Apropos of the interview with two tourism honchos under Rendezvous, (THT, January 22, Page 11), first of all tourism industry deserves a thunderous ovation for achieving a million milestone.

In order to attract more tourists in the years to come, it is heartening to note that the government will be laying tourism infrastructure such as roads, buildings, bridges and airports among others across the country, especially in the tourism oasis like Bardia National Park which urgently requires a smooth road to the park headquarters, a bridge over Orai Khola and an airport for tourists to fly.

If the government builds airport infrastructure near the Bardia National Park, the road and the bridge can wait. Now with the local government in place, it should not be difficult to put up a grass strip for aircraft to land and take off. The government must also complete the road to Kakani without any further delay to offer a new, pristine tourism oasis near the dusty desert of the Kathmandu Valley. Then it is important that the Melamchi road is widened and metalled as soon as possible to send tourists on trekking and cultural tour in Helambu which was a popular destination in the late 1960s and 1970s before Sir Edmund came up with a landing strip in Lukla.

The tourism honchos would know the rich diversity of the local Sherpas, Tamangs and the Newars in Helambu and surrounding areas. While talking about infrastructure, it is also high time we started thinking about carving exclusive zones of tourism in the Kathmandu Valley, Pokhara Valley, all national parks, riverine valleys, lakes and glacier which must be reserved for exclusive tourism activities.

We can use places like Nepalgunj, Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari and Trishuli among others for human habitation and other economic activities like cement productions, brick kilns and iron factories.

Manohar Shrestha, Kathmandu

Davos forum

The current world economic forum conference in Davos is significant from various angles. It goes without saying that “improving the state of the world” is the motto of WEF.

The issues like protectionism and climate change have been discussed a lot at the forum now. Alfred North Whitehead, ideas won’t keep; something must be done about them. Asia being the largest continent in the world, it is in dire need of more jobs and industrial activities. As the hub of most populous continent on Earth, Asia is in possession of strong workforce and skills on various fronts. In particular, serious and joint steps are required to create more jobs in the Asian countries like India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

To be frank, the job scene in India now is gloomy as compared to before. In this context, sincere and urgent efforts are needed to improve the sectors like agriculture, education and industry.

Unfortunately, these young students have to leave their native places for the distant cities like Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai when it comes to employment. The Indian government should make out the blueprints with thought to future growth.

P Senthil Saravana Durai, Mumbai