’s priority should be on skills development and building infrastructures related to health and education, enterprise, irrigation and power.

View towers are profligacy and full waste of time and money. Some view tower projects are ambitious too but are shadowed due lack of infrastructure and improper roads. Policy-makers have not shown much interest in conserving the environments around them but they are competing to make taller and more fascinating view towers. Building a view tower doesn’t boost tourism, rather focusing on the basic facilities does help promote it. 

There are many pressuring issues in various parts of the country that the government needs to address and they indeed cannot be undertaken by erecting tall towers haphazardly. Building view towers does not equate to development but is sooner bound to more harm than good. The vision is holistic and it is obligatory for the government to rethink its idea of development and snap out of such short-sighted, unsustainable projects.