Rima Rana of Deuralitol, Mathagadhi-8, Bahadurpur, chants the name of God while traveling from her village to Jalpa and Tansen. After leaving her house, she remembers the ‘Ramite Bhir’ under Purvakhola Rural Municipality-2, Jalpa. She has to travel through that bhir 8/10 times a month.

‘The road to the bhir is also steep,’ she said, ‘There is gravel on the steep road.’ She said that some jeeps carry more passengers than their capacity on such risky roads.

Like her, local Pema Devi Thapa is also afraid to travel in a car, thinking it is ‘Ramite Bhir.’ However, it is not easy without a car. To reach Jalpa, one has to walk for three hours. ‘Only a jeep can fit on the road,’ she said, ‘when you look at the cliff, it looks like a ring.’ Some people travel on the dangerous cliff by sitting on the roof.

Seven years ago, an accident on this road while taking a woman home from the Mission Hospital in Tansen shocked everyone. Four people died on the spot when the jeep fell off the cliff. Residents of a dozen settlements in Bahadurpur commute through this cliff. Padam Gaire of Baganaskali-7, Khanigaun, said that the ‘Ramite Bhir’ is dangerous. He said that there is danger after reaching the middle of the cliff.

‘You should travel with your eyes closed and taking the name of God,’ he said, ‘It seemed as if the leader’s eyes could not reach the narrow road.’ The digging of the Humin-Jalpa-Bahadurpur road from Tansen to Aryabhanjyang started in 2055 BS. There is a one-kilometer road here. The road with the gravel is scary. According to Dil Bahadur Dhenga, ward chairman of Mathagadhi-8, the road track was finally opened in 2064 BS. ‘Even though the track was opened, attention was not paid to upgrading it,’ he said, ‘Almost all political party leaders and MPs were appealed to. However, the budget was not allocated.’ Dhenga, who has been the ward chairman since 2074 BS, said that he was fed up with the constant visits of former District Development Committee members, members of the House of Representatives, and political party leaders.

Locals said that the MP did not allocate the budget in Bahadurpur under Palpa Constituency No. 1 because there are a majority of people who believe in different political parties. ‘Even though the villagers and the MP belong to different parties, they did not care,’ said a local, ‘That is why the people here did not have access to the road until 2064. The budget was allocated in various ways in neighboring villages. But our road never received a budget.’ After 2074, regular jeep operations were finally resumed after the local level Mathagadhi Rural Municipality started allocating a lot of budget.

This is the road that residents of more than a dozen villages including Bahadurpur, Betini, Tallo Betini, Baghmara, Takatung, Argidanda, Toklokdi, Kihundanda use for business, business, and treatment. Local Gun Bahadur Dhenga said that even for normal work, they have to travel through this road. ‘But when I think about the condition of the road, my life is in danger,’ he said, ‘I couldn’t understand whether it was because some leader didn’t pay attention or the budget wasn’t allocated.’ Another problem is that even if the budget is allocated for road upgrading, it is returned, and construction entrepreneurs don’t work.’

In the fiscal year 2081/82, the Lumbini provincial government had allocated a budget of 50 million. But the work was done elsewhere, leaving aside the difficult situation. Last year, a budget of 10 million was allocated from the Local Infrastructure Development Project Office, Butwal. However, not a single rupee was worked on. According to Raju Thapa Magar, Information Officer of the Project Office, the company that took the contract did not work after seeing the site. Second, even though the entrepreneurs signed an agreement, they returned the budget without doing the work. The Lumbini provincial government has a budget of 32 million in the current fiscal year. The work has not started yet.