Phungling (Taplejung), 3 February: The week-long transport strike in protest against the under-construction cable car in Pathibhara has affected normal life in the far eastern hilly district. The protesting party called for the transport strike after two people were shot in a clash between the ‘No Cable Car’ group and the police on 21 Magh.
The protesting party should immediately stop the construction of the cable car, release the arrested Pradeep Maden, Chandrasagar Limbu and Laxman Limbu, and according to Chief District Officer Netra Prasad Sharma, talks and dialogue are underway with the armed forces and Nepal Police team in Kaflepati. “There will be talks and coordination through the provincial and federal governments. It is also being done from the district,” he said. “We are working to maintain peace and security in the district, rescue stranded passengers, etc. Today too, some pilgrims and tourists have entered the district. We will provide security to them.”
Pathibhara Cable Car Story
A 2.7 km cable car is being constructed from Kaflepati to the temple in Phungling-10. The agitating party has been demanding that Pathibhara be kept intact as it is the ancestral home of the Mukkumalung Limbu community. After the completion of the motorable road at Tokmedanda in Phungling, the headquarters of Taplejung, the then King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya Shah reached Phungling on 3 January 1988 to inaugurate it.
During that time, Chhawang Tenzing Sherpa, a businessman from Olangchungola, had proposed that a cable car should be built in Pathibhara. Chhawang, Sonam Tenzing and Phurbu Balung registered Kanchenjungha Cable Car Pvt. Ltd. in 1998.
Dhruv Narayan Shrestha, the Biratnagar Sub-Metropolitan Mayor of 2043 BS(1987), who owned 92 ropanis of land in Kaflepati to build the lower station of the cable car, registered the Pathibhara Devi Cable Car Darshan Pvt. Ltd. company in 2016. Before that, Subhash Sanghai of the Sanghai Group had already registered the Triveni Cable Car company. Sanghai had taken recommendations from the chairmen of the six community forest user committees of the Phungling Municipality, the then Furumbu, Fawakhola VDCs and Pathibhara area to obtain permission from the government for the construction of the cable car.
The executive meeting of Phungling Municipality granted permission to Pathibhara Mata Darshan Cable Car Pvt. Ltd. for construction on 27 May 2018 as per the Local Government Operation Act, 2074. Within a few years of receiving the permission, Shrestha left after Yeti Group took ownership of Dhruv Narayan Shrestha’s Pathibhara Devi Cable Car Darshan Pvt. Ltd.
Yeti Group has now sold the company to IME Group. Chandra Dhakal, who is also the president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, is leading it. He said that he was not aware of the previous disputes and that he was going to establish a cable car in Pathibhara as per his plan to build one cable car in each of the seven provinces. He said that there is a plan to invest Rs 3 billion for the construction of the 2.75 km long cable car. “We have given priority to economic development and employment over trade.” He said, “We should solve the issue at the national level and create an investment environment.”
The beginning of the controversy
A team from the Department of Archaeology was called to prepare a master plan for Pathibhara. The employees who came to the team expressed that the statues were cultural encroachment and that they should be removed to keep Pathibhara in its natural form. After that statement, voices began to rise that its name was previously Mukkumalung and that it was encroached upon and renamed Pathibhara. Currently, there is a Mukkumalung Conservation Committee led by Mr. Limbu, and a Joint Struggle Committee to Abolish Pathibhara Cable Car under the leadership of Khagendra Fembu.
Since ‘Mukkumlung’ was encroached upon and turned into ‘Pathibhara’, the agitating party has repeatedly submitted memorandums to the government to keep ‘Mukkumlung’. They claim that there has been cultural encroachment on Mukkumulung and that it is the Mundhumi site of the Limbu community. The only demand of the agitating group is that no major infrastructure be built on the Mundhumi site under any circumstances. The ‘No Koshi’ movement is also involved in the dispute. Pro-identity leaders are now involved in the Mukkumulung conservation campaign.
The dispute has taken the form of a national issue after the shooting in Baludanda on Magh 2. Four people were injured in police firing during a protest by the Mukkumlung Bachau Sangharsh Samiti against the construction of a cable car in Baludanda, Phungling Municipality-11, last Saturday, amid a dispute over the construction of a cable car in Pathibhara. Yama Bahadur Limbu, Sagun Lawati, Dharman Palungwa and Mangal Lawati were injured in the clash with the police. Yama Bahadur Limbu and Sagun Lawati were hit by bullets fired by the police. The protest has taken the form of a national issue after the police opened fire.
The No Cable Car groups had been blocking traffic on the Mechi Highway, Tamor Corridor, and the road leading to the district headquarters in Taplejung since last Tuesday. The agitating parties have also announced an additional Limbuwan bandh in nine districts on Magh 20 and 21.
A district bandh has been announced in Taplejung, Panchthar, Ilam, Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Dhankuta, Tehrathum and Sankhuwasabha. It is said that an indefinite Limbuwan general strike will be declared from the 22nd if the demands of the agitating parties are not addressed by the 20th and 21st of this Magh.
Formation of a negotiation team
Meanwhile, the government has formed a negotiation team under the coordination of Prem Prasad Bhattarai, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs, to hold talks with the relevant parties to resolve the dispute that arose during the construction of the cable car in the Pathibhara (Mukkumlung) area.
In a statement issued late on Sunday, the Home Ministry stated that a negotiation team has been formed under the coordination of Joint Secretary Bhattarai, including representatives from the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, and the Ministry of Urban Development, to resolve the problem through talks and dialogue.
Joint Secretary and Spokesperson Ram Chandra Tiwari informed that the Ministry of Home Affairs has appealed to the agitating parties to withdraw their agitation programs and cooperate in resolving the problem through dialogue. The statement issued by the ministry states that Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak has taken necessary steps and initiated regular dialogue and problem resolution with members of the House of Representatives representing Taplejung and neighboring districts.
The ministry has stated that coordination and facilitation has been carried out with all stakeholders, taking into account the issues and concerns raised locally regarding the construction of the cable car, as the issues of policy, law and standards related to ropeways and cable cars are seen as related to the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration as per the Government’s Division of Work Regulations, 2074 BS.
The Ministry of Home Affairs and General Administration has received a letter from the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration stating that it is appropriate for the Ministry of Home Affairs to coordinate and facilitate the issue with other stakeholders, as the issue is a multi-faceted issue and peace and security management needs to be done.
