Floods, fund crunch disrupt industrial village plan in Kavre

By Kedar Timalsina,Banepa, may.1: The government’s ambitious plan of establishing “One Industrial Village in Every Local Level” has faced a snag in Kavrepalanchok district, with construction either stalled or damaged across four municipalities. 

Initiated in the fiscal year 2020/21, the project aimed at boosting local employment and small-scale industries by investing in infrastructure at the local level. However, lack of continued funding and natural disasters have derailed the plan.

In Roshi Rural Municipality, where the federal government had invested in building administrative infrastructure for the industrial village, a flash flood from the Roshi River swept away the entire structure in September last year, leaving no sign of the project.

In Dhulikhel Municipality, work began near Ward No. 10 at Kavre Bhanjyang, with the site survey and access road completed. However, according to Sub-Engineer Harichandra Samichhane, after an initial allocation of Rs. 9.2 million in 2020/21, no further budget was provided. Out of the initial funds, around Rs. 5.8 million was spent in the first year and Rs. 2.1 million the following year on the access road. Due to the site’s proximity to a forested area, an Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) is required before further work can proceed.

In Panauti’s neighbouring Panchkhal Municipality-7, a “Green Month Industrial Village” was inaugurated with promises to empower local women and promote local products through processing, branding, and marketing. Spread over 99 ropanis of land, the foundation stone was laid by the then Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Despite this, budget constraints have brought construction to a standstill. Engineer Sujan Adhikari confirmed that no budget has been allocated in the current fiscal year, although a request for funding was submitted.

Likewise, in Mandandeupur Municipality-6, construction began on a 70-ropani of land out of a planned 200 ropanis, with the support of the Bagmati Provincial Government. While some groundwork was completed—including fencing, levelling, and construction of a small building—work has now halted. 

Of the Rs. 15 million allocated in the first year, only Rs. 7.7 million was utilised. An additional Rs. 5 million was provided the next year for site preparation, but there has been no funding since.

According to Sitaram Ghimire, Chief of the District Office of Industry and Commerce, an industrial village planned for Gairichaur in Mandandeupur has seen no budget allocation since the last fiscal year, despite 771 ropanis of land being allocated for development.

The federal government had invested Rs. 16.8 million, and the rural municipality added another Rs. 5.4 million to develop the site in Roshi, including building an administrative centre and boundary wall. But the infrastructure was destroyed by flooding, erasing the village's physical existence.

The project was initiated to mobilise local resources, raw materials, technology, and skills to develop and promote small and medium-sized enterprises and create jobs at the local level. However, mismanagement, insufficient follow-up funding, and environmental challenges have left the ambitious vision largely unfulfilled.