From the Kathmandu Post. in Terai. These days the buses are overloaded. Sure enough, there was a bus accident in which many passengers were transporting petrol in these plastic bottles. There was a fire and people died. The government will crack down on this. Petrol should only be transported in approved metal containers. It is highly volatile.
Hunger Games?
yes, that Hunger Games.
In the book, we visit a country where the capital city has immense wealth but the outlying districts have immense poverty, as colonies of the capital. It's science fiction. Except when it's not.
We'll get to this theme in a minute. For now, if you need catching up on events of the last two months, here is a good summary from Kishore Nepal, a journalist who was in the Terai region recently.
Beautiful Pictures of Nepal?
An Australian charity published a well-done photo essay about survivors of the April earthquake and how it is going for them. click here. The UN has expressed concern about lack of relief to the victims in the mountains.
The Big News is about petrol. Oil. Black gold. Texas tea.
The China source - petrol is the new opium
From Kathmandu Post. drawing of the border crossing at Rasuwa. Some petrol trucks are bigger than others; they'll try to bring petrol in a convoy of the smaller ones.
First, on my other blog, I expanded on a subject I first diaried about here on DailyKOS. The question being, what are the logistics of getting petrol from China as opposed to India? The title is: What Every Nepali needs to know about getting petrol or LP gas from China during the petrol crisis and it got 15,000 hits, mostly from within Nepal. Click here to read it.
Sticks and Stones
Next, I got fifty comments, including many that called me bad names and used language my mother would not approve of. There are Nepali Nationalists out there, people in Kathmandu who would rather starve than give in to India. The only problem is, India is not the cause of their problems; and it's not them who will starve - not first anyway. They would rather allow the earthquake victims and everyone not in Kathmandu to starve, before "giving in to India." Of course, not all Nepalis feel this way. But some do. One person on Twitter said Nepal needs atomic weapons.
As if that was not enough, this week China has indeed agreed to supply enough petrol for 25 of the smaller trucks, via the one-lane gravel road upon which I heaped so much disrespect. One thousand kilo-liters.
another view of the Rasuwa border crossing into China. it is the customary practice for the cargo to be offloaded from a Chinese truck to a Nepali truck at this location. Note the steep terrain. The initial experimental convoy will be 25 trucks; enough to fuel Kathmandu for one glorious day at the previous level of petrol consumption.
Oct
26, 2015- The Chinese government has asked Nepal to take delivery of 1,000 tonnes of petrol it has pledged in grant by November 25, the state-owned Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) said on Sunday.
Amid public scepticism over the possibility of fuel imports from China through the damaged Kerung-Rasuwagadhi border point, NOC spokesperson Deepak Baral said it is “technically feasible” to transport fuel using tankers with a capacity to carry 12,000 litres. The fuel tankers range in capacity from 12,000 to 20,000 litres.
“We will be importing the subsidised petrol soon. We have been discussing with tanker owners to import fuel from China,” he said. Chinese tankers would transport the fuel up to the Kerung-Rasuwagadhi border from where Nepali tankers would carry it to the Capital, Baral said. The fuel imported from China would be available in the domestic market at the prevailing price. see more at: http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/...
Logistics?
It's already been analyzed: enough to run the city of Kathmandu for three glorious days at the pre-petrol crisis level, or for 24 days at the present level of no-private-vehicles.
This bridge is the actual crossing at Rasuwa.
More below the fold.....
It's still about logistics
Did you ever wonder how much petrol a city of three million people uses each day? Now we have a published baseline......
While the Chinese petro assistance, to be delivered through Kerung, has offered public a ray of hope, people are also eager to know how long will the 1,300 KL of petrol last. A cursory analysis of data on petrol consumption in Kathmandu suggests the said quantum will fulfil Kathmandu’s burgeoning demand for petrol for three-four days.
On a normal day, Kathmandu consumes 350 KL of petrol. In times of a severe crisis like this, the city will consume the entire consignment in a day, a Nepal Oil Corporation official says. .... ( italics added by me).
.....These days, NOC supplies around 50 KL of petrol to the market every day. If the oil monopoly supplies 1,300 KL petrol, it will last around 25 days. With supply of petroleum products from Nepal-India border points save Raxaul continuing smoothly, the Chinese petrol will provide some respite, NOC officials say.
Once China starts supplying petroleum products on a commercial scale, it will definitely be easier for NOC to help address the rising demand for oil.
The oil crisis will ease if the Birgunj-Raxaul customs reopens. Otherwise, the situation will not normalise even if Nepal brings in around 3,500 KL of oil from China, says NOC. - See more at: http://www.onlinekhabar.com/...
And another view of the Petrol import. "The China Card"
DHUNCHE, Oct 25: The Rasuwagadhi checkpoint, bordering Kerung in China that was briefly closed following landslide, has come into operation again from Sunday afternoon.
The checkpoint came into operation today as the landslide-damaged road was repaired by the Chinese authority. Chinese side had removed the landslides occurred in two places along the Khambatar-Kerung road section. - See more at: http://myrepublica.com/...
In Birgunj, the protests have continued unabated. These are the people preventing petrol cargo from India. They are having rallies to maintain the morale of the Nepali blockaders.
It's not all sweetness and light in the Terai.
UN Human Rights Review for Nepal
This process is underway again. on Twitter you can give feedback on Human Rights situation in Nepal. Use the hashtag #NepalUPR . Click Here to read the press release from the UN regarding review of Human Rights in Nepal. As noted in recent blogs, the NGO Human Rights Watch reported on the situation in Terai not long ago.
Boudha
The iconic temple of Kathmandu is the stupa at Boudhanath. It was damaged in the earthquake and is now undergoing repair. normally it has a spire festooned with prayer flags. It will return to it's usual glory soon.
Boudhanath is not a temple you go inside. the main activity is to walk "Kora," a form of mindful meditation practice. preferably with somebody you love. We are all on a pilgrimage through our lives.
Hunger Games?
Boudha as it should be........and will be again.....
Oh, yes, almost forgot. On my other blog, one commenter said he was content to live with petrol at $20 USD per gallon. There is still a tremendous disconnect between Kathmandu and the rest of the country. Here is a video from Al Jazeera English that describes survivors of the April earthquake.