POWER OF WATER
The Nepali Times coverage on water by Prabhu Ghate and Dewan Rai ('The power of water' and 'Nepal's energy emergency', #410) was disappointing. The two pieces offered no new insights, and reiterated the failed paradigm that regards hydropower export to India as a silver bullet to bridge Nepal's trade gap.
Calculations of benefits to Nepal need to look beyond revenue alone to include assessment of forward and backward linkages, downstream benefits from regulated water, costs of altering the character of the resource base through inundation, economic and social rehabilitation of the displaced population, environmental externalities, and incorporating decommissioning costs to account for storage loss as Himalayan sediment fills up reservoirs.
According to one study, benefits from the proposed West Seti to Nepal scores 13.66 out of a composite index of 300. Revenue from the project will go to meet the country's debt service obligations and not to narrow the trade gap because the government has already borrowed to invest in the project's equity. Provisions like tax holidays for the developer, receiving money in lieu of 10 percent free energy, and the developer being allowed to defer payments until it has sufficient money (Clause 2.4 of the 1997 MoU) will further erode benefits to Nepal.
A recent MIT study of dams in India suggest that large dams in India have in aggregate increased poverty. Will Nepal fare any better with the same paradigm in a trans-boundary context?
Pushing large-scale storages in the Himalaya to subsidise 'notoriously under-priced' irrigation in India, as Ghate correctly states, makes little economic sense. India's policy of supplying free electricity to farmers to extract groundwater for irrigation not only depletes the state exchequer but also contributes to the lowering of the groundwater table thereby decreasing food security.
Feeding hydro energy from storage projects in Nepal with their attendant economic, social, and political risks to a system with such holes will soak away electricity that is fundamental to job-creating industrialisation and the development of the service sector in Nepal.
Clearly, we need to confront structural constraints that perpetuate poverty as well as many second generation challenges of water and energy development and management. Improving access to energy in South Asia needs to identify innovative and sustainable pathways including selection of energy platforms with low social, environmental and carbon footprints and their management.
Ajaya Dixit,
Nepal Water Conservation Foundation
MADHESISATION
I agree with Trib Tharu that ethnic federalism is not a suitable method to structure the state ('Madhesisation', #410). Example: Pakistan, it was divided into various regions based on ethnicity. After more than half a century of independence Pakistan is still deeply mired in identity crisis. People from all regions of Pakistan continue to fight over representation in the state. Also political parties have extremely regional biases. Another example: Belgium. You would think Belgium, being the capital of the EU would be pretty stable. No, debates still break out between the Flemish and French speaking regions that have time and again turned towards talks of secession. Although our neighbor India seems to have had some progress with linguistic states, it is the complex diversity within diversity in India that has become a lever for stability. However, there are still secessionist struggles within India. Ethnic Federalism is a weak way to structure the state because, like Tharu says, animosities will remain between the opposing groups long after a deal has been reached. These animosities can explode in the future at any given time creating newer troubles. They could be non-violent as in Belgium or extremely violent as in Baluchistan
Nishant Acharya,
email
* So this is what we have come down to, a nation of condescending, ego-centric, pompous bunch of baboons who cannot seem to forget their past and toil forward together for their future. Analysing the various kaleidoscope of Rams, CK Lal ('A nation of Rams', #410) pretty much presents the situation of our nation. Psychologically the key priorities are food, family and housing. Amongst all things to create a chaos, we fight about a VP swearing in Hindi which originates from Sanskrit and is written in Devnagari script. I thought the republican generation had a higher IQ since their acceptance of a government created in ancient Greece with its current avatar of Mao-Marxism. If what is bothering us is the symbolism of a nation-stronger than us, more developed than us, and less reliant than us- then we have become a nation of bickering babies, who tend to show a negative correlation with respect to a stimuli. We have indeed become a country of Rams, a Ram who is still a Rame.
Pradipta Rana,
email
Heli-trekking
'Call of the wild' (#410) is advertising the negative side of mountain tourism and not its potential. Helicopters create huge noise, disturbing wildlife and humans on ground for pure pleasure and comfort. Now you can fly helicopter in the Annapurna Conservation Area or drive motorbikes in Jomosom, but if you use a bicycle you have to pay $10 exta each day. There seems to be an apparent lack of understanding among official conservation authorities about the ecological/environmental impact of flying helicopters. Although the helicopters offer valuable support for emergencies and maybe regular supply flights in remote areas, it makes no sense to bring well-paying clients up to such remote areas. Why not create an alternative trekking itinerary so that the road doesn't interfere with the mountain tourism, crucial to the region?
Navyo Eller,
Chauni
