We're working to bring water from Chure: Janakpurdham Mayor

Manoj Kumar Sah was elected the mayor of Janakpurdham Sub-Metropolitan City as an independent candidate.  He had rebelled Nepali Congress when he was denied the ticket of mayor in the local election last year.  But now he has returned to his old Nepali Congress party and has been reinstated as its city president of the party. 

Sah believes that the local level can play a big role in developing the city and its infrastructure. The Rising Nepal's Vijay Kumar Sah talked with him about his return to the party he quit, and his plans to take the city forward and solve its problems of drinking water, traffic and roads. Excerpts:What was the situation in Janakpur before your election and how have you changed it in your past year in office?

I contested the 2017 local election from the Nepali Congress party but lost to Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal's Lal Kishor Sah. Nevertheless, I continued to serve as the party's city president. This allowed me to monitor the work done by the sub-metro and analyse them as a responsible opposition. Whenever we found that the city leaders went against public interests or did not work effectively and efficiently, we submitted memorandums and staged protests within the boundaries of the democratic systems to draw their attention. We strongly feel that the previous elected representatives were not able to deliver on good governance and need-based development.

The previous local government did not meet the aspirations and expectations of the people due to irregularities and mismanagement. Everything was chaotic. The previous leadership failed to utilise the comfortable majority it held in the municipal executive. The residents of the sub-metropolis gave their land without compensation for the urban roads built with the support of others. But the footpaths on those roads have still not come into operation.

Moreover, the city still does not have parking spaces. Stray cattle still roam the streets unabated.

In 2022, the political landscape was different than in 2017 and I won the mayorship of Janakpurdham Sub-Metropolitan City as an independent. My party Congress had partnered with the Janata Samajwadi Party in that election. But due to weaknesses within Congress, I had to leave it and contest the election separately. However, the party has corrected its mistake and I have returned as NC city president.

I have begun fulfilling my election promises. I have started controlling quadrupeds, removing road encroachments and controlling haphazard parking. I have also managed land and resources to build a landfill site.

But people complain that Janakpur is still not clean. The city is still unmanaged.

The Guthi Sansthan holds great power here. When the local government tries to lease land under the management of the corporation to build necessary infrastructure in coordination with all relevant stakeholders, the file gets stuck in limbo. But when others try to obtain land by 'supplementing' their documents with money, their files get passed without delay. This is the unfortunate truth. Because we have not been able to lease Guthi land, we are having difficulties in building infrastructure for waste recycling, processing and disposal. Nevertheless, I have arranged for tractors to collect garbage from people's houses. 

I would like to stress that I have not let any individual or entity encroach upon Guthi land since coming to office. To further dissuade land pinching, we have been constructing public structures on open spaces.

Janakpurdham sees a large number of pilgrims every year. That is why it is necessary to maintain the religious and cultural splendour of this city and make it a tourist destination. We have emphasised the protection and beautification of its shrines and ponds.

Let me not give the example of Nocha Pokhari, which has become one of the most popular picnic spots in the city thanks to the many years of effort we put into it. I would instead want to put forward the Telaha and Madaha ponds which have been repaired and beautified. 

We have worked a lot since our election and have implemented many projects of short-term and long-term impacts. But what I am most proud of is that we are one of the best local levels of Madhes Province for good governance. 

Like almost every other place in Madhes Province, Janakpurdham is currently facing an unprecedented shortage of drinking water. Do you have any plans to solve this?

The sub-metro is currently coordinating with the drinking water office to bore and supply groundwater. Some malicious people are trying to stop us from boring but many want us to go ahead and have been helping us identify places to extract water from.

But, for a sustainable solution, we have to focus on preserving the Chure Range. We have to plant trees to protect the Aurahi and Jalaidh river systems, and build check-dams and lay pipes to bring water to our homes. For this, we are collaborating with Mithila Municipality, Kshireshwornath Municipality and Laxminiya Rural Municipality.

We must learn from the example of Bardibas. People used to hesitate when men from that city asked their daughters' hand in marriage because it had no water to drink. But they revived the Rato River and today, have enough water. We can work a similar magic in Janakpurdham with a few years of sustained effort.

I would like to acknowledge Chure activist Nagdev Yadav, Chure expert Dr. Bijay Kumar Singh, head of President Chure Region Protection Programme Shiva Kumar Pokharel, chair of River System Conservation Journalists' Society Anil Kumar Karna and all others who are helping me draft a working plan to protect Chure's water sources and supply water to our city. 

How do you want the provincial and federal governments to support Janakpurdham's development?

Let me tell you that the federal government is prejudiced. If I am not mincing my words, I would call it discriminatory. The federal government is not as concerned as it should be about preserving and developing the city's heritage. Yes, the local level receives money under the revenue-sharing model but more budget needs to be provided to take special initiatives to develop the city. 

 The provincial government has promised to do more to support Janakpurdham. For this, I would like to thank the Chief Minister. But this promise should not get entangled in bureaucracy. 

Meanwhile, the Rs. 1 billion the Indian government has pledged to provide will be used to build an international-standard Ram Janaki Dharmashala here. Chief Minister Saroj Kumar Yadav did a lot to help us obtain this pledge. For this, I am immensely grateful to him.