Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening from Kathmandu. This is Issue 198 of Kalam Weekly, the only newsletter you need to keep updated with everything happening in Nepal.
Thank you to all my anonymous supporters. I would thank you by name, but I do not know who you are. If you used the QR code to send us support, please write to us so we can thank you properly.
In this newsletter:
Bagmati Province chief minister loses election, refuses to resign
MCC to resume after months of uncertainty
Changing media landscapes at the Himal Media Mela
Recommendations
The deep dive: Why is there a drought in the Madhesh?
Bagmati Province chief minister loses election, refuses to resign
On Tuesday, July 29, Nepali Congress lawmakers from the Bagmati Provincial Assembly passed a vote of no confidence against provincial party leader and current Chief Minister Bahadur Singh Lama. With 22 lawmakers out of the 37 in favor of the vote, Lama has been ousted and will likely be replaced by Indra Bahadur Baniya in a new election. His party members had felt increasingly alienated by Lama, leading to a string of resignations preceding the vote of no confidence.
For context, the provincial party comprises all members of the party elected to the provincial assembly. They vote to elect a provincial party leader, and if the party controls a majority in the Provincial Assembly, the party leader becomes the Chief Minister, as per Article 168(1) of the constitution.
Lama, however, has refused to resign, arguing that losing his position as party leader does not necessarily relieve him as chief minister. On Wednesday, the Congress provincial party elected Baniya as new leader with 22 votes, but Lama has continued to act as chief minister. That same day, Lama appointed three new ministers, aiming to secure his hold over the parliamentary party. Baniya and his supporters, however, argue that Lama has no authority to make appointments as he has lost the trust of the party.
The Nepali Congress holds a majority in Bagmati Province and governs with the support of the UML, the second-largest party. If Lama continues to remain as chief minister, the UML could pull its support, triggering an automatic vote of confidence in the Assembly. Lama will certainly lose that vote, too. Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba is reportedly backing Baniya, and the UML has pledged to support whoever Deuba chooses. This is likely how things will evolve over the coming week.
Join us — in person!
A great, big thank you to all of you readers who pledged your support and helped us welcome 20 new paid supporters to the Kalam community. We have reached our goal and even surpassed it by one or two members. We are truly grateful to all of you!
I’d like to take this opportunity to announce that Team Kalam is planning a small get-together with all of our readers and supporters to mark 200 issues of this newsletter. Oh, how the time flies. Stay tuned for more details regarding time, venue, and registration!
And as usual, if you would like to support us, you can always use the button or the QR code below:
MCC to resume after months of uncertainty
On Friday, July 25, the American Embassy in Kathmandu officially informed the Nepal government that the United States had decided to continue with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Nepal Compact. Earlier, in February, the US government under Donald Trump had announced a 90-day freeze on all foreign aid while the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) undertook a review. This included funding for the MCC Nepal Compact. In April, the US news outlet Politicoreported that MCC was going to be shut down, citing a leaked email from DOGE to MCC staffers. However, there was no official word from MCC headquarters. Then, in July, the MCC announced that it would continue some funding for operations and critical procurement, providing some hope of a lease of life. Finally, on Friday, Nepal breathed a sigh of relief after the Americans confirmed that the MCC would resume work in Nepal.
The MCC Nepal Compact, a $500 million grant from the US government to build electricity transmission lines and upgrade roads, had been hugely controversial in Nepal. One of the conditions of the MCC Nepal Compact was that it needed to be passed through Parliament, akin to a treaty. But misinterpretations of certain clauses, some ignorant but others malicious, led to a massive public outcry with rallies held against the ratification of the MCC. Rumors abounded that the MCC would allow the US to establish a military base in Nepal and that American boots would be on Nepali soil. Despite the furore, Parliament managed to pass the Nepal Compact in February 2022, albeit with a 12-point interpretive declaration meant to save face.
The Nepal office of the MCC, the Millennium Challenge Account-Nepal (MCA-Nepal) began work in August 2023 with a five-year timeline. MCA-Nepal had completed the groundwork and was just beginning to finalize the contractor for the 297km transmission line when Donald Trump became president and issued a halt to all foreign aid. If the MCC had pulled out, Nepal would’ve been on the hook for the $500 million promised by the Americans, along with $197 million that it had pledged on its own. So while it is a good thing that the Nepal Compact will continue, it remains to be seen whether the project will be completed on time. The MCC has a strict five-year timeline, and according to the MCA-Nepal website, which features a countdown to its deadline, there remain just 3 years, 0 months, 28 days, 7 Hours, 56 Minutes, and counting.
Last Friday, July 25, was the Himal Media Mela, a yearly gathering of journalists from Nepal and the region to talk all things media. This time, the keynote speaker was Manisha Pande of Newslaundry, a pioneering reader-supported Indian news website. “In democracy, journalism and access to clear, credible information are like access to clean water,” she said. This statement stuck with me and left me wondering if we in Nepal continue to have access to credible information.
With our increasingly short attention spans, the rise of AI, and rampant misinformation, the news media faces unprecedented challenges, especially in countries like Nepal, where young people like myself are navigating a fragmented media landscape. The flood of “content” on our social media feeds has reshaped not just how we consume news but what we expect from it. Rarely do we spend time with the news; we simply scroll and skim our way through headlines. The social media page Routine of Nepal Banda (RONB) has become the primary source of information for a majority of young people, and this isn’t always for the best. Just like how Kantipur was once the newspaper of record for older generation Nepalis, RONB has become the portal of record for GenZ. To know what happened, they need to see it on RONB.
But to continue with Pande’s analogy, are portals like RONB providing us with clean drinking water, or are they instead feeding us poisoned, polluted water? RONB sacrifices context for a succinct headline and caption that captures eyeballs while scrolling down a social media feed. This model of information sharing is inherently flawed because it provides the semblance of knowing what happened without knowing how or why it happened.
I came away from the Media Mela with the understanding that we can learn from information-sharing portals like RONB without sacrificing the core values of journalism. This is an opportunity to rethink format and storytelling approaches to meet audiences where they are. Video explainers that tackle complex socio-political issues, like The Nepali Comment, receive hundreds of thousands of views because they package information differently. Newsletters like this one attempt to break down complex issues into digestible insights. Former editors-in-chief of influential media houses and television channels have moved to YouTube.
Anup Kaphle, former editor-in-chief of The Kathmandu Post, discussed how digital dominance, social media, and the attention economy are transforming traditional media publications and creating opportunities for niche publications like the newsletter you are currently reading. Kaphle emphasized the importance of identifying audiences and adding value to readers, but a generation is growing up without a strong reading culture. Younger generations are reading a lot less, so reimagining journalism could also mean finding ways to make people read more, rather than completely bowing down to the algorithm altar.
Speaking of algorithms, the Himal Media Mela was sponsored by TikTok, whose representatives encouraged journalists to create high-quality news content on TikTok. It was ironic that one of the most prominent platforms for the spread of misinformation was sponsoring a journalism event. But perhaps they are right. Major media outlets like The New York Times, CNN, and The Washington Post all have TikTok accounts to reach a younger audience. In Nepal, too, several media houses, like KantipurTV and Setopati, have taken the plunge, but with limited success. News is often lost in the sea of memes, dances, and lip-syncs.
What I took away from the Media Mela was that it is more important now than ever before to put our attention where it matters. This is the attention economy, and it is easy to be taken in by flashy designs and a large headline. But to truly understand the world around us, we need to pay attention.
The deep dive: Why is there a drought in the Madhesh?
(Image: Plan International)
On July 10, the Madhesh Provincial government had announced that the province was in the midst of a severe drought, and that immediate action needed to be taken to prevent loss of life. Nearly two weeks later, on July 23, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s Cabinet declared Madhesh Province a “disaster crisis zone.” Prime Minister Oli, in characteristic fashion, took an aerial tour of the province, flying by in a helicopter while drought-stricken Madhesis looked on.
On Saturday, July 27, Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak held a meeting with local authorities from Madhesh Province and the Chief District Officers of the province’s eight districts — Bara, Parsa, Rautahat, Sarlahi, Mahottari, Dhanusha, Siraha, and Saptari — to discuss relief measures. The provincial government, the federal government, the Nepal Army, and various non-governmental organizations are all providing immediate relief, mobilizing tankers and fire engines for drinking water, and digging bore wells for household use and agriculture.
This year, the monsoon has largely bypassed the Madhesh, Nepal’s breadbasket. While other parts of the country are receiving average rainfall, the eight districts of Madhesh Province have received below-average rainfall, leading to fields that are so dry they’ve developed cracks. Transplanted paddy saplings, the primary crop during the monsoon, are dying due to a lack of water. With no drinking water, households are parched, and there is a very real danger that people will die if the situation persists and relief measures are not adequate.
While there is a tendency in the media to attribute any and all weather anomalies to climate change, the drought in the Madhesh is the result of a confluence of factors, including but not limited to climate change. Indeed, climate change plays a significant role. Extreme weather events have increased significantly in the last few years. Last year, heavy, unseasonal rainfall in September led to flash floods and landslides across the country. More than 150 people died, and billions in infrastructure were lost. Earlier this month, a flash flood on the Bhotekoshi River caused widespread damage in northern Rasuwa district, killing at least 11 and washing away critical infrastructure like the Miteri bridge that connects Nepal to China. The flash flood was attributed to a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) in Tibet, a phenomenon that is becoming increasingly frequent due to rising temperatures.
Climate change is affecting weather patterns, leading to delayed monsoons that are either too strong or too weak. Some regions experience extreme rainfall, while others receive none at all. Farmers in South Asia and Nepal can no longer rely on traditional rain patterns that have guided their planting habits. The monsoon is the season for paddy, which requires very large amounts of water to grow. But increasingly, water, both from the sky and from the ground, has become scarce. Traditional sources of water in the Madhesh-Tarai have been wells, springs, and hand pumps, all of which rely on groundwater. But without adequate rainfall, the groundwater in Madhesh has also been drying up. Hand pumps that once brought water from depths of 40 to 60 feet now need to reach depths of up to 120 feet. In some instances, hand pumps 450 feet deep have dried up.
The groundwater shortage is not just due to climate change, though. The Madhesh-Terai region is part of the Chure watershed. The Chure hills and their lush forests have long acted as a reservoir for the Madhesh, absorbing rainfall and slowly releasing water into rivers and the ground. But in the past few decades, the Chure hills and their forests have been decimated by human activity. Massive swathes of the hills have been denuded to clear space for homes and roads. The rivers have been emptied of their raw materials, like sand and pebbles. The crusher industry mafia — politically connected construction industries that ruthlessly exploit the Chure landscape for building material — run rampant with no accountability or environmental concern.
As far back as 2014, then-President Ram Baran Yadav had sounded the alarm, warning that the Chure hills were being irrevocably destroyed and, unless immediate action were taken, the Madhesh would bear the worst consequences. President Yadav, a Madhesi man born in Dhanusha, is intimately familiar with the relationships between the low-lying Chure hills and the downstream Madhesh-Terai, which is why he has been a staunch advocate for the Chure. Unfortunately, most politicians don’t share his concerns. Yadav established the President’s Chure Conservation Program in 2014; however, despite spending billions, little has been done to safeguard this fragile ecosystem since then. And the consequences are now apparent for everyone to see — flash floods, depleting groundwater, droughts, and all their associated health and social problems.
Groundwater shortages were supposed to be alleviated somewhat by several irrigation projects that would bring water from nearby rivers. For instance, the Sunkoshi-Marin Diversion Project was supposed to help irrigate vast swathes of Madhesh Province by diverting water from the Sunkoshi River into the Marin River. The project was initiated in 2020 and was expected to be completed by 2027; however, significant work remains to be done, and it does not appear that the project will meet its deadline. Without modern irrigation facilities, farmers still rely on expensive fuel pumps to irrigate their fields with either river water or groundwater. However, with groundwater depletion, the cost of pumping out water increases each year, especially for water-intensive crops like paddy.
At the heart of these issues is something that is rarely discussed when it comes to climate change and its effects on the Madhesh — institutional neglect and marginalization. Madhesis like Yadav and the Madhesh Province government have long warned about the consequences of climate change and environmental degradation on the Madhesh. But, politicians and the federal government only appear to see climate change in the hills and mountains. Glacier retreat and the lack of snow on mountains garner national and international press, as they create stark images that can capture attention. This, in turn, invites donors and aid agencies to provide the Nepal government with more funds to combat climate change. The recently held Sagarmatha Sambaad was titled ‘Climate change, mountains, and the future of humanity.’ The focus was squarely on the mountains; the Madhesh-Terai plains did not even receive a mention. Despite federalism, the marginalization of the Madhesh continues.
The current drought has been decades in the making. Climate change, destruction of the Chure hills, and socio-political marginalization have all come together to create the situation that the Madhesh is currently in. And as complex as the causes, so are the solutions. Providing water via tankers and fire engines is a temporary band-aid. Digging bore wells to provide water for irrigation will not prevent the same situation from recurring next year. What is necessary, as with most things in Nepal, is political will to make long-lasting changes whose results will not be immediately evident. This is a tough call for politicians because they won’t have anything to show for decades, but it is the smart move. Empty aquifers don’t fill up overnight.
The crusher industries that operate illegally and rapaciously in the Chure hills need to be reined in. But this is easier said than done, as all too often, these industries are either owned by local and federal politicians themselves or are intimately connected to powerful politicians. Local activism against these industries has led to threats and even murder. But unless the wholesale destruction of the Chure ends, the Madhesh-Terai will always be in danger of flash floods and landslides on one hand, and droughts on the other.
Finally, the politicians who run government need to recognize that climate change affects the plains as much as it affects the mountains. It’s not an either/or question. Yes, the mountains and mountainous communities are on the frontlines of the consequences of climate change, but so is the Madhesh-Terai. Ecosystems are interconnected. Consequences at the very top trickle down to the bottom, and everyone suffers. The Madhesh’s historical marginalization contributed to its current state, and its continuing marginalization is only exacerbating existing issues. Politicians at the federal level should be on the ground, talking to people and listening to their stories. Instead, they watch from above in a helicopter, as if surveying a colonized land.
For the rest of us, we all need to remember that the drought in the Madhesh is not just about economics and how much GDP Nepal will lose if the paddy harvest fails. Ultimately, climate change and the wanton destruction of the environment impact people. And not the people of the future but people today, living across Nepal. Today, it is the Madhesh that is in drought. Tomorrow, it could be Kathmandu that drowns in a deluge.
That’s all for this week. I will be back next Friday, in your inbox, for the next edition of Kalam Weekly.
If you enjoyed today’s newsletter, please consider sharing it with others who might enjoy weekly updates from Nepal or consider becoming a paid subscriber.
Thanks for reading Kalam Weekly! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
