We are not in the era when the Tribhuvan Rajpath was built seven decades ago. Today's era technology has taken leaps and bounds. It is never okay to accept help when offered a long circuitous route, such as going up and down a hill. It should have been said that cable car would be suitable instead of road transport, but no such effort was seen from our side.
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In July 056, this columnist traveled five days on foot from Simkot to Hilsa. My traveling companion was Krishnanath Ghimire, an older brother who had more than four votes. The walk from Simkot to Hilsa is about 58 km long. The distance north for the motorway is about 100 km.
As we passed through Simkot, villages like Dandafoe, Kholsi, Khagalgarh, Chidhuka, Kirmi, Yaluwa, Yangar, Tumikot, Yari, Hilsa (boundary post no. 9-Karnali river) were passing by. On the journey from Simkot to Hilsa, we crossed two Hocha mountains.
Our journey started towards Mansarovar via Hilsa. We visited Mansarovar and circumambulated Mount Kailash. While visiting Mount Kailash, there is Gauri Kund on the north side of Kailash. After proceeding from there, Gauri Bhanjyang should be sprinkled. We were there during summer season. Sheets of thin ice frozen like a mirror had to be trodden on.
On the way back, we passed through Lipulekh (Pillar No. 1 of the border) and stayed at Tinker Beas village with the aim of seeing a new place without going back the same way. As the Kathe bridge of the Mahakali river towards Nepal was washed away by flood, we entered Nepal by leaving Tanakpur via the road towards India. Thus, our journey that started from Kathmandu took 29 days to reach Kathmandu again.
Road traffic is not suitable for high and medium altitude hilly sections like Mahabharata in the lap of Himalayas. Hence cable car travel (rope-way) is suitable for Simkot-Hilsa. The benefits of cable car travel are many. Like: Can be used for twelve months. It can be operated with the electricity of its own country. This reduces the import of foreign mineral oil. Using cable car transport can save three segments of passenger time. Annual maintenance costs are also less when compared to roads.
In my experience, Kurintar-Manakamana cable car has not suffered any kind of financial loss during the last 25 years. There was no loss of wealth in the ropeway between Kathmandu-Dhorsingh-Hetaunda built during Chandrashamsher's time. Therefore, cable car seems to be more suitable instead of motor road in Simkot-Hilsa.
After the Simkot-Hilsa cable car comes into use, there will be a rush of passengers to visit Kailash Mansarovar. In the villages between Simkot and Hilsa on the journey, substation facilities should be provided as per requirement. Since the cable car will operate in all seasons, the hotel business on the route from Simkot to Hilsa will also get a good opportunity for development and progress. As the settlements in the Himalayan region are thin, the cable car will be enough to transport goods and passengers for the next two/three decades.
Last November, representatives of Pulan County under China's Autonomous Tibet Province and officials of Bajhang, Humla and Darchula districts on Nepal's side held talks regarding border issues. The Nepal side's negotiation team was attended by chief district officers of three districts, security officers and local people's representatives. Pulan County touches the borders of all three districts of Nepal. The two-day meeting was held at Taklakot market.
The Nepalese team was led by Humla Chief District Officer Narayan Pandey, while Pulan County was led by County Chief Dhundup. During the meeting, discussions were focused on issues such as the bridge at the border, construction of school buildings, seamless access to Kailash Mansarovar and the upgradation of the Hilsa-Simkot road. During the meeting, the county chief proposed to upgrade the Hilsa road. Nepal side welcomed it.
The lesson we should learn from the border meeting in Taklakot is that it is beneficial to develop the practice of bilateral local people's level negotiations on all the borders up to the east. It was not appropriate for our Prime Minister to take the fact that the local level of the Tibetan side will expand the road network in Taklakot to the central level meeting of the two countries during his recent visit to China.
If you only look at the center in every matter, the small problems of the border become secondary issues for the center. But these problems are of major concern for the local level. Therefore, in the future, such local-level bilateral dialogues should be continued, which will also increase the people-to-people relations between the two countries. But in the same meeting held in Taklakot, the representatives from Nepal could not speak openly. For example, there was a proposal to build a road at a height of 18,000 feet.
We are not in the era when Tribhuvan Rajpath was built seven decades ago. Today's era technology has taken leaps and bounds. It is never okay to accept help when offered a long circuitous route, such as going up and down a hill. It should have been said that cable car would be suitable instead of road transport, but no such effort was seen from our side.
Nepali side has another unpleasant experience of silence. India surveyed the last junction from Raxaul to Kathmandu to be Khokna. Similarly, China surveyed that the railway junction coming from Kerung to the north would be at Kavrestali. But we Nepalis need a joint junction of both trains and it seems necessary to make Chobhar a joint junction. The Nepali side should raise issues that are favorable to its interests during such multilateral and bilateral meetings. Do not repeat this mistake in the future.
