Baglung Municipality-7 students are confused when they come to study at Vishwakarma Secondary School. Even sitting on school verandas and playgrounds, the dust bothers you. In the canteen, there is no condition to have clean food and water. The school has been affected by dust since last October.
It has also affected the nearby Kalimati health post. The dust from the under construction Mulpani, Kalimati to Titaure road has affected schools and health posts. Laxman Karki, acting head of the health post, said that women who come for regular pregnancy tests at the health post have been affected by the dust.
'There is little effect inside the health post, but the customers are disturbed when they walk that way,' Karki said, 'If the dust is not managed, many children and women will fall ill.' Not only the school and the health post, but also in the ward office It's sad . Those who come to the daily service are also bothered by the dust . The vehicles, excavators, dozers and trippers of the company building this road section have also affected the local residents due to the dust flying.
The road project under construction at a cost of crores has left the village dusty as there is no water on the road. From morning to night, the contractor's bales are moving, blowing dust. In addition, there is dust in the site where the soil is piled up and crushed.
Local farmers have also suffered due to the dust. Even the vegetables planted in the garden are inedible. Sellers in the market also complained of being hit by dust. "When they reach the school, health post and ward office, they get sick from the dust," said Harkman Vick, a local, "The dust has turned the grass and ground grass into dust." Due to the dust, the cows did not even eat grass and complained that the milk was reduced. This road is under construction to be completed by the end of next June. 250 students of Vishwakarma High School on the side of the road are exposed to dust, while children under 5 years of age who come to the Child Development Center are also exposed to dust. Local restaurant businessmen complain that they are suffering even more.
'Students come to school covered in dust' teacher Pashupati Chapagai said, 'The dust flies so that you can't even sit outside for a while and study.' Ward chairman Meghnath Gayre said that the contractor did not do dust management work. They complain that even the ward office is dirty with dust. Baglung Municipality is constructing 8 and a half km of road from Moolpani to Titaure, 2 and a half km from Odarchaur to Dhodeni and 1 and a half km from Ganeshghumti to Nirayaghat in Ward 7 through the Urban Governance and Infrastructure Development Program.
Baglung Municipality is constructing the road with the help of World Bank grant for 45 crores . Ashish Phewa Joint Construction Company is doing road construction work. Engineer Manoj Sharma said that road construction has progressed 35 percent so far.
Regarding the problem of dust, Sharma told that there is no arrangement to add water immediately. "Work is being done to have a black paper by the middle of June, but there was no agreement to put water, so it was not possible," he said, "in the coming days, such subjects can be taken as learning." He said that he could not do the work of putting. When this road is built, Baglung Municipality will be able to operate regular buses through the ring road. As the road is difficult, the people here are forced to take a circuitous route to reach Baglung Bazar.
The fruits, milk and vegetables grown by the farmers here will also be able to be easily transported to the headquarters. The municipality will be able to connect three wards from Mukam with a tarred road. For that purpose, the World Bank provided a grant of 60 million rupees, but the contract was awarded at a low price.
All these three roads will be 6 to 8 meters wide. The bank has supported urban government reform and infrastructure development programs in 17 municipalities across Nepal. Earlier, with the help of the bank, nearly 7 km of road from ward 4 to 6 of Baglung has been paved. This road has helped in the construction of the ring road of the city.
Municipalities have introduced the idea of a ring road to connect all the wards. Sections from Ward 1 to 7 have been connected with tacks and most of the sections have been tarred. In Wards 8, 9, 10 and 11, roads are being constructed in partnership with the state government since last year. Wards 12, 13 and 14 are also connected by a road network through a separate plan. Donors have supported the plan made by the municipality to run city buses by making them integrated.
Basant Kumar Shrestha, the head of Baglung Municipality, said that the investment was made on roads numbered 1, 2 and 3 prioritized by the Municipal Assembly. "We have worked for the benefit of the people, that's why we are taking steps to remove the dust," said Shrestha, "What can be done immediately is being prepared." In Odarchaur and Nearghat, which are being built together, the problem of dust is less. The road construction towards Nirayaghat has also affected dust in Baglung Municipality 1 Majhi Basti. They have also poured water themselves.
