Shortages of Gasoline and Medicine

Meanwhile the Washington Times report the following:

Nepal warned on Friday that shortages of gasoline and medicine would be severe soon as supply trucks from India stopped during protests at border crossings by hundreds of people angry about Nepal’s new constitution.

Acting Nepalese Foreign Minister Khagraj Adhikari called Indian Ambassador Ranjit Rae and inquired about obstructions at the border, said Deepak Adhikari, a ministry spokesman.

The Indian foreign ministry in New Delhi denied there was any hurdle on its side and blamed protests inside Nepal for the disrupted movement of oil tankers and trucks loaded with medicine, sugar, salt, food and cooking gas cylinders.

The small Himalayan nation depends heavily on supplies from its giant neighbor.

While many in Nepal cheered the constitution that was adopted Sunday, some ethnic groups object to the territory or boundaries of the seven federal states, or want more government representation, and other protesters want the country to remain a Hindu, rather than secular, nation as was decided. The protests have been subsiding, but violence related to the protests has killed at least 45 people in recent weeks.

On Friday, hundreds of protesters blocked a bridge linking Birgunj, a Nepalese border town, with India. The area is nearly 300 kilometers (200 miles) east of Kathmandu, the capital.

“The protests have gone down significantly. There are some minor protests on the border. But Indian officials don’t allow the cargo trucks from crossing the border citing security reasons,” said Laxmi Prasad Dhakal, a Home Ministry spokesperson. “Hundreds of trucks have not been allowed to enter Nepal.”

Deepak Baral, the Nepal Oil Corporation spokesman, said only 40 oil tankers entered Nepal from the Indian side on Thursday. “Today, the supply has come to a complete halt.”

“Nepal will face severe shortages of petroleum products in a few days if the situation continues,” Baral said.

There will be a shortage of medicines in a week or so if the issue was not resolved, said Mrigendra Mehar Shrestha, chairman of the Association of Nepal Chemists and Druggists Association.

“There is already a shortage of saline solutions and other essential medicines related to diseases such as blood pressure and diabetes. The shortages will immediately hit the districts outside Kathmandu,” he warned.

The Indian embassy in Nepal said in a statement that Indian traders and transporters have had difficulties moving within Nepal and are worried for their safety. They fear their trucks will be looted by protesters if they ply unescorted by security guards.

India says that the aspirations of the disgruntled groups from the southern plains bordering India have not been met, and that the troubles might flare up violence spilling into India, where a large number of Nepalese nationals work.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/sep/25/protests-in-nepal-causing-shortages-of-gasoline-me/

Read Full Post »

Hundreds of Protesters block key trade checkpoints

The below report from NDTV shows some of the unrest that is currently being experienced in Nepal. Although this is 200km south of Kathmandu the potential repercussions are preventing the IES Team from going back at this stage. Hopefully though we will be heading back as soon once word gets back to IHQ that it is not as bad as the reports make it out to be. Especially in and around the communities that we have been working with…

---

Vital supplies to Nepal were cut off today as hundreds of protesters who were opposing the new Constitution had blocked key trade checkpoints between India and Nepal. More than hundred trucks loaded with essential goods, cooking gas cylinders and petroleum products were stalled at the Nepal-India border due to the agitation.

The protesters belonged to the Joint Madhesi Front, claimed the new Constitution does not guarantee them enough rights and representation to the Madhesi and Tharu communities who live in southern Nepal.

Madhesis are Indian-origin inhabitants of the Terai plains bordering India.

At least 40 people have died in over a month of clashes between police and protesters from the Madhesi and Tharu communities and ethnic minorities who say the new internal borders leave them under-represented in the country’s Parliament.

The blocked checkpoint in Birgunj, 200 km south of the capital, is as a major transit point between Nepal and India. Though the shutdown in the region was lifted temporarily today due to the Muslim festival of Eid-ul-Azha, the blockade continued at the Nepal-India border check point affecting normal life.

Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae today held separate meetings with Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, CPN-UML Chairman KP Oli and senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal.

According to reports, the leaders told Mr Rae that the two nations should improve their relations and the problems of Nepal should be dealt by Nepali leaders themselves.

The leaders claim that the Nepal-bound cargo and freight have been left stranded at the Indian side of the border and has allegedly not been given clearance.

Mr Rae stated that the problems were not created due to India, and the obstruction was caused by the protests in Nepal’s Terai and Madhes region.

Story First Published: September 25, 2015 21:15 IST on http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/major-trade-checkpoints-from-nepal-to-india-blocked-by-protesters-1222995

Read Full Post »

Withdrawal from Nepal

This entry has been composed over the past week as I look back on our withdrawal from Nepal…

Within 12 hours of being advised of IHQ’s decision of our eminent withdrawal from Nepal for the time being, I was sitting in the airport with our team leader Andrew waiting for a flight to Kuala Lumpur. The rest of the team was due to fly out that same evening.

The flight from Kathmandu to Kuala Lumpur was very quiet with hardly anybody on it, so I was able to relocate to one of the exit rows which gave me space to stretch out. The plane was only about 1/4 full if you were lucky.

Upon arriving KL I said my goodbye’s to Andrew as his connecting flight wasn’t until the next day and wished him well for his upcoming move to Bangladesh in the New Year. I’m sure that he will revel in it as he has been looking forward to doing an overseas ministry appointment for a while. It’s in his blood me thinks! 🙂

The flight back to Auckland from KL was a different story, it was quite packed and I had to move – this time due to my headphones not working, even after trying a second set (1st World Problem I know!) As it happens I picked up a bit of a chill on the flight due to not having a blanket as the flight crew didn’t have any left, which has manifested itself into a cold as the week has progressed.

After a couple of days on flights and sitting in airports (four flights in two days) I arrived back, safe and sound in Invercargill, New Zealand with mixed feelings over our withdrawal from Nepal. It was great to be greeted by one of the life groups / small groups at church who had decided to provide me with a welcoming committee. Obviously it was great to be home catching up with my wife Annette & the children. As well as seeing where things are at as far as the redevelopment of the former Hostel and refurbishment of the Corps buildings.

But it is also hard leaving Nepal with so much work still to be done. In fact if I am truly honest with myself my heart aches for all those that we have had the pleasure of working alongside, both those assisting with the cause and those that have received much needed assistance.

Some of the work to date has been finishing off projects that other people have been integral in starting, monitoring and almost seeing through to completion. We have also been looking at projects that we can continue with a slightly different range of outcomes as we continue helping those communities in need that we have already developed relationships with. While in other cases identifying with the help of other agencies, assistance required for communities that have had little or no help to date – either from the government or other NGO’s, that are working in outlying districts.

But it shouldn’t be too long before we head back to continue the work that we had started while we were there, and I’m sure that there will be some things we can do via email to help move things along while we await confirmation of our flights back to Nepal.

Read Full Post »

Nepal – Day 23

Again this morning was spent working on filing and getting some of the paperwork brought up to date as much as we can at the moment. I was able to confirm that the supplies required for Runchet were being ordered so that the toilets at the school can be built as soon as possible. Also Basanta was able to give me a price for the locally supplied C.G.I. which hopefully, I’ll be able to approve later this afternoon, so that the villagers can put the steps in place that are necessary to organise the transportation of the bundles.

In the afternoon we were made aware of the escalating political & religious tensions surrounding the Nepalese constitution which the Government is going to be announcing where to next on Sunday. As noted yesterday these tensions could escalate into violent protests and confrontations, so we need to be wary over the next few days.

Later in the afternoon Andrew called the team together for an urgent team meeting. He advised us that due to the potential escalations of violence, and a few threats that have been posted both online and to Christian groups, I.H.Q. has made the decision to withdraw the team, as soon as flights can be made avaiable, from Nepal for a week until things have settled down again.

The rest of the evening the whole team had mixed feelings about the upcoming withdrawal and waited for confirmation of flight details. In effect we will all be out of the country within 24hours. Which is obviously disappointing but it is good to know that The Salvation Army takes our safety and security seriously and do not want us to be in any danger what so ever.

Read Full Post »

Nepal – Day 22

After the past couple of long days it was good to have a day at home doing paperwork and taking it a bit easier. I still need to get a couple of reports completed over the next few days so maybe this slight break will make that possible.

Today we were made aware of potential upcoming major strikes and protests over the constitution changes that subsequent governments have been working on for at least the past four years. These protests it has been muted may turn ugly as different political & religious factions come head to head. If that is the case we have been advised to hole up at home and wait for things to settle back down again.

In the afternoon Andrew, Sanga & I went shopping again for supplies and saw the 1st and only (apparently), what I would call, large format retail stores that is on one level. We have been to a couple multi story ones that have checkouts on each level but this was like a Deka of old (New Zealanders will know what I mean here!)

Later on in the afternoon it was great to catch-up with Annette over a Facebook video call. Before having a sit down meal at the house this time prepared by Heather, with some assistance from Andrew.

After dinner we introduced Shahzad & MJ to Uno, which was great fun and by the time we had played a few open handed rounds they seemed to pick the game up reasonably well. At some stages of the game the competitive natures of everyone involved came through loud and clear, and it was funny to watch the reactions of the team when they got landed with pickup cards and din’t have a response 🙂

Read Full Post »

Nepal – Day 21

This morning Heather & I were up and out of the house before the sun came up. We needed to be on the road by 5:30am so that we could get to Gorkha Bazaar to meet some people from Runchet to discuss what assistance we could offer them for the local school in the way of toilets, and how we could help the community with some materials to make temporary shelters.

Along the way we encountered a bit of a traffic jam of trucks, this was due to one of the trucks coming to grief on a corner and hanging precariously over the edge of a cliff.

Fortunately most of the truck jam was for the vehicles coming the other way so we got through relatively easily.

Although the image to the upper left is a bit blurry you get an idea of the queue. I was amazed at the number of trucks especially on the road before 6:00am and the fact that a lot of the roadside stalls and shops were already open for trade.

We stopped off for an omelette breakfast after about a couple of hours driving, which was welcome relief for Bhim I’m sure.

Then we got on the road again so that we could be in Gorkha Bazaar. Along the way we saw some beautiful hills, valleys and rivers.

Once  there we had to track down who it was that we were meeting and where and then discuss where things were at for the remote village and how we could assist them. This was always going to be an interesting exchange, as we didn’t have an interpreter, and although their written English may have been reasonably OK, their broken English was at times hard to understand.

At one point in the conversation we ascertained that we needed to go to the local Village District Committee secretary to get sign off for what we were proposing which made things even more interesting as he didn’t understand a word of English. In the end Heather wrote down what it was we needed to be written and then one of the teachers wrote it out in English in his own handwriting, on an official letterhead, translating as he went so that the secretary knew what it was that he would be signing off on.

In the end we got there though, and came to an agreement that we could only supply materials for four toilets to be built and that we would be coming back in just over three months to do an inspection and the job needed to be at least 75% complete. At this proposed site visit we will be confirming what we can do to assist them in the area of CGI (Corrugated Iron).

The issue for this community is the fact that they are so remote, it takes a two day trek for them to get to the nearest town and at the moment that is inaccessible due to landslides by car, and even a 4×4 would struggle. The last distribution that we provided for them had to be transported by 158 mules and took about 4 days. It will cost the community just as much for transportation than it does for the cost of the materials for the toilets. if we wanted to airlift the stuff to them it would cost at least double the price of materials.

On a personal level though this is a project that I would like to see us as a Corps, Rotary Club, City or even as a region pick up and help them, not only with providing the village with their own mules so that costs can be saved. But also assist them with the rebuilding of the school (which was only completed 2 years prior to the earthquakes) and the homes within the community as a whole.

On our way back to Kathmandu, we stopped off at the Manakamana Cable Car.

Completed in 1998 it is the only gondola in Nepal and goes from a height of 258 MT at Kurintar which is the bottom station, on the banks of the Trisuli River, and goes to a height of 1302 MT at the Top Station.

Once at the top you are greeted by the village of Manakamana which is famous for the Shrine of Manakamana, a temple to the wish-fulfilling goddess. However, this was destroyed during the earthquake.

Spectacular views include the deep valleys, terraced fields and the Manaslu-Himalchuli and Annapurna ranges. With views also overlooking the Trisuli River to the South and the Marsyangdi to the West.

After about 1/2 an hour of walking around looking at the stunning sights at the top and watching some dancers performing as part of the current festivals, we headed back down to the bottom to meet up with Bhim so that we could get home before dark.

Wishful thinking!

On the road back into Kathmandu we came across a massive truck jam. This was much larger than the one we had experienced this morning, as it traversed the complete hill climb and it took at least two hours just to get over the hill. By the time we got back to home, it was well past 7pm.

Read Full Post »