It is quite surprising to read the piece of article by Dr. Manoj Shahi in context to the housing industry of Nepal. With due respect to his perspective, I have objection to a number of issues that has been pointed out.
Firstly the private sector who have taken an initiative to develop the infra-structure of Nepal, instead of being appreciated have been criticized on the mere basis of being commercial. No one is unaware of the fact that they have risked their own business for the sake of country's development. This should have instead been the responsibility of the government as it has been in other developed countries. So, I believe that the countrymen should stop being such a critic.
Secondly, if we look at the geography of Nepal, the landscape can be seen as a disadvantage. Making it worse, the overpopulation has made the city-life haphazard. Individual bungalow in today's context does not seem viable to accommodate the population. This problem can be solved by the apartments and high-rise development which fulfills one out of the three basic needs i.e. food, clothing and shelter.
Now, coming to the price, then there is a range from low-budget to high budget which again provides option to the people based on their income and affordability. However it should be noted that high cost also provides high quality which modern people of today don't want to compromise on. The so-called "White Elephants" are providing quality of life and hence it is baseless tagging them with such a name.
ANd still if people think that is is expensive and inappropriate investment then I would like to remind that nothing comes cheap today. Inflation has hit every sector and we cannot expect the business to provide service free of cost by incurring loss. Moreover the apartment-culture will help save electricity and water problem by consuming at the appropriate amount unlike big houses which require more of it.
I would hence strongly support the apartment development and encourage people to be a part of it as it helps in the progress of Nepal through urban-planning, beautification of the landscape, modern infra structure, quality of life and best utilization of natural resources like land and water. So lets think out of the box in a broader aspect and help Build Nepal.