Diplomatic blunder

Apropos of the chaos surrounding the issue of quarantine, the behaviour of the civil servants in the higher echelon, characterised by utter negligence, seems unbelievable although the PM himself has apologised for having lied to the Nepali people before an audience. What surprises us more is that the country’s executive head blames the government officials, who are responsible for informing him of the diplomatic note the Indian Embassy wrote to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with copies to the concerned ministries and department, for keeping him in darkness for several days, prompting him to deny the receipt of the letter. One wonders how MoFA, the lead government agency to which the foreign embassy communicates, could overlook to bring such a sensitive note to the attention of the foreign minister and through him the prime minister. If it was failing to do so, then it cannot be considered a minor mistake because Indo-Nepal relations are at stake. No less responsibility lies on the senior bureaucrats of the other related ministries for taking up the issue of quarantine, which has been strongly raised by India, with whom our relations are overwhelmingly significant, both on the political and economic fronts.

What the above incident underscores is that our administrative machinery, in particular, the one in charge of handling diplomatic relations, requires an urgent overhaul so that such a humiliating situation does not recur in future.

Hira Bahadur Thapa, Kathmandu

Deluge

Apropos of the news story, “Floods, landslides claim 43 lives” (THT, July 14, Page 1), could the country have averted the loss of human lives? Had the people and the government exercised more caution while choosing the sites for their abodes, they might as well could have. Forget about the lowlands and highways, the pictures on page 2 show that even Kathmandu has become vulnerable to rains and floods. Who is responsible for this? When people start encroaching the banks of such unpredictable rivulets like the Tukucha and rivers like the Karma Nasa, do we need to be surprised when nature strikes back?

Manohar Shrestha, Kathmandu

This is with reference to the news “Rain-induced disasters claim 17 lives” (THT, 13 July, Page 1). It is extremely petrifying to learn that the natural disaster resulted in the death of several people. It is natural for natural disasters to occur in any part of the world. However, what is important to know is how to minimise the risk that this kind of disaster may put on human settlements. I certainly believe that we have a very pathetic sewage and canal system in our cities. Proper mechanisms for flood management should be in place.

The engineering of our settlement should be reviewed time and time again so as to learn more about the possible ramifications that may occur.

Shiva Neupane, Melbourne