Infrastructure of Development, Its Means and Resources

For the development, available means and resources should be utilized properly. Raw materials themselves cannot do anything by themselves, skilled manpower and capital are required to make the best use of the raw materials. Political stability is needed for the execution of the construction works and implementation of developmental infrastructures.

Nepal is a country rich in physical diversity. If you look at the land topography you will find high Himalayan ranges in the north and smooth plains in the south with hills and valleys. There is various climate over these distinct landforms. The land is suitable for the cultivation of many types of crops. Owing to the diversity of landform and climate, natural vegetation differs from place to place. The country is very rich in wildlife too, there are perennial rivers fed by the Himalayan snow. We get drinking water from these sources. This diverse topography in our country is a real boon of nature. We have been provided with enough resources for industries and tourism too.Broadly infrastructure refers to essential factors needed for development like education.health facilities,transport,communication etc

The major reasons to abstract the development of infrastructures in Nepal are :-

• Lack of Capital
• Political instability
• Point Corruption
• Lack of tools and technology
• Cultural and religious barriers
• Lack of proper tools and materials
• Complex topography
• Continuation of natural disasters-flood,landslide,earthquake etc
  
  

Education

Human being are the most important resources of the countries. But they must be firstly educated to utilize available means and resources to an optimum level. It is the education that makes people conscious, disciplined and productive. Educated people know the importance of their health and the need for nation development as well. Besides, educated people are more knowledgeable and make a better voting choice to help maintain good governance. Since education provides the skilled manpower needed in all the areas for development, it is often taken as the first and the foremost infrastructure of the development.,A good education includes both academic and technical education.

Aims of education

The education is very important and here are some reasons for being educated:

1. To learn to solve our own problems.
2. To be able to use multiple languages.
3. To be able to change society.
4. To have higher status on education.
5. To be civilized.
6. To know about the country better and contribute to development.
7. To make people aware of the mistakes they are doing.
8. To acknowledge people about the importance of education.

Education in Nepal

Education in Nepal was long based on Homeschooling and Gurukul.The first formal school was established in 1853 but was intended to the elites. Education in Nepal is not that developed. English education in Nepal started in 1910 BS with the establishment of Durbar High School in Kathmandu during the Rana rule. There were only 321 schools and colleges in 2007 BS. When compared to the number of school going children, the number of schools were very low. Even those provided were not evenly distributed and properly managed. Facilities of higher education are also far from enough. Technical education is highly limited, provided by very few educational institutions. It is difficult to find jobs according to qualification. Above all, the general public is still not aware of the value of education and poor people cannot afford a good education.

Health

Health is our greatest wealth. You cannot study well if your health is bad nor can you learn well and work hard. You cannot enjoy foods, games and books either. Living with some diseases is really painful. You have to swallow bitter medicines and mostly are confined in bed waiting for others to do all things for you. Even a huge property is spent in caring for our health if we are unhealthy.

Only skilled and healthy citizens can work sufficiently to raise the level of their country. Unhealthy citizens become the burden for their family, society and the nation. The government has to make a huge investment in health sector if public health is poor. It causes lack of sufficient budget for improving other infrastructures such as education and industry because health is to be given the topmost priority. Industries and construction cannot run smoothly due to lack of enough manpower. Natural resources in spite of their high potential are just wasted.

Status of health in Nepal

In Nepal huge budget is allocated and many organizations are working in health sector. However, expected changes have not taken place in the health of general public. Life expectancy is hardly 65 years. Many children are still malnourished. Epidemic and endemic diseases are common. Drinking water is not safe. The environment in urban areas is highly polluted. Doctors are not ready to serve in remote villages. There are not enough hospitals and health center for medical services. Superstitions and ignorance are high. Many people have not realized the importance of medical treatment yet. Population growth rate is high so it is difficult to provide good health services for all. Even the available facilities have not been fairly distributed. Most good hospitals are located in few cities like Kathmandu, Pokhara, Bharatpur. The level of nutrition is poor for the majority of people. The Economic level is also poor. Private hospitals offering quality health services are too expensive for average Nepali population to afford.

Transport

The world has become smaller due to the advanced means of transport and communication available in modern time. You can travel a great distance within a short time and you can make contact with anybody in any part of the world immediately. Every day you are using various means of transport directly or indirectly. Probably many of you and your teachers use vehicles to come to school and go home daily. Imagine how you would feel if all the means of transport in your area come to a sudden halt! Or remember how economic and social aspects of a daily life are affected by a transport strike.

A good system of the transport network is needed for a country's economic and social growth. Industries get their raw materials and agricultural as well as finished goods get markets. Tourists can visit places of interest. Trade and business can flourish. Local products find a market. Human relations and cooperation are widened. But the lack of transport makes all these activities difficult and the overall socio-economic development is obstructed.

Transport in Nepal

As other infrastructure developments, development of transport in Nepal also started late. Today we got several system of transport likewise roadways, railways, ropeways, and waterways. Due to our mountainous topography, landlocked position, backward technology and poor economic condition, these systems have not been developed well. We have not got any sea and large navigable rivers, suitable for water transport. Only small boats and rafts are operating in limited courses of few rivers. We have also not been able to expand the only railway i.e. Janakpur-Jaynagar railway even across the Terai plain. The main reason is a lack of capital and technology. Though airways and ropeways are very suitable for a mountainous country like ours, the system is also quite limited. Even the available services cannot be afforded by ordinary Nepalese. Roadways are developed more in Nepal. But it has not connected all parts of the country yet. Remote areas of the north have still to rely on the expensive air transport that is often unreliable, too.The transportation sector of Nepal is not s=developed much due to following reasons :

• Lack of Capital
• Political instability
• Lack of technology
• Complex topography
• Lack of will power of the government and people

Plans for roads

Due to our backward economic condition, mountainous and landlocked features, road transport is the most suitable system of transport. The 3-year interim plan had set up the following aims and objectives for the development of road transport in the country.

• To construct road networks connecting district headquarters, remote areas and areas in mid hills, east-west and north-south in order to provide access to markets for agricultural and industrial goods and services.
• To make feasibility studies of fast track road connecting Kathmandu with Terai and electric railway and implement possible projects.
• To prioritise the activities for the completion of roads under construction and for the promotion of available roads.
• To encourage the private sector in the construction of the infrastructures of alternative technology like railway, cable car and ropeway, and raise the access of rural areas.
• To carry out feasibility studies of waterways.
• To give the responsibility of construction and maintenance of local roads to the local bodies.
• To apply clear policy regarding road security.

Some highway of Nepal with Code No.:

S.N	Code	Places Connected	Name of highway	Length
1	H01	Mechi-Mahakali	Mahendra Highway	1027.67 km
2	H02	Birgunj-Kathmandu	Tribhuwan Highway	159.66 km
3	H03	Kathmandu-Kodari	Araniko Highway	112.83 km
4	H04	Naubise-Pokhara	Prithivi Highway	173.43 km
5	H05	Narayanghat-Muglin	Madan-Ashrit Highway	36.16 km
6	H06	Bhittamod-Sindhuli-Dhulikhel	BP Highway	198 km
7	H07	Kechana-Taplegunj	Mechi Highway	268 km
8	H08	Rani-Hile	Koshi Highway	111 km
9	H09	Kadmaha-Salleri	Sagarmatha Highway	265 km
10	H10	Sanauli-Pokhara	Siddhartha Highway	181.22 km
11	H11	Ameliya-Musikot	Rapti Highway	196 km
12	H12	Nepalgunj-Surkhet	Ratna Highway	113 km
13	H13	Surkhet-Jumla	Karnali Highway	220 km
14	H14	Mohanapul-Darchula	Mahakali Highway	320 km
15	H15	Syaule-Samuwagad,Sanfe	Seti Highway	65.96 km

Water

Water is one of the essential conditions of life. Only the earth has a life because of water. But drinking water should be clean and free from contamination. If it is contaminated, it causes many diseases. The health of people greatly depends on the quality of drinking water. Supply of poor drinking water may affect the manpower provision of development because unhealthy people cannot be useful manpower. The demand for drinking water is growing with population growth and urbanization. It is the prime duty of the government to make the proper supply of drinking water to its citizens while it is consumer's duty to cooperate with the distribution system and help make proper utilization

Nepal is the second richest country in the world in water resources. There are more than 6000 rivers and rivulets. Many of these are snow-fed or perennial. There are quite many lakes in our country. In the Terai and Kathmandu valley, underground water can easily be supplied. There is also good monsoon rain at least in monsoon. Though rich in resources, we are thirsty. We have not been able to make proper use of these vast resources. The poor economic condition, difficult landscape, poor technology and insufficient planning are causing wastage of water. Hardly about 60% of the people in Nepal have access to good water. The scarcity is very acute in dense cities. Kathmandu has long been waiting for the completion of Melamchi project which has been prolonging. In addition, these sources of drinking water are getting polluted due to garbage, sewage, and improper use. people are also not very aware of the need for safe drinking water.Nowadays there is a shortage of drinking water due to an explosive growth of population. The government should give topmost priority to the supply of safe drinking water. Large projects should be launched with international assistance for the supply of water in large city areas. Consumers must be alert about water leakage and environmental pollution. Uncontrolled urbanization also needed to be checked.

Electricity

Electricity is the main power available in the modern world. It is used in all fields ranging from household to the operation of the industries and heavy constructions. So it is called an infrastructure of development. Similarly, means of communication are needed for passing news, views and notices. In the absence of good communication network, developmental works cannot run smoothly. Relations among people are also lacking.

Nepal has a high potential of hydroelectricity because there are quite many rivers flowing swiftly along the mountainous surface. Feasibility studies have shown that as much as 83000 MW of electricity can be generated in Nepal. But mainly for economic and political reasons, so far we have not been able to generate even one percent of total capacity. This is a serious challenge to face for the economic growth of the country. So the government must bring effective policies and make funding from various sources to install more hydropower projects. It is the matter of happiness that we have made a remarkable progress in the field of communication over the last decade.

Communication

The process of exchanging information between two or more persons to mutual understanding to each other is called communication.It involves the flow of information from a sender to receiver.It is one of the important infrastructure of development.Especially by means of electronic, print, radio, waves and several other means that may be e- mail, internet, telephone, radio, television, letter, fax, magazines, newspapers and such other means used in everyday communication. We need to communicate to share information with other. The development of means of communication has made interpersonal relations close, interact and easy.Communication plays an important role in the development of the country. It reduces the distance and makes the flow of information faster and easily available.It also saves time, budget and labor, Information, ideas and opinions can be shared among many persons at any given time through modern means of communication.