THE YAKHA: CULTURE, ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT IN ...

The major variable which Macfarlane did not predict in 1976 is
migration (a topic which has started to become more prominent in the
literature, e.g. Thapa 1989). Those who have been able to do so have
migrated to better opportunities and facilities in the urban centres, in
Macfar lane's case the town of Pokhara, which has experienced a fourfold
growth in population over a twenty year period. This appears to have
been a common pattern throughout Nepal. While the rural population
increased by 2.21% from 1961 to 1981, the urban population increased at
5.37% per year, from 336,222 to 956,721 (H.B. Shrestha 1985) a Much of
this urbanisation has taken place in the Tarai. In the eastern Taral,
Biratnagar (population 100,000) is the second largest city in Nepal
after Kathmandu, while, moving inland a little, Dharan (20,000) is
typical of the thriving towns which have developed as meeting points of
hill/mountain and plains dwellers,
Hi1 1 towns (such as Dhankuta in the east and 'Belaspur', described
by Caplan (1975) in the west) have also been experiencing rapid growth,
their administrative and trading roles expanding with the growth in
influence of the state and an increasing number of roads. Whatever its
long term effects on the receiving areas, then, migration has been an
important 'safety valve' on the growth of population in the hills of
Nepa 1.
Envl ronmen t a 3 Change and i ts Causes
At the same time as a re-evaluation of the effects of population
growth, questions have arisen about the nature and extent of the
environmental degradation supposedly taking place. Gurung argues,
contrary to Moddie, that soil erosion is caused by the "high energy