Episode 3:
"Bhatte Danda Ropeway"

Date of broadcast: 7:30 AM (Kathmandu time), Friday, 1 October 2004 on FM radio 102.4 MHz
Footprint of the broadcast: Kathmandu valley and surrounding districts, Nepal

To get to Bhatte Danda one has to drive over the Tin Panay Pass south of Lele. Lele lies southeast of Kathmandu. The Bhatte Danda ropeway connects the village of Bhatte Danda with Jhankri Danda (the main road head). Villages in and around Bhatte Danda  produce organic vegetables and fruits for sale in Kathmandu valley. Many households raise livestock for milk. 

A decade ago, much of the produce was consumed locally, leaving much to rot in the barn and field. Milk was transformed to khuwa and ghiu by cooking over firewood for hours, resulting in smoke-filled kitchen, clearly a health hazard as well as destruction of the surrounding forests. 

But now with the ropeway, farmers from Bhatte Danda and a dozen other villages can take their produce and milk to the road head via the ropeway and then to Kathmandu on trucks.

We bring to you some of the locals' as well as Madhukar Upadhaya's views of the changes brought about by the ropeway since its establishment about a decade ago.

2. What Do the People Say about the Bhatte Danda Ropeway?

Mithu Bajgain: "Before surplus produce went to waste. Now I carry it a short distance, and transport it via the ropeway to Jhankri Danda, from where it is taken to Kathmandu on the back of a truck. Thanks to the ropeway, I can easily market my produce such as cucumber,  vegetables and seasonal fruits in Kathmandu.

"On average, 2500-3000 litres of milk reaches Kathmandu daily from Bhatte Danda. Freshly plucked vegetables like cucumber, pumpkin and spinach are also transported to the vegetable market, operated by a cooperative in Kathmandu valley. Every Friday evening and Saturday morning in this vegetable market, customers wait in the market patiently to buy fresh seasonal fruits brought in from Bhatte Danda. At times there is pushing and shoving among customers to be the first to get to the beans, vegetables, milk, and flour."

Jeth Kumari Pun: "Bhatte Danda is one of the 21 Village Development Committees of South Lalitpur. In the past, the linkage between Patan and Bhatte Danda was not that good. The people of Bhatte Danda would go to Patan only once or twice a year taking vegetables with them to sell and then buy salt and kerosene with the proceeds . But now thanks to the road and the ropeway, salt and kerosene are available right here in Bhatte Danda. The residents of Bhattedanda have also become wealthier."

Udhav Ghimire: "The construction of the ropeway that changed the face of Bhatte Danda started in 1989 and was completed in 1995. The construction was funded with a grant of 60 lakhs from the European Union."

Bishwa Ram Bajgain: "We had to carry loads before the ropeway. Kids could not go to school because they had to help their families carry loads. Nowadays, children are able to go to school because the ropeway has freed them from the drudgery."

Chameli Bajgain: "We had lots of loads, difficult to carry on our back. After the ropeway, it has become easier to transport goods. Now revenues are flowing into the village economy." 

Samjhana Jimba: "Walking, carrying was the norm then. But now when I visit my parents, I send the load ahead of me on the ropeway. They do the same when they want to send things to me."

Bhat Bahadur Dhalan: "Life was difficult. Today, the ropeway carries the loads. Now we're relieved. Everything we transport to the market sells."

Suntali Bajgain: "Life was very hard before the ropeway. It was difficult to carry milk a long distance, but work is easier. Easier to take vegetables to town. The proceeds from the sale of the vegetables have raised our living standard."

Mansoor Shakhel Dafali: "The town was far away, and there was no transportation. And with no road  connectivity, you can pretty well imagine. But now, the farmers here can breathe easy."

Jagat Thing: "It used to take three hours to  transport goods to the road head; now it takes only 20 minutes. Basic necessities such as rice, salt, feed for livestock and goods for shops are easily transported. Milk is brought here every morning. Kidney beans, lentils, pulses, etc. during the day."  

Khadga Bahadur Jimba: "Life was difficult. We had to walk back and forth carrying heavy loads. The ropeway has benefited the farmers a lot. Now we don’t have to carry loads up and down the steep, slippery hill anymore. The ropeway does all that for us."

Madhukar Upadhaya, Water Management Specialist: "The ropeway was finished in 1995 and by 1996-97 we could already see visible changes because not only milk but also other items such as broom, beans and other vegetables started coming into town whilst cement and corrugated tin [for roofing] made their way to the villages. This led to a flurry of economic activity. If, for instance, they made a profit of Rs 2 [Rs 75=US$ 1] on one item, then in 4/5 transactions, they made a profit of Rs 10. The porters were able to get jobs because more items needed to be carried a short distance up to the ropeway. Within two years, thatched roofs were replaced by corrugated tin roofs. 

"After two years, we did a survey. How many local buffaloes were replaced? How many new buffaloes were bought in? We found 30% more had been brought in. Our findings show that the new buffaloes gave more milk and the ones that were already there had fallen by 50%. Therefore, more and more people were getting into buying new buffaloes for greater milk yield and within two years they had taken out Rs. 25 lakh in loan. 

"Women don’t need to go to the forest to get firewood as often [thanks to reduced need for firewood and easy availability of kerosene], and therefore their burden has eased a bit. Now that they don’t make khuwa anymore, they don’t have to sit in a smoked filled kitchen for an extended period, so they have more time on their hand. Now with the additional money made from selling milk, they are able to send their kids to school. 

"They needed to do accounting after each transaction, which led to the need for non-formal education and its subsequent establishment. Seeing the benefit of non-formal education after nine years of its establishment, more people are keen to avail of it. 

"I would encourage the individuals and organisations working in poverty alleviation, rural development or  related field to take a look at the book we have recently come out with called 'Ropeways in Nepal.'"

"This book examines in detail the following two ropeways, among other things: the Bhatte Danda ropeway, and  the Barpak ropeway of Gorkha.  How to extend ropeway services across rural Nepal, and how do we reactivate the Barpak ropeway, whose base station was washed away by a flash flood two years back? We are preoccupied with these questions now.

"To what extent is the ropeway effective in raising the socio-economic status of rural farmers? Shouldn't we dismantle the ropeway once a road reaches the village? Not until we attain a level where we are able to maintain our road. This has been our experience with the 40-year-old road here. Once a section of the road collapses, everything comes to a grinding halt. Nothing gets done for a long long time.

"See the changes that the Bhatte Danda ropeway has brought about in nine years. The road alone couldn't have brought these about this quickly."