Apropos of the news story “Three vehicles buried in landslides, bus swept away” (THT, August 4, Page 1), frankly, we should hand over this important road lifeline to God for necessary repair and reconstruction. Otherwise we will face another blockade-like situation owing to ineptitude of the government agencies. It is increasingly obvious that the completion of this road is beyond Nepali mortals.

Alternatively, what the government can and should do is to request China to build an over water (river) highway right from Mugling to Narayangadh. We are all aware that China has made many such highways over rivers and oceans in their fatherland. Since our engineers, contractors and planners are all at their wits’ end to contain continuing landslides, it looks like they would not be able to complete this 40-km road anytime soon. So, unless God intervenes, asking China for help is our best bet to circumvent this 40-km deathtrap in the near future. Meanwhile, Dashain revelers can start planning to leave for their homes right away as they might not be able to do so after the holiday starts owing to Mugling-Narayangadh bottleneck. They might have to celebrate their Dashain on the highway unless, of course, they can hire rafts to sail down the Trishuli to avoid the deathtrap. We should also pray to Almighty for His help in drilling tunnel through the slippery soft rocks to expedite supply of Melamchi water to the Valley by the new deadline. It has been a long wait for water and many of us have tolerated dry taps for a decade, paying our monthly dues diligently.

Meanwhile, rather than attributing loss of water to the ancient, decrepit, hundred-year-old pipelines painstakingly laid by the ancient Ranas, let us show them some respect and gratitude for their efforts and ingenuity. Party-less democracy has long become obsolete and the new breed of politicians have not been able to replace the pipeline in the last 27 years. So let us not blame the Ranas for water leaks from the pipes laid over a century ago. Let us also not forget that many people in Kathmandu are still surviving on stone spouts and water ponds put up by the brilliant Mallas over 300 years ago.

Manohar Shrestha, Kathmandu

Saviour

I would like to shed some light on how the Nepali film industry exists. It is clear that circa 2001 Nepali film industry was totally betrayed by the renowned artists. Most of them went to America to secure their future and stayed there for well over a decade for green cards and other amenities.

However Rajesh Hamal was perhaps the only superstar who rescued the film industry by being in the film sector regardless of this aforementioned reason plus the Maoist insurgency. I find Rajesh Hamal not only the film star but the hero to rescue the Nepali film industry. We know he can’t praise himself for his contribution but the reality is indeed more worth contemplating about what made the industry great and strong.

Shiva Neupane, Melbourne