In the first week of January, there was a competition among the leaders-activists of Bajhang to post pictures taken with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel and former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on social media. After the leader posted a picture of a memorandum claiming that he had succeeded in budgeting on the Chainpur-Taklakot road, which is considered the road to prosperity in the Far West, the walls of the social media were painted for almost a week with the activists reposting with praise.

UML leaders-activists were more active in the competition. The Maoist leader-activist was posting claims that the budget was introduced when Pushpa Kamal Dahal was the Prime Minister and not the current government. The Congress leader also seemed to be trying to confirm that there is an initiative to budget by posting the memorandum submitted by him. 

In such posts, there was also a picture of the details of the projects that had been granted resource consent, published by the Budget and Program Division of the Ministry of Finance. In point number 5 of which, it is mentioned that one billion amount of resources have been agreed under the title of Dhangadhi-Khutia-Dipayal-Chainpur-Uraibhanjang road project BPnagar. They claimed that since the amount was allocated for the Chainpur-Taklakot road, the road dream of connecting Bajhang to China would be fulfilled. Judging by the hype on social media, there is no shortage of budget on the Chainpur-Taklakot road, it is in the process of being completed soon.  This claim made by the

leaders was false. This amount was allocated not for the Chainpur-Taklakot road but for the construction of the Dhangadhi to Doti BPnagar road on the Seti Lokmarg. There is no new budget on the Chainpur-Taklakot road. The budget of the old contract has also decreased," says Birendra Yadav, head of the Chainpur-Taklakot road office under the Seti Lokmarg section, "the file submitted for the new budget was not approved.

He says that even though the office has sent the file to the Ministry of Finance through the relevant departments and ministries, the file has not been approved. It is not clear why the budget did not come. It can happen even without reaching political access," he said. 

This is not the first time that the leader of Bajhang, who dreams of the Taklakot road in every election and asks for votes, has shown tact in the name of this road. From the head of the municipality to the deputy head of the state parliamentarian, speaker, federal parliamentarian and ministers sometimes they monitor the construction site with lavalaskar and sometimes they submit a demand letter to the minister-prime minister for speedy road construction. 

District to central leaders rarely miss the topic of this road in speeches and interviews. Leaders and high officials visiting Bajhang from the Center also share assurances that they will emphasize on the construction of this road. There is no progress in this project which can give dimensions to the development of Far Western Province.

At a distance of about 100 km from the headquarters of Chainpur, this road connecting the border with China is only 18 km unpaved to Rupatola in Diyanot Rural Municipality. From there to Dhuli in Saipal, 40 kilometers of road construction work can be completed within two years, so far 19 kilometers of track has been opened in the contract awarded in 2074. 

The construction company Swachhand Baniyan Nagarjuna JV has not completed the construction despite the expiry of the contract which was extended for the second time. The contract, which was extended for the second time, expired last November. The company that signed the contract at a cost of Rs 85 crore has already received Rs 70 crore from the government. Earlier, the construction company said that the delay was due to the geography of the construction site, weather, and internal problems, but this time, the construction company has blamed it on the non-availability of explosives on time. 

"Initially we thought that the track could be opened with machines, later explosives were needed," said the representative of the company, Rishi Banian.

Due to various reasons, this company has not done any work for almost a year, although it restarted from last October when the contract was about to expire, the pace is very slow. Locals estimate that it will take four to five years to open the track up to Dhuli if the work is done at this speed. Leaders have made this road the main agenda, but locals are dissatisfied with the slow pace of construction. 

"Taklakot road has become like a pot to spread confusion and politicize the budget that came to Dhangadhi as it is in Bajhang," says social worker Kalak Khatri, "It makes me angry to see leaders who don't tire of calling Taklakot in social media and speeches but don't care about budget assurance and progress of work."

A separate office has also been established for the north section (Chainpur-Taklakot) road under the Seti Lokmarg to quickly complete the work of this road which is being built for tri-national commercial and tourist purposes. In the project office named Chainpur-Taklakot Road, there are separate posts of project chief, two engineers, two sub-engineers, accountants and other support staff.