KATHMANDU, June 8: Number of tourists visiting the Lumbini, enlisted in the UNESCO World Heritage Site, started decreasing due to poor condition of the Narayanghat-Butwal road section. 

According to the Lumbini Development Trust (LDT), at least one million domestic tourists used to visit Lumbini annually before 2076 BS. Such a number of tourists did not visit the Lumbini area for two years. 

Member-Secretary of the LDT, Sanuraja Shakya, said that although the country returned to normalcy after Covid-19 pandemic, around 600,000 tourists visit Lumbini every year now. It is all because of road defects, he argued.

Sharing that it took 13 hours to reach Kathmandu from Butwal in an office vehicle, he stressed the need for upgrading different roads to increase religious tourists. 

Though infrastructures were developed in the Lumbini area, the tourists have been complaining about the problems, especially of the Narayanghat-Butwal road section, Shakya mentioned. 

Arrival of domestic and foreign tourists in Lumbini as well as different districts of west Nepal would increase if the Narayanghat-Butwal road was upgraded on time.