February 14, 2025 11:08 am
February 14, 2025 11:08 am

No roads or lights, always dark settlements in Narpabhumi

Manang, 4 Magh(17 January): The Gandaki Provincial Government has reached a point where it can announce that the goal of connecting the entire province and every local level with a road network has been achieved. However, the only municipality in the province, Narpabhumi Rural Municipality in the Himalayan district of Manang, has not yet been connected by a road network, nor has electricity been expanded.

The lack of electricity has caused problems in the services provided by the municipality here. It takes two days to walk to reach the municipality. Due to the lack of electricity, service delivery cannot be completed on time. Even though the municipality office is providing services based on solar energy, employees say that most days the sun is not shining and the work cannot be completed on time.

The local government has been allocating a budget annually with the aim of extending the road network to the office, said Kunjo Tenzing Lama, the rural municipality chair. He said, “We have been managing the budget for roads with the aim of providing services and making travel easier for the residents of the municipality. It is not possible for the municipality alone, but we are trying.”

Chairman Lama said, “It is not possible to provide roads and electricity at the same time, but efforts are ongoing.” He said that coordination is being done with the provincial government for roads and electricity. He said that although roads have been blacktopped to every ward building in the country, he was saddened that not even a single track of the road network could be opened in Narpabhumi Rural Municipality.

Gandaki Province Chief Minister Surendra Raj Pandey said that this year, more than in other years, those places in the province where roads and electricity have not been reached are given priority. He said that work is underway with the goal of reaching areas that have not been reached by roads and electricity in the municipality itself.

Chief Minister Pandey said, “Every road and area in the province that does not have electricity is a top priority. Some work will be started in those areas in the current fiscal year itself. We aim to provide roads and electricity even if it is necessary to take the initiative with the federal government in cases where the budget cannot be met.”

It is not possible to complete the road network in the current fiscal year. If the work is done as per the plan prepared by the provincial government for roads and lighting, the people of Narpabhumi will have hope of easy travel and access to electricity. This will make the people of Narpabhumi happy. However, it is not certain how long it will take.

Dr. Krishna Chandra Devkota, Vice Chairman of the Provincial Policy and Planning Commission, Gandaki Province, said that it would cost an estimated Rs. 1 billion to open the track alone to connect the road network in Narpabhumi. He said, “Even if the provincial government moves forward with building a tunnel, it is not possible to meet the budget. We are in favor of formulating a plan and implementing it in the current fiscal year.”

“Our statistics do not show that five percent of the population has not been able to access electricity. Even if the road network cannot be completed this year, we will provide electricity. The goal is to provide solar energy in some places and electricity in others. Accordingly, we will provide electricity in the current fiscal year,” said Dr. Devkota.

The employees of this municipality say that since the general service delivery has been hampered, the municipality’s services have to be provided centrally at the district headquarters. Local Mingmar Funcho Lama says that despite the service delivery from the office, the locals still have to travel far to get services.

He says, “Even though the local government has come, we have not been able to experience it. It is not that the leadership here, including the municipal chairperson, has not done it, but it is not possible to do it alone. This means that we will fall behind for many more years. The provincial and federal governments should also show interest in this.”

Manang is also a tourist hub. The food produced by the tourists and locals who come here for sightseeing is not enough. There is a problem because the road network is not convenient for transporting food and development materials. There is a situation where people have to transport materials at the risk of their lives. Since it is a risk-listed area, it is more problematic if tourists who come here fall ill.

If tourists and locals who come here fall ill, they cannot use the land route due to the lack of road network. They have to charter helicopters at an expensive price. It is not even easy to get the sick to access healthcare.

Picture of Phatam B. Gurung

Phatam B. Gurung

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