KATHMANDU, Feb 10: Over the past few months, a number of protests, strikes and clashes have erupted in eastern Nepal with one issue at the center: the construction of a cable car in the Pathibhara temple area.
The government and the private contractor which has been handed the reins of the project claim that the construction of the cable car will help promote tourism and create jobs in the area, thus ushering development in the remote place.
Locals, however, hold the forested area around the temple, which the cable car will cut through, as a sacred site. They do not wish for their sacred site to be defiled by artificial construction. This sentiment has brought a significant number of locals to the streets where they are vehemently opposing the construction project.
In addition to these main agitators, environmental conservationists have decried the need to chop thousands of trees of the forest for the construction of the cable car.
On top of these issues, the private contractor handling the construction and operation of the cable car system is known for his notoriety of taking control of the hills where he operates the cable car systems he constructs, Chandragiri hill in the capital being one.
As a result, the general public is divided over whether the cable car is a product of private interest to control public land, a kick in the back of the local indigenous groups who hold the forest sacred or the right step in developing the rural areas of the country.
Here is Republica’s explainer of the controversies surrounding the construction of cable car in the Pathibhara area:
A cable car to a temple
Situated at a hillock on the edge of the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area and overlooking a panoramic view of world’s highest peaks including Kanchenjunga and Kumbhakarna, Pathibhara Temple, one of the shakti peeths (shrine) for the Hindus, is currently drawing heavy public attention, due to the cable car system that is being constructed to reach the temple.
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The idea of a cable car transport to the temple situated at an altitude of 3,794 meters above sea level is not new. In 1994, former Biratnagar mayor Dhruba Narayan Shrestha proposed the idea but it only gained momentum in February of 2013 after the government asked interested firms to submit their Expression of Interest (EOI) for the development and management of the cable car project under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model in a bid to promote pilgrimage tourism in the country.
The project gained much-needed momentum in 2015 with the registration of Pathibhara Devi Darshan Cable Car Pvt Ltd, but progress stalled immediately after. Ang Tshiring Sherpa, former owner of Yeti Airlines, joined the initiative, but his death in a helicopter crash led to ownership changes.
Eventually, Ang Tshiring’s successor Sonam Sherpa sold his shares of the project to IME Group’s Chandra Dhakal, who expedited the project. Dhakal has a portfolio of cable car projects including ones in Kathmandu, Pokhara, and Maulakali.
The entry point for the 2.75 km cable car is planned to be constructed on 29 ropanis (approximately 3.6 acres) of private land, while the remaining route passes through a forested area, called Mukkumlung by the indigenous people of the area. Mukkumlung is a sacred site for the indigenous people.
The sacred forest
Mukkumlung is considered a sacred site by the Yakhtung (Limbu) indigenous group that live in the hills of Taplejung district which itself is a part of the region of the ancestral land of the Yakthung.
Mundhum – an ancient folk literature that shapes the world view of Yakthung and governs the entire community– mentions the significance of Mukkumlung on the Yakthung. People from the indigenous group worship the Mukkumlung with great spiritual and cultural significance.
After the unification of Nepal which resulted in the assimilation of multiple cultures into the Hindu tradition, Mukkumlung was renamed to Pathibhara in khas language and the Pathibhara Devi temple was established. The temple is located 19.4 kilometers north-east of Phungling Municipality which is populated heavily by the Yakthung descendents.
The Hindu temple has been recognized as one of the most significant temples of Nepal and receives a regular flow of thousands of visitors and devotees. It is believed that the deity of the temple ensures the fulfillment of wishes of the pilgrims.
The government established the Pathibhara Area Development Board in 1997 to accelerate the social, economic, religious and cultural development of the Pathibhara area.
Since the temple and the surrounding forest areas were held significantly sacred by the indigenous Yankhutng, they believe that the construction of man-made structures desecrates the divinity of the area, inviting rage from their god.
They are, therefore, demanding that the area be renamed to Mukkumlung and that the construction of the cable car should be halted by the earliest. In a nutshell, they want their indigeneity to be recognized.
A graveyard of trees
Activists claim that over 10,200 trees will be chopped in order to cleave the way for the cable car construction. There are concerns that deforestation will leave the area barren, increase greenhouse gases and initiate erosion.
But more importantly, the rapid deforestation will also cause the loss of habitat of the animals in the area. Among the wildlife that will be affected, two endangered species might bear the largest brunt: red pandas and snow leopards. Since both of these species are recognized as vulnerable to extinction globally, the cable car construction project has also drawn attention from international wildlife conservation circles.
There are assurances from the political leaders that a lesser number of trees will be cut down for the construction. CPN UML leader and lawmaker from Taplejung Yogesh Bhattarai claimed that only 2,112 trees will be affected. However, activists have little faith in such a deflated number.
A greedy developer
Chandra Dhakal is not a new name for cable car construction in the country. He has a portfolio of three successfully constructed and currently operational cable cars in Kathmandu, Pokhara, and Maulakali.
However, the public sentiment for his currently operational cable cars are heavily negative. For example, the Chandragiri hill cable car system connecting Thankot to the Bhaleshwar Mahadev temple on top of the Chandragiri hills, is under scrutiny for the privatization of the public hill.
Previously open for hiking, the hill is now exclusively controlled by Dhakal and so is the area around the Bhaleshwar Mahadev temple. The general public cannot even bring their own food to the hilltop. Instead, they must buy food at exorbitant prices from the shops Dhakal has set up at the hilltop.
The tale of Pathibhara cable car is no different. There have been indications of Dhakal’s interest in getting gains by over-exerting the locals. A number of news media outlets have reported on the extremely low level of compensation distributed to the locals for the acquisition of land for the construction of the cable car.
While Dhakal keeps on claiming that the cable car is being constructed to help the locals by developing the area, increasing jobs and real estate value, the large question looms over how he would do so by distributing under-valued compensation for land acquisition from the locals.
