After road construction, 500 Humla mule owners become jobless

By Our Correspondent,Humla, Dec. 9: Mule owners, who used to make good income by carrying goods, are now becoming jobless thanks to the construction of roads in the Himalayan district of Humla 

After all seven rural municipalities in the district are connected by road networks, mules and their owners have lost their employment. There are vehicles now to transport the goods, which previously used to be carried by mules. 

Suresh Thapa of Sarkegard Rural Municipality-4 said that although he used to earn up to Rs. 30,000 daily by transporting goods on mules, he now was spending his time grazing his mules. 

Although the work of transporting goods on mules was a good source of income when the road had reached only Salisalla after the construction of a Bailey Bridge over the Karnali River at Salisalla and the road came into operation in September this year, it has been difficult to find work for mule owners,  he said. 

Stating that out of the twenty mules he had, he sold 13 in lack of jobs,  he said that many mule traders like him had lost their employment after the road came into operation at all local levels. 

Another mule trader Raj Bahadur Rawat said that after he stopped getting work in transporting goods, he shifted his business to goat trading. 

Earlier, as goods were transported everywhere by mules, he earned money by keeping a herd of mules for 10 years, but since September this year, he has started another job because he did not see a future in his old profession. 

He said that his occupation was at risk when he started getting jobs for only two days a week that too at a cheaper rate.   President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Humla, Ram Bahadur Bhandari said that mule traders have become unemployed after all seven rural municipalities in the district were connected to the road network. 

He said that the road has snatched the jobs of 500 youths in Humla, after the practice of carrying goods by mules diminished sharply.  In the past, the mules used to carry goods through a trail where the Karnali corridor is. 

He said that as the work of transporting goods by mule is currently in decline, the youth involved in it are seeking alternatives.