Constraints and potential of Karnali

I was curious about the changes in the daily life of the people of the new Karnali region, in the society, in the economy and in the politics. A few weeks ago, I went to visit the districts of Upper Karnali with some of my colleagues, thinking that the ground reality of the province cannot be understood by the few words spoken by the MP elected from the state in the media and federal parliament of Kathmandu.

The system has changed, the situation is the same

Kalikot is the worst district in Karnali. But the magnitude of this crisis is slightly different. In terms of time, the main centers of Kalikot, Manm and Khadachakra, are closer than Jumla and Mugu from the state capital Surkhet. But the daily life of the people of Kalikote is more dangerous and difficult than the way travelers like us reach Calikot by taking the risk of about 8 hours through the Karnali highway.

We saw a village living under the risk of rocks falling from the top due to a small tremor in the ground or a sudden rain. Be it the locals digging the fields or the small businessmen running the shops along the highway or the little children engrossed in their books grazing the goats in the village, we did not see anyone raising their heads and looking at the danger of the storm like us. In the last ten years, I have not seen much change in the situation of Kalikot, where more than 600 lives were sacrificed to change the system of the country.

Only two years ago, 10 people were killed in a dry landslide in Nagm under Tilagufa rural municipality. We were afraid to stay there for only one day and reached Khalanga in Jumla after an hour. But there is no account in Kathmandu of the suffering and suffering of Kalikote, which is caused by landslides that occur every year during Barkhayam and even before that. Yesterday also the upper part of the district was in a state of drought, this time also I saw the suffering of the residents of Manm and Khadachakra for water. We listened to the fables while sitting in Khadachakra lighting mobile torches about the electricity coming from the 132 KV National Transmission Line. What about the water! Yesterday also the upper part of the district was in a state of drought, this time also I saw the suffering of the residents of Manm and Khadachakra for water.

Mahendra Bahadur Shahi of Kalikot, who has the political influence of the CPN-Maoist Center, became the Chief Minister of the province for some time. But the people of Calicote have not expected much from the leader who is leading the provincial government, which is ranked third in terms of resources and power of the state, and who is also very low in the ranking of the party. A local Maoist leader who met in Khadachakra said, "A leader is not just good sir, he should also be able to bring about development." The leader of Kalikot, which has about 30 percent Dalit population, also expressed dissatisfaction with his former leader, Khadga Bahadur Vishwakarma, 'If a leader as influential as him and who was also a federal minister had not left us stranded in the name of principles, Kalikot would not have been in this condition.' Jumla is a little north and far away from Kalikot. But since Karnali is the zonal headquarters of the former, the hustle and bustle here is different from the neighboring districts. As perplexed as we were while traveling from Surkhet to Calicut section, as soon as we entered the Jumla border, my colleagues forgot all their fatigue and got busy taking pictures of the Tila Karnali's fringed valleys and the huge valleys watered by it. By the time we reached the Khalanga market, it was late evening.

But I realized, Jumla is more prosperous than what I saw ten years ago. As soon as we entered the district, the dirt road of the highway became black. The golden ears of wheat were ready in the fields, and the work of placing the paddy beds next to them was also going on. Khalanga, the district's largest market, has a presence of almost all major commercial banks, which was not the case ten years ago. Domestic and foreign tourists reaching Jumla via Rara were very busy in the small and big hotels of Khalanga. But behind that hustle and bustle, there was also the excitement of the twins.

We had about a dozen long-short conversations on Joomla, including local businessmen, journalists, leaders and even students. All had one thing in common, resentment towards Kathmandu and the sight of the upper reaches of Jumla and Karnali. What is not in the sentence?

'Rice and wheat grows here many times more than its own population. Jumla is an apple hub like Mustang. Apart from that, walnuts, bananas, potatoes and other vegetables grow in abundance in Jumla and Sinja valleys. If only the herbs found in the forest and the khasibo grazed in the green fields can be brought to the market, it will help the development of the entire Karnali,'' asserted Rishi Ram Pandey, the president of the largest Chandannath Cooperative in the province, which has more than 25,000 members. I remembered a similar claim made by the Chairman of Tilagufa Rural Municipality on the Jumla-Kalikot border a day ago.

We had a long conversation with current and former elected representatives of Congress, UML, Maoist and RSVP in Jumla. The leaders representing Jumla from the local, state to federal level expressed frustrated anger at the treatment of Jumla by the Union and Surkhet despite their ideological differences. "The big leaders of New Karnali have made a big difference on the districts of Upper Karnali by influencing the federal level. In the name of Karnali's plight, resources are bargained at the center, but those resources can be taken down without going uphill to Kalikot,' an old left-wing leader of Jumla complained to us.

The fear of being discriminated against from the smooth and prosperous districts of the province is not unknown to the residents of Upper Karnali. In Jumla and Mugu, there was also a demand that the provincial capital should be kept here. But the representatives of Dolpa and Humla, which have the possibility of being easily connected with Sugam Surkhet, also did not vote in favor of Jumla, the erstwhile regional capital. Even if it is a

, it is not difficult to understand the meaning of the votes given by the MPs of Humli and Dolpali when you see the wide black road connecting Dailekh Bazar in one and a half hours from Surkhet and its beauty. However, we discussed this separately with the provincial parliamentarians of both these districts. They, too, complained that the lower Sugam districts had squandered resources, but also defended their vote in favor of Surkhet in a roundabout way. Also, the political and non-political people of other districts who met in Surkhet also admitted that both Kathmandu and Surkhet have wasted resources in the upper districts.

The possibility of strife between

On my way back to Mugu via Kalikot, Jumla, my understanding of the geographical, social and economic aspects of Upper Karnali was vastly different than a decade ago. Based on my general study and conversation before and after going to Karnali, the leaders of various political parties representing the lower districts of Karnali Province are more influential in Kathmandu and Surkhet than in Upper Karnali. Janardan Sharma of Rukum, Purna Bahadur Khadka of Surkhet and Yamlal Kandel, who is currently the chief minister of the state. Due to the influence of Jajarkot's Shakti Basnet and Rajeev Vikram Shah, it is clear that the resources of the districts of Lower Karnali will continue in the future.

The strong foundation of Karnali region's prosperity is the upper districts. Whether it is the rich tourism potential of Rara, Phoksundo and Limi valleys or Marsi rice produced in the fertile fields of Sinja and Jumla, apples, walnuts, beans, potatoes, fruits, herbs etc. produced in all districts. The radii and products woven by the locals of the region are no less than those from Helambu on the outskirts of Kathmandu, nor is there any shortage of challenges for adventurous tourists looking for thrills by playing with the currents of the Karnali River.

The recently concluded investment conference did not bring much excitement to Kathmandu, but there was a lot of discussion in Gamgarhi in Mugu. The reason was the five-star hotel that the Australian company was going to build in the Rara area. But in the midst of happiness, Dansingh Pariyar, the former member of the UML, who met in Gamgarhi, expressed doubt, "Resorts were opened in Rara area even yesterday. But seeing the state of the Karnali highway and our local infrastructure, electricity, water and market area, even if the tourists come, they return after only one day. Because of this, the local economy and employment are not getting much support.'

Political party leaders who are not tired of giving speeches from Kathmandu to Surkhet about the development and tourism potential of Karnali, have to accept the discrimination on the upper Karnali until now. The federal and state governments should not fail to do justice to the residents of the upper reaches in the allocation to Karnali in the upcoming budget through policy discussions at the federal and state levels. The issue of Karnali should not be overshadowed again amid the current tussle between the ruling party and the opposition and the obstruction of parliament.

– Acharya is the director of Policy Entrepreneurs Inc. (PEI), a policy research firm.