Keep it up

EDITORIAL, Jan-13th-2012
The demolition drive to widen the roads of the capital is underway. Illegally built structures on encroached public land are being dismantled in the exercise, and even the Shital Niwas front wall is not going to be spared in the process. In most of the places, the houses and buildings were built flouting the Act that specifies the width of the various types of the roads, not only in the Kathmandu valley but all over the country. This disregard for the particular law has not only seen encroachment but also resulted in narrow roads that cannot accommodate the increasing vehicular and pedestrian traffic. Plans were there over three decades back, but political commitment to implement them were missing. And political interference was rife. However, now the Department

of Roads and the Kathmandu Valley Town Development Committee are serious about widening the valley roads despite all the irrelevant fuss that has come to the fore.

However, in some places the demolition has stalled as the local people claim that they had built their structures before the relevant Act had been enforced. It is logical not to provide compensation to those structures that have been built illegally. In fact, those guilty of illegal construction works should be penalized. It is good that the roads are being widened, but there could be a humanitarian side to it also. The initial drive to broaden the roads when many illegal structures were demolished, seems to have lost steam. The hitches to the campaign should be identified and dealt with firmly. The roads should be widened and constructed as soon as possible for at present the whole capital city is looking a mess with debris lying everywhere and hindering smooth traffic flow. That the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) is also to assist in demolishing the illegal structures augurs well for the entire campaign.

Meanwhile, while this flurry of activity is taking place in widening the roads a thing to ponder over is that at least 30 per cent of the one lakh houses in the city have been built by flouting the building codes. The building codes are after all for the safety of the capital’s denizens, but the KMC seems to be lax in applying them. Buildings built thus are prone to disaster. Thus, the KMC should also look into this and dismantle the houses that have been built by defying the building code. That the KMC is mulling such action is indeed to be welcomed. The concerned should also repair and maintain the roads, and there should also be systematic plans to build roads in the inner parts of the city considering the rise in the traffic of vehicles and pedestrians. This campaign to widen the roads in the capital should be a sustained one and should encompass the entire country from Mechi to Makhakali. The towns and villages should see planned development looking into the future enabling the smooth flow of traffic through suitably widened roads. But, the cooperation from the people is the ultimate factor that will determine the success or failure of the campaigns, such as the one to widen the country’s roads.

Recognise them

Mental health and psychological disabilities have not received the priority that they should from the health point of view. In fact, even to mention mental health problems brings jeers from many a people. This is following the superstitious beliefs that feeds on the mind of most of the people. The people are yet to be aware that mental health is as important or even more than the physical one. This is because the state of mental health impacts on the physical well-being of an individual. This has compounded the problems of the people with mental problems or psychological disabilities. The government too does not offer much help to such people in the annual budgetary allocations.

What should be borne in mind is that not only the government but the social organisations, the civil society and the numerous NGOs/INGOs ought to direct some part of their attention to see people with mental health problems receive due counselling and treatment. Mental hospitals and the service of psychiatrists are required, but the whole thing hinges on seeing the problem as related to the health of the people. It is action-oriented programmes that are urgent in our context.

Himalayan