MANANG: The ‘Electrification Campaign’ aimed at declaring the Gandaki Province a ‘Bright Gandaki Province’ in the Fiscal Year 2023/24 has not yet reached Narpa Bhumi Rural Municipality in Manang district.
Moreover, Narpa Bhumi Rural Municipality is the only local body out of 85 local levels in the province that has not been connected to the road network. To date, the provincial government has not allocated any funds for road infrastructure in the area.
To reach Narpa Bhumi, which is located 70 kilometres away from the district headquarters, one has to travel on foot for two days. Narpa Bhumi Rural Municipality Chairman Konjo Tenzing Lama informed that the rural municipality, with a total population of 396, remains neglected.
He said, “Narpa Bhumi remains in the dark with no road and no electricity.” He added that, in such a state, it was impossible to achieve the dream of ‘Bright Gandaki Province.’
“Even after eight years of federalism, Narpa Bhumi has not received attention from the nation for development. How can we believe that this campaign will be successful?” questioned Chairman Lama. He also pointed out the government’s lack of interest in developing the tourism sector, which could significantly boost the region’s economy.
He said that the rural municipality still relies on solar energy and telephone signals are available only in some areas on the ridge. Without proper roads, local produce cannot reach the market.
In response, the Ministry of Energy of Gandaki Province stated that it had contacted all municipalities in the province to gather information on which areas lack electricity. Resham Sapkota, personal secretary to Minister for Energy, Phanindra Devkota, said that letters had been sent to local governments asking them to provide information on which households have electricity, which do not and how electricity could be provided to each household.
He said, “In the upcoming budget, we must do something for remote rural municipalities. When allocating the budget, we will take this issue seriously.”
The distance from the district headquarters to the municipality centre, Chyankhu is 26 kilometres and the provincial government has not allocated any budget for road network there.
The rural municipality itself has purchased an excavator and a breaker to connect the municipality to the road network and it is working on constructing around 14 kilometres of road, said Chairman Lama.
Kamal Kumar Adhikari, secretary of the Provincial Ministry of Physical Infrastructure, stated that connecting every municipality to the road network was a priority. “In some areas, explosives may be needed to break through rocky terrain, which will require a higher budget. However, this is not the time to release the budget,” he explained.
“Instead of focusing on the budget now, please contact the infrastructure development office with all the technical details before mid-March. We cannot do much at the moment.” He also advised staying in timely communication with the provincial ministry.
Given that Narpa Bhumi is located in a high-altitude Himalayan area with limited access to the central government, Chairman Lama said that the construction of ward offices, health posts, school buildings and border outposts should be considered significant progress for this area.
