--BY MADAN LAMSAL

Roads have been dug up and left abandoned. In places, it is difficult to tell if the electricity poles and pylons are standing straight or have fallen down. Perhaps in order to scare off thieves in the night, entangled heaps of electric wires resembling ghosts have been left on the streets. The electricity disappears without warning from time to time and suddenly comes back in the localities.

For months now, something resembling the cleaning-up of the sewers, too, has been going on. Even those who have their homes quite far away from the sewers know that sewers are being developed; their noses tell them! On the other hand, the process of digging up freshly-blacktopped roads to lay drinking water pipes, too, goes on unabated. The government inspectors, too, show up and are seen on the roads from time to time. This means the development of every locality is happening.

Development is a continuous process, so to speak. For development to happen you have to do, undo and redo things. It is just pure prejudice not to see development but to see dug-up and battered roads instead in a country being run by the leaders and followers of the ‘no development is possible without destruction’ principle.

Over the many days, garbage has piled up on roadsides. The metropolis seems to be in no hurry to clean up the roads. Then the garbage on the roads reaches the sewers. But that is good because we can continue the process of developing society by cleaning up the sewers later! For the past few years, the government has laid special emphasis on roof-top farming. You need fertilizers for rooftop farming as well and we don’t have an alternative to producing fertilizers, which become scarce every year, by leaving garbage to rot in the sewers for a year or two!

The availability of such high-quality organic manure makes sure that the gardens in the city are green and the quality of life improves. But if the sewers are actually cleaned then the process of development will be obstructed. The contractors would have nothing to do and the government employees too would be jobless. Thus unemployment would rise and that will have detrimental effects on the country’s economic development.

Truly speaking, the piling up of garbage on the streets, its cleaning-up after a long time and the piling-up of garbage again is a compulsory process of development and is in the national interest. A delay or halt in garbage collection may cause some inconvenience to one’s nose for some time but the fact is one should always be ready to sacrifice personal benefits for the sake of the country’s development!

Similarly, roads are made and again unmade to open up the highway of development. The same applies to electricity as well. Sometimes there is electricity but no poles. Then the poles are erected but electricity disappears. Sometimes both electricity and poles are there but the wires are missing. This is it – like the weather cycle; sometimes it rains, sometimes it’s windy, sometimes it’s hot and sometimes it’s cold. Like sometimes there is water in your tap and sometimes there isn’t. But is the lack of water really a problem? After all, you can buy as much bottled water as you want! Or you can dig up a tube-well or well at home.

In truth, with the multi-party winds entering the country, the pace of development has increased and development is spreading across the country. In the Panchayat time, they would say ‘open up the opportunities of development’. Now, in the multiparty times, not only are opportunities open but the sewers are also open. Didn’t you see our roads become rivers this monsoon? Enough of white water rafting; now we should organise black water rafting for the tourists!

Contractors, politicians, government employees, police – all have become agents. I mean agents of development. They would do anything and everything for development! That’s why the highways of development pass by the front of the houses of contractors, politicians and government employees. The 30-year period of multiparty democracy is not a long time; it’s just the blink of an eye! It’s a great deal even if a landlocked country like Nepal was able to just yawn in this 30-year period!!

However, even a yawn is not without hurdles; sometimes bogus people’s wars and sometimes the fights between prides and egos keep playing the role of stumbling blocks. Still, we can feel a great degree of satisfaction and be profoundly proud, for the country is continuously developing despite these various hurdles. There was a time when development would be measured through bicycles. Later it started being measured through cars. These days, not only the federal ministers but also the provincial chief ministers and ministers are ready to spread the seeds of development from helicopters!

Thus, the government appears to be determined and committed to developing the country. Thousands of schools, bridges, toilets and roads have been made and unmade. Development and destruction. Destruction and development. The cycle continues. The government is engaged in ‘development’ activities even if it has to put aside the pandemic.

All that the people need now is a bit of patience. Development is slowly coming down from above. It has definitely already reached every level of government. Therefore, don’t worry friends! Because development will eventually reach you too. Just be patient!