JUMLA, May 13: Clutching his eight months old daughter, Bhupendra Rawat of Tila Rural Municipality-9 was headed for the Karnali Highway a few days ago. It was no less than a challenge for him to protect his daughter from falling in the sloppy and congested path which had became slippery due to rain.
"Why do only the people living in remote areas have to suffer this much?" Rawat questioned. The pathetic condition of roads and troublesome life of locals have failed to catch the attention of political leaders and local representatives. Though the locals had expected things to change after the new federal restructuring in the country ,development still seems like a far-fetched dream for them. "Only we know how we walk on these risky paths by putting our lives at stake," Rawat laments.
Road connectivity still a far-fetched dream for Tila locals
According to Sharmila Thapa of the same village, leaders who had made lofty promises during the elections forgot to come back to their village after winning. "All they have been doing is talking about big changes staying in well-facilitated cities," she said. As per her understanding, Tila-9 will be soon declared the most remote and risky place of Karnali Province if road is not constructed here in a few months. While the government is declaring all districts of Karnali as developed, residents of Tila-9 are compelled to fight with death every time they walk on these dangerous paths.
Even in this 21st century, road connectivity is still a far-fetched dream for the locals of Tila as they do not even have proper paths to walk. The rural municipality had announced to connect the village with road within this fiscal year but nothing has started yet though the current fiscal year is about to end soon.
Though the leaders had time and again pledged that road connectivity is the first step towards development, they haven't prioritized this infrastructure in some villages. Not much progress has been made in education, health and other sectors due to lack of road connectivity. Even though this place is known as the pocket area for the production of beans, apples, potatoes and buckwheat , these produces often rot in homes due to lack of markets.
Bishnu Budha, vice-chairperson of Tila Rural Municipality stated that small projects have overshadowed big projects of pride. "As this is our first year, we spent more time on learning but we will concentrate on implementing our promises from now onward," she said. There is no access of road in Bumradichaur of Kanaksundari Rural municipality and two villages of Tila.
