Despite 53 years of continuous work on the Sandhikharka-Gorusinghe road connecting the district headquarters, the risk of road travel has not been eliminated. Sanghura Ghumti has to travel risky distances at 50 places including Baseri, Dohote, Narpani, Phudwang, Thada along this road. Due to low budget allocation every year, the work on the same road has not been completed for years.

The Sandhikharka-Gorusinghe road is the old road connecting Gorusinghe in Kapilvastu to Sandhikharka under the East-West Mahendra Highway. Recently, due to the heavy traffic for visitors to the religious pilgrimage site Supa Deurali Temple, the Sandhikharka-Gorusinghe road has been transformed into a tourist route.

Although the district headquarters Sandhikharka can be built a short distance away, former District Development Committee Chairman Pitambar Bhusal said that the southern part of the district should be connected to Sandhikharka via Gorusinge-Paththarkot-Thada-Narapani in Kapilvastu. The road was dug in 2030 BS. At that time, the villagers had dug this road with spades, picks, and shovels for years. He said that when he was a child, he used to dig the road with spades for months, carrying flour and bread from home. ‘It took years to dig the forest,’ he said, ‘This is a road that was dug by carrying food from home to the hut and cooking it in the forest. The road, which was dug in 2030 BS, was first used by a tractor in 2043 BS.’

He said that the villagers gradually widened the road, cut the narrow bends, and made it easier. Gradually, dozers started working on the road. The road was widened from Gorusinge and blacktopped. He said that the blacktop of the one-lane road up to Sandhikharka was completed in 2060 BS. As the traffic volume increased, the government is planning to make it double-lane. ‘Earlier, the bus that left Sandhikharka in the morning would reach Butwal only in the evening,’ said Hum Prasad Shrestha, a businessman from Sandhikharka. ‘Now it takes five hours. If the entire road is double-lane, it will take less time.’

The political leadership of the district goes to the center every year on an all-party basis to make the road double-lane. ‘Until a few years ago, many passengers died prematurely in accidents because the road was narrow and difficult,’ said Kamal Prasad Bhattarai, head of the Sandhikharka branch of the West Nepal Bus Entrepreneurs Association. ‘As the road is gradually becoming easier, the number of accidents has decreased. Travel is becoming easier. There are still many places that are uncomfortable and risky, so it is very necessary to build wide double-lane roads and safety walls.’

After the capital of Lumbini Province was made in Deukhuri, Dang, west of Gulmi, locals from Palpa and Gulmi use this road to travel, which has increased the traffic. Pilgrims from India and various parts of the country come in vehicles to visit Supa Deurali. Narpani has also become a hot destination from the Terai and India. ‘Now this road not only connects the district headquarters but also has become a route for tourists,’ said House of Representatives member Hari Prasad Bhusal, ‘I am planning to rename the Sandhikharka-Gorusinghe road as Supa Deurali Marg.’

He had tried to budget for the road by prioritizing it. Speaking in the parliament meeting on Tuesday, Rastriya Swatantra Party MP Bhusal expressed his dissatisfaction after the government allocated only Rs 50 million for the road, which was estimated to cost Rs 2 billion. ‘We had demanded a budget to upgrade the Sandhikharka-Gorusinghe road to two lanes because of the narrow road,’ he had said in parliament. ‘Only Rs 50 million has been allocated this year for the road, which cost Rs 2 billion. If we continue at this pace, it would take four decades to complete a road. How can this be accepted?’

In the meeting, Bhusal mentioned the group meeting with the Prime Minister before the budget. ‘I had the opportunity to participate in the meeting with the Prime Minister. During that, attention was drawn to the important plan of Arghakhanchi,’ he said in the meeting, ‘After the concerned ministry and secretariat assured the people of the district that the plan would be included this time. We had also assured them that this and that would be included.’ He also said that there was a lot of suspicion that the budget was being circulated around the Shaktikendra.

Sabin Koirala, Office Chief of the Road Division Office, Shivpur, said that although a budget of Rs 200 million was requested for the structure and mode widening, maintenance and other works for the coming fiscal year, only Rs 50 million was received. He said, ‘What will be done with that amount? Rs 50 million is the liability of this fiscal year. Since there is no budget, even general maintenance and pothole repair will be a problem.’

The road is dangerous in places like Baseri Jungle, Phudwang, Sitapur and others on the Sandhikharka-Gorusinghe road section. There are potholes, structural work in the middle of the road, walling, and widening the bends, but despite the demand for an estimated budget of Rs 20 million, no work will be done on the road in the coming fiscal year. This year, the budget of Rs 90 million has been reduced to Rs 50 million. The distance of the Sandhikharka-Gorusinghe road is 68 kilometers. Of this, only 30 kilometers of the road is 7 meters wide. The rest of the distance is 5 meters wide. ‘The road is dangerous in many places,’ he said. ‘There is a lot of traffic as people come to the district headquarters and visit the Supa Deurali Temple, a religious tourist destination, from various places in India and Nepal.’ The journey is not easy and scary because there are many vehicles and the width is narrow.'