Locals and travelers have been suffering for a decade due to the collapse of the blacktop on the 46-kilometer road from Katari to Ghurmi in Udayapur, causing mud during the rainy season and dust during the winter.

The potholes have been a source of discomfort for passengers and drivers. Dust has also seriously affected the health of locals. Lil Bahadur Khatri of Patnabhanjyang said that even though this highway in Udayapur area number 2 has been dilapidated and dilapidated for decades, the government has not paid any attention to it. ‘Leaders have started coming to the village to seek votes for the elections, but they should be ashamed when they see the condition of the road,’ he says.

Locals allege that leaders use this road as a tool to seek votes during the elections and ignore it after the elections.

Maoist Mohan Bahadur Khatri, Congress’s Narayan Bahadur Karki in 2070, Maoist Suresh Kumar Rai in 2074 and UML’s Ambar Bahadur Rayamajhi in 2079 were elected from this area.

Voters in this area are angry with the candidates, saying that the highway has not been upgraded during the term of any MP after winning the election. Basanta Bahadur Thapa of Patnabhanjyang, Katari Municipality-8, said that they have no trust in anyone as they have been repeatedly disappointed by the promises of the candidates. ‘The dust on this road, where hundreds of vehicles ply daily, has seriously affected the surrounding settlements. The dust turns vegetables, grains, and vegetables into dust, making them unfit for consumption. The cattle, goats, and grass are all covered in dust, and even the livestock are sick,’ he said.

Although most of the villagers fall ill due to dust and smoke, they complain that the candidates who come to seek votes in the elections have not shown much interest in it.

Gangakumari Thapa, who lives on the roadside, said that she has been going to Biratnagar and Kathmandu for 5 years for treatment due to lung and stomach problems caused by dust and smoke. 'I came after taking medicine, but the dust in front of my house is the same, where should I go, what should I do? There is no one who understands the problem,' she complains.

Drivers of vehicles plying through Katari-Ghurmi say that this road has not been upgraded so far due to the negligence of the government and leaders. 'If we don't walk, we have to work, we have to earn a living by working, if we walk, the condition of the road is like this, we can only cry,' said Jiwan Karki, a Bolero driver from Katari, 'Dust makes it difficult to see the road well, driving based on assumptions is risky, potholes and stones have increased the risk of driving,' he said.

Locals have repeatedly blocked the road demanding the upgrading of the Katari-Ghurmi road section under the Siddhicharan highway, which carries hundreds of vehicles daily.

The road, which has been dilapidated and has been deteriorating for 12 years, has been suffering due to the lack of upgrading. Passengers travelling to various places in Khotang, Okhaldhunga, Solukhumbu and Udayapur via Katari have been suffering. Citizens of the area have been expressing their anger at candidates seeking votes in the elections, saying that the common people have been suffering due to dust in winter and mud in rainy season. “Passengers are forced to travel at a risk due to the dilapidated road. The leaders who won the election did not do anything to upgrade the road. This time, we have to think about it,” said Subash Thakuri of Katahare, Tapli Rural Municipality-5.