The news story “NAC facing its worst Crisis” (THT, July 12, page 1) has put all patriotic Nepalis in a pensive mood.

Why the government-owned national flag carrier faces such problems time and again is a big question. Currently six of its eight international and three domestic aircraft are grounded.

People had resurrected a little hope after NAC bought some aeroplanes and started domestic and international flights which had been in bad shape for some years. This is a chronic problem NAC will never be able to resolve.

Shamefully, almost all flight schedules have been halted.

We can be sure that the NAC does not have institutional capacity to operate its business due to corruption, uncooperative attitude among the high level staffers, political intervention and delay in making decisions on purchase of spare parts or failure to conduct complete check of all aircraft on time.

Above all, Nepal’s airlines are not reliable as far as their air safety is concerned as the European Union has imposed a ban on flying any Nepali aircraft into its air space.

We always harp on tourism potential in Nepal because of her uniqueness, wilderness and high Himalayas. But the question is that we cannot tap the huge potential when we cannot even carry out timely maintenance of the aircraft that we have.

Most of the tourists come to Nepal via air. But the national flag carrier is always grounded for no reason. How can we boost the tourism sector when we have not been able to operate all aircraft on major destinations, including Europe?

The NAC will be consigned into history if it fails to improve its institutional capacity and financial health by expanding its operation to major destinations of Europe and Asia.

Narayan Poudel, Kathmandu

Empty hand

This is with reference to the news story “Pickers return empty handed after months of Yarsa search” (THT, July 4, Page 6).

The two-month-long search of Yarsa in the high Himalayas has been the longest period as of now. The number of Yarsa collectors doubled as compared to the previous years.

But they have not been able to collect enough of it even when they spent more time there than usual. It is not that easy to collect the high priced medicinal fungus.

It is very difficult to acclimatize in the high altitude; almost all the schools are shut down for over two months and thugs and looters are also around the areas to steal the herb from poor people.

The government has not made any arrangement for the safety and security of the collectors hailing from remote parts of the midwestern region.

The government must set up security check posts in those areas to provide security to the collectors and temporary health camps in areas where a large number of Yarsa collectors gather.

The government should also launch a study on ways of preserving the herb which is on the verge of extinction as a result of over-exploitation.

Sonam Choekyi Lama, Kathmandu