It was indeed tragic news that three people lost their lives and three, including ex-home minister Madhav Prasad Ghimire, still are missing in the swollen Trishuli River after a Scorpio jeep skidded off the road and fell about 150 metres below the river at Ghoptebhir on Sunday.

Government has directed local bodies to intensify search operation. Even the Prime Minister said he would take the initiative to bring divers from Bangladesh to find the missing people.

A few weeks ago, a truck had plunged into the Trishuli River from the same place and two people are still missing. Many people have lost their lives and many have gone missing till date.

I would like to ask whether the government takes initiatives only to search the VIPs who go missing. Why is government not serious about constructing safe roads?

Every time when high profile people go missing in the river after a fatal accident the Home Ministry says it will called in divers from Bangladesh. Can the government not train a group of Nepali people and keep them on a stand-by along the highway passing along the major rivers?

The government must understand the fact that even ordinary people’s life matters. Due to the poor road condition, accidents occur frequently in this area.

If government had taken the road construction seriously, managing proper road traffic then these types of tragic incidents would not have occurred. The government should do something serious to avoid the road accident that has taken place when the Dashain festival is fast approaching.

People are getting scared about travelling to go home due to frequent bus accidents even on major highways.

The government needs to deploy additional number of traffic police on the highways to ensure safe journey.

Birat Lama, via email

Talking shop

“The leaders, while expressing satisfaction over the steady progress in democratization in South Asia, committed to further promote and institutionalize peace, stability, democracy and development as the common aspirations of the people of South Asia.

In this context, they agreed on the need of co-operation and collaboration within SAARC on issues of common interests and concern to member states.” This is the 29th agenda of the Kathmandu Declaration.

Exactly two years later the agenda looks set only in paper, not in action. The onset of ideological war between Indo-Pak, right ahead of the 19th SAARC summit, is a bad omen once again to SAARC’s future.

The two key stakeholders must exercise restraint, avoid animosity, develop more concerted efforts to meet the objectives enshrined in SAARC’s Charter.

We must work together to make South Asian demographic dividend a reality. Other member states, including Nepal, need to try mediating on the ongoing frictions between Indo-Pak through effective diplomacy.

If not, SAARC will be a neutered talking shop as Express Tribune put it.

Jay Bahadur Shah, Jajarkot