About पोकली falls,Okhaldhunga, नेपाल
By Dr. Khagendra N Sharma
I happened to read two articles on the
prospects of the development of the Pokali Falls watershed of
Okhaldhunga district in the issues of the 6th and 8th February, 07 of
the Jagaran Times. Almost obsessed by the overwhelming political
literature on present Nepal, I felt excited to turn to the concept of
development. I was born and brought up in the hills of Ilam and am
familiar with the problems and prospects of development in the hills. I
have never been to Okhaldhunga, but the two articles mentioned above
made me feel that I know the district almost from my heart. The truth is
that I had only read the poem entitled Mero Pyaro Okhaldhunga by poet
Siddhicharan on the beauty and love of Okhandhunga during my school
days. Although I did not write any poem myself, that poem had aroused a
deep sense of love for my own district in my mind and I spent six
important formative years of my career in the service of Ilam, as the
founder principal of its college. I was exposed to the issues of
development in Ilam where I was also motivated and involved in a lot of
activities other than the running of the college. Sharing this
experience, I want to speculate on the development prospects in the
Pokali Falls area of Okhaldhunga.
Although Ilam had the initial
advantage of being exposed to the development prospects because of its
proximity with the Darjeeling area of West Bengal, Okhaldhunga is
situated in the central eastern hills and can have the future advantage
of sustained growth centre. I have not seen any leader or planner with
this focus of development in the context of Okhaldhunga. But, looking at
the central location of the district, this is a definite prospect. Ilam
had the initial push because of its cash crop potentials particularly
that of the tea plantation, cardamom plantation, ginger plantation,
potato farming, cattle raising for dairy, all of which were export
oriented. Lately, it is trying its hands at the growth of tourism. Ilam
has natural attractions that can allure increasing number of tourists.
It has also got some religious places that can attract tourists.
Going
through the two articles in the Jagaran Times, one feels that
Okhaldhunga is blessed with the most attractive natural marvels. The
Pokali Falls is just one. The district headquarters is the obvious one
which inspired Siddhicharan Shrestha to compose the immortal poem on its
beauty and love. A stretch of imagination comes into my mind connecting
Okhaldhunga Bazaar with the Pokali Falls, approximately two days
leisurely walk on foot. If this stretch is made motorable, a vast array
of socio economic development can be launched with the local resources
alone. The Pokali fall is the obvious attraction for the outsider
tourist, but the people living on either side of the road can make the
most unexpected economic gains from the road.
The road connects
the centre not only with the ultimate destination but also with the
outreach along the road. Every road has a hinterland with plenty of
resources and products. The road is the booster of the resource use and
the products. The present state of the products may be rudimentary. But
the road brings in qualitative changes or improvement in the production
process and quantum, delivery services and marketing. If there are
cottage level indigenous industries in the region, their quality will be
improved, their quantity will be vastly increased and their potential
market will be expanded several times. Similarly, in the case of
agriculture, the subsistence level farming can be converted into a
market based cash farming, hugely improving the economic status of the
farmers. There is the prospect of agro-based industries.
One
obvious prospect is that of development of tourism. The Pokali fall is
so fascinating that it will attract a horde of tourists. But the mere
attraction of nature is not enough. Tourism needs a range of
infrastructure. The first is the road which we presume there will be in
the near future. But there is a greater need for the accommodation of
the incoming tourists. Hotels are the priority need. Good food and
comfortable lodge will attract a large number of tourists. Resorts are
the present fashion. They can run a number of entertainment and
adventurous activities in and around the resorts. If good and
comfortable resorts are made, we can expect national and international
tourists. They can arrange a number of local cultural shows as part of
their entertainment programmes. They can make tracks on either side of
the 130 metre fall where lovers will spend imaginative moments of their
life. You can go on imagining. The sky is the limit.
But who will
take the lead? The central level politicians have no spare time from
their politics of indulgence in power. The local level politicians are
dependent on their central leaders. No visionary leader ever looks back
into the villages. The villages need a lead, but a true lead is not
forthcoming. When the shape of future of Nepal itself is not
structured, the future of local structure is all the more foggy. In such
a state of affairs, the leaders are not expected to take a
deterministic step in local level development. That is the fate of local
development now.
But there is a ray of hope in the case of the
Pokali fall and its watershed area. Enthusiastic local youths of
Okhaldhunga presently studying or working and residing in the capital
have taken a due initiative to form a society called the Pokali Falls
Service Society (PWSS). There are several inspirational features in the
society. There are 11 founder members under the inspired chairmanship of
a tantric student named Guru Kedar Baral. All the 11 members are young
and energetic. Their composition is inclusive in nature with three
women, two dalit and two Sunuwar members/ office bearers. With less than
a year in existence, they have already published a calendar which could
be the beginning of the tourism promotion activity. The Society is now
articulating its future strategy. They can augment their work by working
in collaboration with the development agencies some of which are named
below.
Until a new local governance structure is developed under a
new constitution, the District Development Committee (DDC) is the
proper local governance unit that can decide the development activities
within the district. Above the DDC, the Ministry of Local Development
(MLD) is the central government agency that coordinates the local
development programs and provides needed resources. Apart from that, a
number of international governmental, intergovernmental and non
governmental agencies are also involved in different programmes of local
development. To take some examples, CARE/Nepal has been involved in a
number of watershed management programs; SNV of the Netherlands and GTZ
of Germany are involved in different local development programs; UNDP
has been supporting a number of local development programs.
The
PWSS is a non governmental initiative that will harness support from all
the possible sources. DDC is urged not only to support it but also to
develop it as a model to be emulated by the other regions of the
district. The government is urged to give it the needed resources and
other support. The donors are urged to extend their helping hands in the
development of the Pokali watershed area. The intellectuals are urged
to develop a proper focus on the parameters of local or regional
development. The hoteliers or resort owners are urged to expand their
business in the rural areas, and give this venture a realistic
consideration. Tourism must flourish in the private sector. It will be
the good policy of the government to promote such people oriented
programs.