“Pathibhara cable car debacle: Development, private interest and indigenous rights”, 10 February, 2025

Over the past few months, a number of protests, strikes and clashes have erupted in eastern Nepal with one issue at the center: the construction of a cable car in the Pathibhara temple area.

The government and the private contractor which has been handed the reins of the project claim that the construction of the cable car will help promote tourism and create jobs in the area, thus ushering development in the remote place.

Locals, however, hold the forested area around the temple, which the cable car will cut through, as a sacred site. They do not wish for their sacred site to be defiled by artificial construction. This sentiment has brought a significant number of locals to the streets where they are vehemently opposing the construction project.

In addition to these main agitators, environmental conservationists have decried the need to chop thousands of trees of the forest for the construction of the cable car.

On top of these issues, the private contractor handling the construction and operation of the cable car system is known for his notoriety of taking control of the hills where he operates the cable car systems he constructs, Chandragiri hill in the capital being one.

As a result, the general public is divided over whether the cable car is a product of private interest to control public land, a kick in the back of the local indigenous groups who hold the forest sacred or the right step in developing the rural areas of the country…