Initiative underway to develop Butwal as tourist stopover

By Bhuvan Karki,Rupandehi, May 29: Efforts are underway to transform Butwal, the major commercial centre of Rupandehi, into a tourist stopover. The city aims to attract tourists traveling from the Korala border point to Lumbini and from India to Korala via Butwal.

The Butwal Sub-Metropolitan City has launched this initiative with the goal of bringing Hindu pilgrims from India en route to Muktinath and Buddhist tourists from China heading to Lumbini to stop and rest in Butwal.

As part of the plan, Mayor of Butwal Municipality Khel Raj Pandey has initiated discussions with local governments in Palpa, Gulmi, Syangja, Baglung, Myagdi and Mustang districts to foster cooperation and launch a joint initiative to attract tourists.

According to Mayor Pandey, they have met with representatives from local levels such as Kaligandaki (Syangja), Tansen (Palpa), Kaligandaki (Gulmi), Jaimini (Baglung) and various rural municipalities in Mustang, including Lomanthang, Gharapjhong, Lo-Ghekar Damodar Kunda, and Baragung Muktikshetra. They agreed to cooperate in promoting tourism and to organise a summit of municipalities soon.

Butwal has also reached a sister-city agreement with Kaligandaki Rural Municipality of Syangja and Gharapjhong Rural Municipality of Mustang. “Butwal is a strategic city that connects almost every part of the country and has road access from India and China.

Vehicles to most destinations in Nepal operate from here and the Bhairahawa International Airport offers air connectivity as well, said Mayor Pandey. 

“We aim to exploit these advantages to facilitate travel for Hindu tourists coming from India to Muktinath and Korala, and for Buddhist tourists coming through Korala from China to Lumbini,” he said.

He added that a tourist information centre would be established in Butwal, and tour packages will be developed in collaboration with tourism entrepreneurs to attract tourists from India and China.

In line with this, Butwal Sub-Metropolitan City and Gharapjhong Rural Municipality of Mustang have agreed to cooperate in promoting religious tourism. Both local bodies have pledged to jointly develop the Kaligandaki Corridor as a religious tourism route.

During a visit to Mustang, Butwal's delegation also reached an understanding with Gharapjhong to continue cooperation and coordination in development, service delivery and religious tourism promotion. A formal programme will soon be organised to formalise this sister-city relationship.

Furthermore, Butwal and Gharapjhong will jointly organise a large-scale interaction and discussion programme by bringing together all local governments located along the Butwal-Muktinath trail to promote religious tourism, Mayor Pandey said.

Deputy Mayor of Butwal Sub-Metropolitan City, Sabitra Devi Aryal, added that the city would take the lead in promoting and marketing local products from Mustang, and Gharapjhong would support the promotion of Butwal’s local products.

Likewise, representatives from Jaimini Municipality (Baglung), Kaligandaki (Syangja), Kaligandaki (Gulmi), Lomanthang, Gharapjhong, Lo-Ghekar Damodar Kunda and Baragung Muktikshetra Rural Municipalities (Mustang) expressed their commitment to join hands with Butwal in the tourism promotion campaign.

Harihar Sharma, Deputy Mayor of Jaimini Municipality, said that Butwal and Jaimini will collaborate to promote both tourism and trade. Bed Magar, Chairperson of Kaligandaki Rural Municipality (Gulmi), Vice Chair Manju Kumari Darlami, and Kaligandaki (Syangja)  Vice Chair Sabitra Koirala also expressed their commitment to work together under Butwal’s leadership for tourism and trade development.