Cabinet gears up cross border ship, railway operation programme

The government has established a Ship Office with 16 vacancies.
Announcing last week's cabinet decisions today, minister of Communication and Information Technology Gokul Baskota said that the government has decided to establish a Ship Office with 16 vacancies to operate cross-border ship between Nepal and India in Narayan and Sapta Koshi River.
"The plan to operate ship in Sapta Koshi river has moved beyond paper with this decision," he said, adding that the cross-border ship operations is going to become a reality. "The operation of the sailing vessel in the water sources of the country is expected cross-border trading between Nepal and India that will help lessen trading cost and time."
However, for the ship operations between the two countries, Nepal and India needs to enter into an agreement.
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has – three years ago, when he was premier for the first time and also after becoming premier this time almost a year ago – been repeatedly claiming that Nepal will operate its own vessel between Nepal and India from January 1. But the date has been passed without any progress in operation of vessels in waterways between Nepal and India. People have been mocking premier's fixing date for operating passenger ship services from Nepal to India.
Though, it is not the first time, Nepal has established a Ship Office, the two-third majority government led by KP Sharma Oli has made it a prestige issue. Nepal also had a Ship Office during Late King Mahendra, as he also had dreamt of operating a vessel in the sea with Nepal's flag. The incumbent government is more obsessed by King Mahendra than communist ideology.
According to Baskota, the cabinet has also authorised the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transportation to procure railway carriages for cross border railway service. The green light on train procurement has come from the government amid plans to resume passenger railway service from Janakpur to Jayanagar soon. This decision to obtain the railway carriages through G2G level from the government of India will support the 35-km railways service from Kurtha of Janakpur to Jaynagar of India.
Likewise, the cabinet has also decided to arrange the payment of the minister’s salary and other incentives through the respective ministries. Earlier, the ministers used to take the salary and incentives from the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, and they have been blamed for pocketing the salary of the personal assistants and sub ordinates.
The cabinet has also approved the establishment and operation work procedure of the Prime Minister National Talent Prize Fund 2075. The fund will be some $200,000. The fund will be utilised to award the persons excelling in innovation, scientific research, and those contributing significantly to the national life.

Spectre of water problems in South Asia

International Watercourses law and Its Application in South Asia, – a book by Dr Trilochan Upreti, a bureaucrat – has tried to present the spectre of water problems in South Asia and the possible way out, keeping in focus the international water laws.
The book is a must-read, particularly for the people of Nepal, which is blessed with huge gorges, where high dams can be built and large bodies of water can be stored for electricity generation and irrigation.
Despite such resources, it is a pity that large tracts of land in Nepal's Terai cannot be harvested due to lack of enough water. Electricity still continues to be considered a luxury, as electricity tariff is still expensive in the region.
Nepal has everything that nature can give to a nation to be prosperous. But an abject dearth of innovation and technology has crippled these advantages.
Absence of funds and myopic regional and national politics have kept these potential sources of cheap electricity mired in controversies. The significance of water resources of Nepal has immense potential for the prosperity of the country as well as its neighbours, writes the author.
The author suggests the concept of equitable utilisation of shared natural resources between neighbours. He has quoted judgments from the International Court of Justice and many international treaties on water sharing like Colombia River Treaty – between the USA and Canada to support his thesis. The equitable utilisation of resources for the rivers of Nepal that flows across India is important, he writes. And the Koshi Agreement (1954) and Gandak Agreement (1959), which have haunted Nepali psyche till date, do not adhere to international law and justice.
Nepal's failure in milking its huge water resources and a debilitating tendency of injecting politics into the issues has done no good so far. The integrated treaty on sharing of Mahakali River (1996) is much more controversial than Koshi and Gandak Agreement.
The author is cautious that past faults in water treaties should not be repeated. He quotes international laws of Norms of Equity, Articles 5 and 6 of UNCIW, to prove his points. However, he writes, the best way to resolve water conflicts is by negotiation rather than judicial settlement, in line with a liberal approach of equity.
The writer suggests regional and international co-operation to attain the maximum benefit of riparian states. The cloud of distrust can be converted into prosperity, he writes.
All it needs is more open discussion, as water politics in South Asia hold no more hidden agendas. India has constructed a network of reservoirs and dams along the Indo-Nepal border without giving prior notice to Nepal that has inundated huge Nepali territories. It is a flagrant breach of International Water Law, Article 7 (No Harm Rule), states the book.
The author has also given some insights on India's ambitious river-linking project, which needs to be studied in detail. More in-depth study on the threat from such a river-linking project to Nepal is needed. As the project might hurt other countries also, their involvement in discussions is also important.
Each basin state is entitled within its territory to get reasonable and equitable share of water on international drainage basin, according to the Helsinki Rules. The book also peeps into the Mekong Basin and Southern African states concept of regional grids in the trade of hydroelectricity for investment of multinational agencies, which could be a lesson for Nepal.
Although the book is a giant step forward in understanding the significance of Nepal's treaties and their application in line with international laws, it would have been better, if the book had more practical suggestions on water sharing between India and Nepal.

BOOK REVIEW
Book: International Watercourses Law and Its Application in South Asia
Author: Dr Trilochan Upreti
Published by: Padam Siwakoti for Pairavi Pakistan
Pages: 367
Prices: Rs 1,000 (Hard cover)/Rs 600 (Soft cover)