Inaugurating the road, Local Development Minister Purna Kumar Sherma declared, “Solu, the district that has world´s tallest mountain, is now connected to the Tarai and Kathmandu with motor road.” The road inauguration was witnessed by hundreds of people including ADB and SDC representatives from Kathmandu. [break]
The locals constructed the 59-km road with homemade tools, which is a remarkable example of what people can do if they join hands for the better. “It used to take us a week to reach the hospital. Now we can do it in a day. This will save people from untimely deaths,” said Suntali Magar of Chitre village of Okhaldhunga.
With the road coming into operation, the prices of consumer goods have also gone down.
But constructing the roads through the mountains was not a cakewalk. Many even surmised that the road would never see the light of the day. Among the detractors was former minister Bal Bahadur KC, who said that he would sacrifice one-and-a half-dozen goats if the road was ever constructed. The locals, with their perseverance and hard work, made KC eat crow.
“Since road is the backbone of development, the newly constructed 59 KM road has opened up avenues for other development activities in Okhaldhunga and Solu,” said MoLD Secretary Shyam Prasad Mainali.
The road was built under Labor Based, Environment Friendly and Participatory (LEP) approach. No heavy equipments like excavator, dozers and explosive materials were used while constructing the road.
“The locals have shown that people can cut rocks and build rural road without using heavy equipment,” said Bhupendra Basnet, Deputy Director General of the Department of Local Infrastructure Development and Agricultural Road (DoLIDAR).
“The road in Okhaldhunga-Solu is expected to enhance livelihood of the local people,” said Thomas Gass, Swiss Ambassador to Nepal and SDC Country Director.
“We will work on upgrading this road in our next phase of program,” said Yukihiro Shiroishi, Head of Portfolio Management Unit, ADB, Nepal Mission.
All the delegates from Kathmandu and locals inspected the road from Okhaldhunga to Solu. Nearly a dozen welcome gates were built at various places to welcome VIPs.
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