A preview: A municipality in Kailali district of Western Nepal, Tikapur is the most planned city in the nation. Located 595 kms away from the capital, the city was named Tikapur as it is sort of shaped like a tika, the Hindu mark on the forehead. [break]
There are 3,804 households in the municipality with around 25,639 residents. Every ward in this municipality is connected by roads with links to the main city.
“The city is still not completely developed. But in the next 10 years, I’m sure it’ll see drastic changes,” says Padam Bahadur Rawal, ex-mayor of the town, adding that the town is a land of possibilities because there is still so much scope for development.
Initially, a lot of families of freed Kamaiyas used to live at the airport premises after the airport shut down. After eight years of living there, they have recently been relocated to another area.
Mangal Chaudhary, secretary of Shanti Nagar Basti (settlement) where the Kamaiyas now live, says that they are happy to have a permanent place to stay but other basic needs like electricity, health, education are yet to be met.
“There are around 398 houses in this settlement and we are even working towards building a school. We had registered it when we were living at the airport premises but it has yet to materialize here,” says Chaudhary.
Health problems like stomachache and diarrhea are quite common in Shanti Nagar Basti but since the nearest health post is some three kilometers away, timely and proper medical treatment is quite difficult to have.
Besides being the most planned city and an area of mostly Kamaiyas, Tikapur is famous for its banana plantation and the district of Kailali is the top banana producer in Nepal.
Kalu Hamal, a businessman who runs Banana’s Resort in Tikapur, says that it took him 16 years to implement his idea of banana plantation. Now running a successful business, Hamal feels his resort is a good tourist attraction as well.
Binod Kumar Shah used to be a teacher in Saptari but is now working with the plantation in Tikapur. Shah feels that more people need to get involved in the agriculture sector because that’s one of the things our country is known for.
“Nepal is an agricultural country. So the government needs to support ventures like this,” says Shah, saying he would like to lease more land in the future and give employment to around 1,000 locals.
The residents of this planned city who have moved here from Doti, Surkhet, Dhangadi, Achham, among other places, are living in complete harmony in their own little world and making the most of it.
Also known as “Kanchho (junior) Achham” due to the fact that most people here have come from Achham, Tikapur is a city thriving on its own while enjoying its diversity.
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