Karnali making strides in infrastructure

By Navin Subedi,Surkhet, Jan. 20: Looking at the data of the past three and a half years, Karnali seems to have made great strides in physical infrastructure development. 

As per the figures released by the province's Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development, the Karnali government has constructed 82.14 kilometres of motorable and paved roads in 42 months. Roads in Salyan, Rukum West, Dailekh and Surkhet have been blacktopped, with over a dozen roads tarred in Surkhet only. In the whole of Birendranagar Valley, the provincial government has tarred 17 roads. This includes the road near the office of Ward No. 8 of Birendranagar Municipality (180 metres), the Elite Boarding School Hotline Road (80 metres), Shankarchowk-Pritana Road (1,400 metres), Batuli-Acharya Tea Shop Road (123 metres), Alayachaur Road (250 metres) and one kilometre of road connecting the valley's park with some major tourist destinations.

The Sundarmarg Road (550 metres), northern section of the Chandraman Chowk Road (630 metres), the road leading to the Fulbari Chowk (250 metres) and the Kharkholi Road (500 metres) have also been blacktopped. 

Some roads, though, remain to be blacktopped because of contractors' negligence, the ministry said.

However, Ramesh Subedi, spokesperson for the ministry, said that the provincial government had focused on opening tracks and gravelling roads rather than blacktopping because not all parts of the province had road access. That is why he said it was irrelevant to say that the province had only blacktopped 20 to 30 kilometres of road a year. 

According to the ministry, the government has so far opened 102.94 kilometres of new track this fiscal year. Over the past three and a half years, it has opened 2,527.05 kilometres of track. 

Similarly, the Karnali government has gravelled 464.61 kilometres of road in the same period and built 226.23 kilometres of drainage, 71 suspension bridges and 27 motorable bridges. The ministry claimed that it had also constructed 11 communal buildings, 291 residential houses and 241 homes for economically disadvantaged people.

"It is not that the province has not done anything. But its achievements have been concealed by those seeking to discredit it," Subedi said.

The Physical Infrastructure Ministry has been given a budget of Rs. 10,114,261,000 this fiscal year. Of this, Rs. 9,835,543,000 is the capital or development budget. The ministry had only been able to spend 7.15 per cent of this development budget by January 14.