This has reference to Baburam Bhattarai’s article “New democratic alternative” (THT, November 21, Page 8). I absolutely agree with his opinion about the election of local bodies.

This is the most talked about issue of the national politics. The new constitution has given special space to the local bodies which also will have representation in the National Assembly.

Without holding elections of the local bodies the National Assembly will not be complete and local bodies, unlike the previous ones, also act as a local government which will have executive, judiciary and legislature.

So, the local bodies are as important as the federal and provincial ones. One of the major challenges is to hold the local elections by January 2018 along with the provincial and federal elections.

It is still unclear when and how the Local Bodies Restructuring Commission will come out with its final report, when the government will endorse it and table it in Parliament for approval.

On the other hand, Parliament has also not enacted law related to the local bodies’ elections. The Madhes-centric parties have expressed their resentment that they will not take part in the election process unless their demands of redrawing boundaries of the Pradeshes are addressed.

They have not allowed the commission to carry out its task in the Pradesh No-2 where the Madhesi parties are in a better position.

It is imperative to hold elections of the three tiers of government to implement the new constitution.

Saroj Wagle, Bara

Energy plant

This is with reference to the news story “Operation of waste-to-energy plant delayed” (THT, November 23, Page 2).

It is not a new idea to generate energy from the degradable waste products. The 14 kilowatt plant can however be a modal project for all municipalities that produce enough biodegradable waste which can be utilized for producing electricity.

Many farmers in rural areas of Nepal have been using the animal dung to produce bio-gas that is sustainable, efficient and affordable.

The Kathmandu Metropolis has initiated a noble idea to generate electricity from the waste products. But it does not need to wait for the PM to inaugurate it which can be done afterwards.

Needless to say, this plant was also installed with support from foreign donor. It is highly likely that such model projects will become dysfunctional once the funding from the donors stop coming.

There are so many instances that similar model projects run for a few months or years and stop functioning “due to lack of funds” and skilled human resources or even lack of adequate raw material.

This is a tendency in the government sector which does not replicate the idea and scheme that can be easily adopted by the locals.

The bio-gas scheme would also have been phased out had there not been continuous support from donor agencies for a long time.

Laxman Shrestha, Kathmandu