A Hazardous Strategy
The World Commission on Environment and Development in its celebrated report called for "economic growth that is forceful and at the same time socially and environmentally sustainable." But how can this general principle be turned into concrete objectives so that the Commission's work is more than a new chapter in the long history of development rhetoric? Road building in Nepal provides an interesting case study.
Of all development activities, roads probably have the most impact in socioeconomic terms. But is the building of roads and market integration the panacea against decreasing living standards and over exploitation of resources? Several studies indicate that it is not. In the late 1970s, a British team concluded that roads in the Nepali context might even be counter productive.
A recent study on the new road to Jiri in Dolakha District east of Kathmandu comes to a similar conclusion. It reports that the highway has led to substitution of locally produced goods, and reckless exploitation of local resources by outsiders. Improved accessibility has rendered the region more dependent on policies made by an urban elite. The region had been exposed to rapid social change, economic exploitation and superior economic competition. The study blames the unrealistic ideas on the part of development planners regarding the process of agricultural transformation. The ongoing process of change for the worse is easily observable in villages along the Jiri road. Jobs in Kathmandu have become more attractive than hard spadework in the little rewarding hill terraces. People are increasingly reluctant to contribute their share to communal irrigation systems. Family ties are loosening. Local communities are under stress.