On the afternoon of February 15, 2075, 7 people including my friend and the then Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation Rabindra Adhikari died in a helicopter accident. He was going to attend an event in the UK the very next day. But the chairman of the Yeti group, Ang Tshiring Sherpa, wanted to meet the minister before going to Paris for a few days.

In the same month, a plan was made to inspect the proposed airport at Atharai and a group of private sector investors and concerned government officials went to Pathibhara with the minister.

The helicopter crashed after taking off from Pathibhara. Even though there was no prior plan and program for the minister to go to Pathibhara, the work of taking him to Pathibhara was at the root of this group's haste to prepare the Council of Ministers to remove the obstacle of the cable car being built in Pathibhara with their own investment.

Even before that, the Yeti group had done some preparatory work for the cable car construction plan in collaboration with Tapka, a power elite of the locals. The political games behind this have already been made public. It's about to reach five years. However, the cable car construction plan in Pathibhara (Mukkumlung of Limbus) area has not stopped taking sacrifices of people.

On January 12th, when the police opened fire on the agitating party for not allowing the cable car to be built in Pathibhara, the blood of two people was shed. Dozens of police and protestors were injured in the clashes. This is just the latest in a series of protests. Even before this, there had been clashes between the parties who wanted to build the cable car and those who did not.

What is different is that the Yeti group withdrew from this plan and the IME group, which is establishing itself in the cable car business across the country, has taken this plan forward with permission. The construction work has also started. Businessman Chandra Dhakal, who is also the current president of the Federation of Nepal Industries and Commerce, is a capitalist when he grew up. He is considered to be the most successful businessmen among the service businessmen in the banking and financial sector, as well as hotels and cable cars, who contributed to the country's economy by advancing in a short time.

He has cable car plans in many places in the country including Chandragiri cable car. In a country with a topography like Nepal, cable cars can become important from a tourist point of view. It is good to plan and work like this especially when it can take you to hill stations or hilltops to provide beautiful scenery and secluded atmosphere.

The latest conflict flared up when the government used force to create a working environment for the business in Mukkumlung, which is now invested by the IME Group. It is natural for businessmen to seek assurance of investment security and it is also the responsibility of the government. But there is a question as to whether the pre-conditions have been fulfilled while going ahead with this plan and giving approval for investment.

The agitating party did not make a new move but their concerns were addressed in the context that they have been making such demands and pressures that the investors and the government can do whatever they want.

Now it seems that there is an atmosphere of negotiation between the government and the protesting parties and both sides are in favor of power accumulation. The IME group is trying to create public opinion in favor of the scheme through the media using its compatibility and the agitating party is also busy promoting its opinion to protect cultural, religious beliefs and values ​​from annihilation. It has created a debate within the country. In this article, only two aspects of the controversy and debate regarding the cable car plan will be discussed.

The first aspect of the cable car controversy is related to its religious and cultural values. Shouldn't a particular group's religious and cultural tradition make other structures in the religious places that they have been worshiping since tradition and faith? Entering the serofero of this question, it seems that the construction work being done here is under a kind of colonial concept. Mukkumlung, which the tribal Limbus believed to be their faith, was first interfered with by the name Pathibhara. The efforts of the Khas-Arya Hindus to Hinduize by replacing the Limbu myths and traditions associated with the beliefs of the Limbus succeeded with the support of the Kathmandu government. This in itself is a localized form of colonization.

This is difficult for the majority of the community to accept. He has the government or the state and the capital, which has the power to suppress the questions that arise there. But we can learn from the recent events of the governments of Australia, New Zealand and Canada that we should continue to answer such questions in history and slowly bow our heads to the indigenous people. A row of local lemons may also be in favor of the cable car. This is also natural. Since the ideology of the dominant group becomes the ideology of the nation, it is not unusual for a group of Limbus to accept Mukkumlung as a Pathibhara. Similarly, it is not a new thing to prioritize taking advantage of the potential 'development' that may occur when the cable car comes. In the course of world history, there is no society or country that does not have supporters who work in its favor when imperialism intervenes and plunders. But those who have worshiped Pathibhara as their faith and still want to preserve it, their voices are the real tribal voices and can only be banned by an undemocratic government.

No one can deny the economic benefits of taking a cable car there. But it should be kept in mind at what price such benefit is being paid and how much opportunity is lost by not doing so. By listening to Raithane tribals and respecting their legitimate demands, it is possible to do these things through alternative measures, if not even if such a plan is not taken forward immediately. The value of human sacrifice cannot be supported even if the construction work takes place after some time after understanding the concerned parties.

It is also a matter of interest to me as a Nepali that the picture of genocide done for the profit of big business houses in the tribal areas of South America or India is not repeated here. People don't have to be killed, even if people don't resist now because of the fear of repression, it is not possible to get acceptance in the long term for any action that hurts the religious faith. In this regard, it is better for the government and those who are getting the benefits of investment and those who are planning to do so to understand early. I do not at all believe that Chairman Chandra Dhakal or the IME Group will miss out on an investment opportunity by not building a cable car there.

The second aspect of this controversy is related to the concept of development and the environmental aspect that we envision. Nepal needs economic growth. For such economic growth we need cable cars, hotels, roads, airports, hydropower projects, transmission lines, urbanization. Cement industry is also needed and factories are also needed. Most of these activities also destroy forests, obstruct the natural flow of water and destroy both aquatic and terrestrial fauna and flora. Carbon emissions will continue to rise and the dire consequences of climate change will be felt as it is now.

The devastation caused by the wildfires in California in the United States in the past month, people are calling it a huge loss due to climate change. Before this, we have seen the destruction caused by rivers in Sikkim and Bhutan last year. Rains and landslides moving towards Manang and Mustang, avalanches that occur every year in the Himalayan rivers and damage to riverside settlements and hydropower projects are now becoming a regular emergency.

Due to the huge flood that occurred in the second week of last October, more than 50 people died around the Roshi River in Kavre and the destruction of billions of physical structures, livestock and crops has pointed us to our development priorities and the crisis it causes.

What can be said, those more than 50 innocent people had to sacrifice themselves while meeting the development needs of crusher industry and stone, sand mining. The beneficiaries are the dons, the political leadership and administration that protect them. Those who lost their lives were ordinary citizens. If you are on the side of power, this destruction is nothing, if you are on the side of the common people or if you are on the side of your future, it is impossible not to talk about such issues.

It didn't rain all winter. The snow line is moving higher in the mountains. Fish tails that are exposed throughout the winter point to the depth of the environmental crisis caused by climate change. As Lekhnath Paudel wrote in his Himal poem, 'From the top of Latre to Padak Himko Swachh Seto Uparna', our descendants are now reading and understanding it as a folk tale told at some time in Ekadesh. If we start to take this ascent of the snow line as normal, at least Nepal will lose the name of being a country rich in water resources. The generation capacity of our hydropower projects will decrease and the built plans will become meaningless. Farmers, many settlements in the hills and mountains will face more challenges for livelihood.

Therefore, the economic and political definition of development should also be changed. Be it a cable car or a road, or a cement industry or a hydroelectric project, it would be suicidal to ignore the potential devastation caused by such works. The loss caused by the loss of forests due to the hotel, station and cable-pulling route on Pathibhara hill which is above 4000 meters cannot be ignored.