The provincial government's plan to create three metropolitan cities in Lumbini Province has been stalled for seven years. In the policy and program for the fiscal year 2075/076, the then Chief Minister Shankar Pokharel had put forward a policy to declare metropolitan cities in Rupandehi, Dang and Banke. However, the plan has been stalled for seven years because the government itself did not prioritize its own declaration.

Lumbini currently has four sub-metropolitan cities - Butwal in Rupandehi, Ghorahi and Tulsipur in Dang, and Nepalgunj Sub-metropolitan City in Banke. The government had proposed a plan to merge Tilottama, Sainamaina, and Siddharthanagar municipalities with Butwal sub-metropolitan city in Rupandehi to form a metropolis. Another major market in Rupandehi is Bhairahawa, which is in Siddharthanagar municipality. Similarly, the government had proposed the concept of forming a metropolis by incorporating Tilottama, which is undergoing rapid development, and Sainamaina, which is located on the East-West Highway. These three major cities in Rupandehi are now interconnected cities.

Similarly, the government had planned to form a metropolis by merging two sub-metropolitan cities of Dang, Ghorahi and Tulsipur, and by merging Nepalgunj Sub-metropolitan City and Kohalpur Municipality in Banke. None of the five governments that followed have shown any interest in the plan to build the three metropolitan cities put forward by the then Chief Minister Pokharel. After Pokharel, the Maoists' Kul Prasad KC and Jokh Bahadur Mahara, UML's Leela Giri, the current Chet Narayan Acharya, and Congress' Dilli Bahadur Chaudhary have led the government in Lumbini. But no Chief Minister has put forward a plan to build a metropolitan city in Lumbini.

Provincial Assembly member and former minister Bishnu Panthi said that the plan to build a metropolitan city has been abandoned because the government has forgotten the plans according to the policy program. He said that the government has not given priority to development in Lumbini, which has great potential for development and prosperity, and has failed in everything from building a metropolis to agriculture and tourism. 'Thoughts and perspectives are important to work and complete plans,' he said. 'The ministers of all the previous governments have neither a plan nor a vision.' He said that no new plans have been introduced in the province because the ministers are focused on personal interests rather than the long-term policy of the province. ‘The progress on the issue of building a metropolis has been zero since the beginning,’ he said.

But Lumbini government spokesperson and Minister for Agriculture, Land Management and Cooperatives Dinesh Panthi said that the issue of building a metropolis is limited to the study of the provincial government. ‘We are still studying it,’ he said, ‘since the work of building a metropolis falls within the jurisdiction of the federal government and the provincial government only makes recommendations, many issues and processes have been limited to the study.’

Although Lumbini has sufficient potential to become a metropolis, there is a lack of coordination with the federal government’s authority and its delegation or decision, he said. The then Chief Minister Pokharel had also given the responsibility to the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure to study it in the fiscal year 2075/076, but no work was done.

Butwal Sub-metropolitan City Mayor Khelraj Pandey said that Butwal should be made a metropolis by connecting Dobhan in Palpa to Belahiya in Siddharthanagar. He argued that cold water from Palpa's Dobhan and mountain produce can be easily transported to India from Sunauli via Belhiya, and that many benefits can be gained as the products produced there can be easily brought through the Sunauli border.

'The main point for implementing federalism is that local governments should become strong,' he said, 'That is why it is now necessary for every local level to identify, search for and expand its resources.' He said that when making Butwal sub-metropolitan city a metropolitan city, it would be appropriate to connect Dobhan, the foothills of the mountains, to Belhiya, the northern region of India. 'That should have been done soon, it has been delayed,' he said, 'This too is not happening only because of our desire, it seems that the main ones have not tried to do it.' He said that despite repeated requests, there has been no hearing from both the province and the union.

Nepalgunj sub-metropolitan city had also put forward a proposal to make it a metropolitan city in 2078 BS. Nepalgunj had a plan to convert Kohalpur Municipality into a metropolis. Although the proposal to upgrade Nepalgunj Sub-metropolitan City to a metropolis was passed by the 2078 BS municipal assembly, it has been stalled so far, said Prashant Bista, Mayor of Nepalgunj Sub-metropolitan City.

‘Nepalgunj had passed the proposal through the municipal assembly and moved forward,’ he said, ‘but since the union and the provinces did not show interest, that plan has been stalled.’ He said that the tendency to make plans but not to implement concrete work has increased frustration among citizens. ‘It would have been good to connect two big cities and make a metropolis,’ he said, ‘but concrete work has not been done.’

Upgrading a sub-metropolitan city and declaring it a metropolis increases development and opportunities for citizens. Employment is created. But Tulsipur Sub-metropolitan City Chief Tikaram Khadka said that the two levels of government have not shown interest in it. Dang has Tulsipur and Ghorahi sub-metropolitan cities. Since both are big cities, Khadka claims that both should be merged to form a metropolis. ‘It would have been better if preparations were made to announce it by the next election,’ he said, expressing hope. ‘If the union and the provinces were serious and put forward a plan, all the sub-metropolitan cities oriented towards big cities would be ready.’ He claims that Lumbini, which has potential in tourism and agriculture, needs a metropolis.

These are the criteria for a metropolis

It is necessary for a metropolis to have at least 300,000 people, a 500-bed specialist hospital, a stadium, an airport, a bus park with a terminal, a technical school, a vegetable wholesale market center, and other structures. All three sub-metropolitan districts of Lumbini Province have met all of these criteria.

Former Secretary to the Government of Nepal Man Bahadur BK says that since Lumbini has a city that meets the criteria for a metropolis, the union and provincial governments should put forward a plan and prepare. "If something is not up to the standards, a study should be started to see if it is possible to achieve it," he said. "It is necessary to prepare the necessary infrastructure and declare it a metropolis, and the local, provincial and federal governments should take the initiative in this." He said that declaring a metropolis would benefit citizens and increase tax sources for the state.