Breaking the stereotype

Some days ago, I watched a new Nepali flick, which, unsurprisingly, had nothing new to offer. Its only usefulness: It put an end to my sleepless nights. Times change, and so do people and their thoughts. But for some unexplained reason, the Nepali film industry just doesn’t seem to welcome changes. Film producers are still happy churning out movies that have no relevance in society.

Time and again we’ve heard the industry people blaming dearth of budget for this situation. You don’t need budget to think afresh. If Kollywood producers can afford to send their whole troupes to Dubai just to caper around, why can’t they hire good scriptwriters to pen interesting plots and storylines capable of captivating the audience?

Safal Gautam, Melbourne, Australia

Chlorination

This is in reference to the news report “Chlorine lacking in piped water in the valley: Survey” (THT, Oct. 28). It is time for the Nepal Drinking Water Authority to come up with alternatives other than chlorination. Though chlorination is a popular method of water purification, it is just a supplementary method, not a substitute for better methods of purification like sand filtration which are being employed in major cities of the world.

Though chlorine kills pathogenic bacteria it has no effect on spores and certain viruses (e.g. polio and viral hepatitis) except when used in high quantities. However, high level of chlorine

increases the risk of cancer. Merely coming up with the survey result is not the

ultimate solution to improve the quality of piped water in the valley. I hope that NGO FUWS, which has supported the campaign to ascertain chlorine levels in piped water in the valley, will come up with a final solution to this problem.

The residual chlorine level in tap water should not cross 0.5 mg/lit as per WHO

recommendation. In addition, the public should be made aware that diseases like typhoid, cholera, dysentery, polio, cryptosporidium, cyclosporiosis, giardiasis, schistosomiasis,

dracunculiasis etc are transmitted by water and pose major threats to human health.

Dr Sital Kaji Shrestha, India

Irresponsible

This refers to the news report “Gachhadar warns of war in Tarai” (THT, Oct. 29). It is shocking that a senior Nepali Congress leader like Bijaya Kumar Gachhadhar should warn that Madhesis could launch another armed agitation a la the Maoists. A responsible leader should instead have discouraged such activities and asked disgruntled political outfits to come together and help build a new Nepal. It doesn’t suit politicians of his stature to make such irresponsible remarks in public.

Niraj Shrestha, Doha, Qatar

Simmering

Apropos of the news brief “NC man shot dead” (THT, Oct. 29), the incident shows that the flames of hatred that blazed in Kapilvastu nearly a month ago have not been extinguished. Hatred seems to be simmering under a layer of calm. It will take more than cosmetic

measures on the part of the government to prevent such feelings from coming out in the open and taking the form of violence in future. More security personnel should be deployed to the sensitive areas immediately to keep the situation under control.

Santosh Dahal, Dharan