Better late than never

This is in reference to the news report “New Road to cut travel time to Tarai” (THT, Nov. 8). There has been this talk for over a decade about the construction of a new road that would link Tarai with the capital in the shortest possible time. The news that the government has finally given approval to the project North-South Fast Track along the Bagmati River comes as a respite to all, especially since road transportation in recent days has become an ordeal for passengers travelling to Tarai by bus. This link road to the Tarai would not only make road journeys to Tarai shorter but also more comfortable. Let us hope that the government this time extends maximum support to the Department of Roads and other authorities concerned so that the road becomes operational as soon as possible.

Manit Deokota,

Ratopul, Kathmandu

Solidarity

I would like to thank THT for highlighting the importance of psychosocial support for the victims of the conflict in the editorial titled “Vital but neglected” (THT, Nov. 6). Save the Children US, TPO Nepal and Psycan, for example, have trained community counsellors, community psychosocial workers, facilitators of Sanjeevani (classroom-based

psychosocial intervention), and community child protection committees over the last three years to identify victims of the conflict and provide them with psychosocial care in 13 districts of the three western regions.

This support, designed specifically for the present crisis in Nepal, has enabled clients and participating school children to recover from their distress, and with the help of other inputs, like support for income generation activities and schooling, to re-establish their lives.

There is a greater need, as you have stated, than we have been able to meet so far as rural communities become increasingly aware of what psychosocial support is. Also there is a need for long-term support to enable victims of the conflict to fully recover and be reintegrated into

the society.

The victims include not only those families which lost a family member due to the conflict, but

also internally displaced persons (IDPs) and children affected by armed conflict and affiliated with armed groups (CAAFAG).

Children in particular need great care and nurture if the society is to recover from negative repercussions of conflict. We express solidarity with your call for greater government

involvement and support.

Shova Lama, Victims of Conflict Manager, Save the Children US, Kathmandu

A big lie

This refers to the news report “One person killed every other day in Tarai” (THT, Nov. 8). Even as the government claims that the security situation in the country has improved, the news that one person is killed every other day and two abducted daily should attract the attention of the government to the deteriorating security situation in the country.

The government instead of making false claims should take concrete steps to improve the security situation, or there’s not much sense in ushering Nepal into republicanism

or any other system of governance.

Amol Acharya, Gatthaghar, Bhaktapur