Road, development and destruction

Hisila Yami

The movie, Gaun Ayeko Bato, made me nostalgic and made me think of the song Gaun Gaun Bata Utha, Basti Basti Bata Utha, a revolutionary song sung during the 1970s.

We overthrew the monarchy but our villages are being deserted as our youths do not want to stay in the country anymore, let alone the villages.

The movie also reminded me of Shahid Marg which was built by the Maoists during the People’s War. 

After I became Minister of Physical Planning and Transport in 2007, the ministry allocated a budget to build that road.

The movie depicts how building a motorable road adversely affected the Rai culture and economy. I feel the present model of Shahid Marg too has adversely affected the life of the indigenous Magar community.

Being a Janajati (Iindigenous) myself, I am aware that unsustainable development jeopardizes the Indigenous way of life affecting their livelihood. I am not against development but it should be inclusive and should not adversely affect the indigenous communities over there.  

During the ‘People's War’, some efforts to integrate development with the indigenous way of life were practised in Thawang village, Rolpa. Earlier, they were selling hemp, and Maoists helped them make rucksacks much in demand during the time of Pople’s War’.  

In the movie, one could see how local breweries were being replaced by Coca-Cola culture. How the Indigenous rooftop was being replaced by zinc sheets. 

I had seen how the Karnali region was left behind in development during the monarchy. I am also aware of how that region flourishes as a separate province, getting basic amenities such as hospitals, universities, and road networks after the country became a federal republic. 

It is good to see Marshi rice, millet, honey and nettle leaves from Karnali finding the market in Kathmandu.

Indigenous lifestyle is being replaced by consumerism. I feel that the government should promote the indigenous products of Karnali Province.

Coincidently, after seeing the movie, I got to see a photo exhibition launched by Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS) on the occasion of the Republic Day displaying major infrastructure development works throughout the country. 

The first thing that struck me was the economic viability of these projects. The participation and ownership of the projects by the local people grabbed my attention. However, I was worried thinking whether they would benefit the local people. If that was not taken into consideration then I was afraid the Indian goods would flood the villages, with whom we share almost two-thirds of our open border. 

While seeing the photos exhibition, I reflected the 30-day day trip from Chiwa Bhanjyang, Panchthar district adjoining Sikkim, India, to Jhula Ghat, Baitadi district adjoining Uttaranchal, India, from January 29 to February 27, 2019, covering 28 districts along the Pushpalal Marg, thw Mid-Hill Highway. 

The salient feature of this road was that it covered all the Janjati and Khas communities of the country. 

The road is so strategic that, had the government given it priority before the construction of the Mahendra Highway, migration from hills to Tarai would have been checked.  

After seeing the film, I started thinking about my recent 10-day trip from Illam to Kanchanpur covering 18 districts.  While travelling I saw almost no economic activities throughout the highway except seeing children waiting for their school buses to reach private schools.

Suddenly, it reminded me how remittance money has accelerated the flow of population from villages to small towns and cities near the highways.

How it has flourished private English boarding schools in these cities, made me ponder on our education system. I remembered in the movie, Papa being called again and again by the little son and how proud the father felt hearing English words from his son.

Lastly, would I say I was lucky to come back safely to Kathmandu, after 10 days of a harrowing trip. Poor road conditions made me feel anxious, houses and paddy fields were affected by floods and landslides. These monsoon-induced disasters claimed many lives and destroyed many infrastructures. 

 Once again I recalled how we initiated reforestation in Thawang to maintain the ecological balance. Likewise, check dams were built to save Thawang village from surrounding rivers. 

Unfortunately, the same Maoist force was indifferent to implementing sustainable development work when it was in power and was leading the government for the past few years. 

(Yami is a former minister.)