Soon after the completion of upcoming provincial and federal elections, the country will enter the federal structure in line with the new constitution. Regarding federalism the major political parties do not seem to be properly aware of the volume of the resources the country has to be managed in order to properly run the provincial and local governments in addition to the federal government. Until now, there does not seem to be properly detailed out actual operational expenses to be required for the seven provincial ministries and departments along with the 753 local level governments.  It is for sure the country’s recurrent expenditures will increase significantly after the nation entering the federal structure.

A recent study carried out by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has shown that at-least Rs 820 billion would be required for the development of physical facilities and for the adjustment of staffs of the 753 local units over the next five years. Likewise, significant amount of funds will also be required for setting up ministries and departments at the provincial level. This shows that there will be a herculean task for the MoF to manage resources for the execution of federal system “Resource management in federal system a herculean task for MoF” (THT, October 31, Page 11). Where does this huge amount of fund come from? Are the political leaders of big parties properly aware of this huge funding requirement?

Rai Biren Bangdel,

Maharajgunj

Pollution

Last week I met friends suffering terribly from various forms of pollution in Kathmandu. One of my friends’ lung cancer had to be operated on at an Indian hospital so urgently that he lost one of the lobs of his lungs

because of the lead he inhaled in the Kathmandu smog. The second person I met with has an itchy body with red scars all over his body. It all happened when he took a shower with the polluted tap-water containing coliform and other harmful germs. The third person was my neighbor who had had diarrhea immediately after drinking jar water at a hotel. A young guy was wearing goggles to cover his

infected eyes due to the strong dust and smoke that came out of the dusty roads and sub-standard diesel and petrol. The fertile soil of the Kathmandu Valley is diminishing in quality unnaturally because of all types of pollution it has to bear besides the unplanned use of concrete.The examples mentioned above represent a very few cases. The biggest worry is that the pollution level is increasing day-by-day, minute by minute high above the government standard and WHO guidelines. On the other hand, hundreds of organizations and agencies through their various programs, projects and campaigns seem to be fighting such dreadful pollution but are being ineffective to mitigate it in spite of the huge budget they claim to be spending on it.

Khadga Adhikari, Baluwatar