Kunda Dixit reports ('Humla's road to the future', #299) that work on the Hilsa Simkot road had to be stopped because there is no money for bridges and to cut through rock faces. I wonder if building ropeways could be the solution even though ultimately there will have to be roads. A cable car system to precede a highway could be the speedy way of developing our hilly regions and thereby of Nepal as a whole. Also, we must forget about exporting power. Nepal has one of the lowest energy consumption per capita in the world, we should be thinking about producing power for our own growth first by using it in energy-intensive job-creating zinc and fertilizer industries.

Ishwari Pradhan,
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