Apropos of the news story “Madhes stir taking toll on sugarcane farmers” (THT, Nov. 10, Page 5), what would Shree Ram Sugar Mills do if the stir drags on for years – not pay at all? The ongoing protests in Madhes are a good excuse for the mills to hang on to 900 million rupees in arrears for two long years! The mills have not paid the money to the

sugarcane farmers despite fiat from the government. The protests are only two months old. It is surprising that no

sugarcane farmers have committed suicide yet as they would have surely done in mighty India for such a huge amount for such a long period. The proprietor has come up with the most stupid excuse for not paying. Does he have a special bank that does not have branches elsewhere in the country? He can withdraw 900 million rupees from any branch in Kathmandu and pay the farmers – that is provided he has not siphoned off the money elsewhere. We need canes without sugar to tame such errant debtors in this country. Have we got such provision in our vibrant constitution? As the sugarcane farmers are unorganized it is the sugar mills owners who can easily deceive the hardworking people. Will the agitating parties pay their attention towards the plights of thousands of farmers?

J. Talchabhadell, Bhaktapur

Flying geese

Canada goose is a majestic water bird native to the continent of North America and their range stretches from Canada and the United States to parts of Central America. The species is also found in eastern Asia. Being a migratory species, massive flocks of Canada goose after their Summer breeding in southern Canada and northern US, migrates during the Fall to spend the Winter in the warmer parts of southern US, northern Mexico and parts of Central America. The species is distributed from the northern snowy polar regions to the southern plains as well

stretches from the Atlantic coast in the east to the Pacific coast in the west, being a truly pan-continental species. Canada goose has been rated as among the top five avian species in a nationwide online voting across Canada to be

designated as the National Bird. The species has been intimately associated with the socio-cultural, ethnic and natural beauty of the continent of NA that this species has been portrayed in both postage stamps and coins of the US and Canada. Canada goose pair for life and are devoted parents adding to numerous myths, stories, poems, legends and cultural tradition of tribal communities of NA. Nepal, a beautiful landlocked nation with rich biodiversity has a number of fascinating wildlife species that need serious conservation efforts like the Himalayan monal, Bengal florican, one horned rhinoceros, tigers and elephants to name only a handful. It would be so nice to portray these majestic local species more inclusively in the postage stamps and currencies, particularly low dimension coins of the nation for widely promoting the message of the rich national biodiversity.

Saikat Kumar Basu, Canada