13 km of the Gachhe-Bhaluwang road is being blacktopped in the current fiscal year with an investment of Rs 55 million.

The work of blacktopping from Gachhe to Dhikura is underway with an investment of Rs 2.5 crore from the Lumbini provincial government and Rs 50 million from the central government. The Gachhe-Bhaluwang road, which has been under construction since 2056 BS to provide access to the southern part of the district to Dang and Nepalgunj, has been progressing at a slow pace due to lack of budget.

Locals had expected that Lumbini would move forward with priority after the provincial capital was established in Deukhuri, Dang. Even now, due to lack of budget, the work has not been able to gain momentum. Locals estimate that it will take another five years to complete the construction work if the budget is received at this pace.

The regular movement of traffic on this road will facilitate the remote settlements of Jaluke, Jukena, Lamatal, Siddhara, Dhanchaur and other areas of Shitganga Municipality. If this road is completed, it will be easier to transport the goods produced here to the markets of the Terai, said Bhim KC, Ward Chairman of Shitganga Municipality-9. ‘Although the southern area of ​​Arghakhanchi is remote from the Shitaganga district headquarters, it has easy access to Dang and Kapilvastu,’ he said, ‘If there is a road facility, the village and the city will be connected. This area has a lot of forests, fertile land in terms of production, and good potential for animal husbandry.’

He claims that if the facility is provided to transport products such as vegetables, goats, chickens, pigs, eggs, and milk to the city by daily vehicle, the youth in the village will become self-employed. But he said that there is uncertainty about when the construction will be completed as the budget is less every year.

Currently, when traveling to and from the capital, one has to take the East-West Highway Kapilvastu via the Sandhikharka-Gorusinghe road from Arghakhanchi. The distance between Sandhikharka-Gorusinghe-Bhaluwang is 124 km. The nearest two-km distance from Sandhikharka is Gachhe-Bhaluwang, which is 64 km away.

If this road is operational, locals from Gulmi and Palpa will also use this road to commute, and business is expected to increase in the main square of the village, Ward Chairman KC said. The main road connects Bhaluwang in Dang from Lamatal in Shitganga Municipality to the Rapti coast via Badidamar-Pyuthan's Chaite-Rampur.

Road Infrastructure Development Office Chief Gopi Pun Magar said that work is starting this year to blacktop from Gachhe. He said that this budget will be enough to complete more than 13 km of road. The road will be blacktopped with a width of 5.5 meters including drain walls. In the last fiscal year, the provincial government had a budget of Rs 160 million. Ward Chairman KC says that if the budget is available in this way, it will take 5 years to complete the construction.

The construction has also taken years because difficult rocks had to be broken to pave the road in places such as Dhanchaur. Provincial Assembly B MP Ramji Prasad Ghimire said that it took time to open and widen the road due to geographical complexity. ‘Now the road should be blacktopped quickly after securing the budget,’ he said, ‘There is a budget shortage. More budget was spent on piecemeal plans than on completing big projects from the province. The last provincial government did not prioritize the Gachhe-Bhaluwang road in the budget.’