Jit Bahadur Khatri, 65, of Chargaun, Putha Uttarganga Rural Municipality-8, is selling oranges that have grown wildly throughout his garden for barely Rs. 50 per kilo.

It is difficult to sell it easily even at this price. He has planted oranges in an area of ​​about 7 ropanis and has to find horses and mules to take the fruit to the market. The transportation cost is expensive, making it difficult for him to raise the investment.

Khatri's garden produces fruits such as oranges, lemons, bananas and apples according to the season. But he has a complaint that he cannot transport them to the market by car. He says, 'It has been cultivated with care. It grows well. But all the produce is hardly sold even at a cheap price, the rest goes to waste. If a car had come, it could have been taken to the market, but it cannot be carried.'

In the villages of Rukum East, which do not have access to roads, on the one hand, local produce has not been able to find a market, and on the other hand, it has been difficult for the general public to move around. Of the total 3 municipalities in the district, only Bhume Rural Municipality has road access to all wards. In the remaining two, Puthauttarganga and Sisne Rural Municipality, some wards are not reached by road, and the locals are suffering.

Out of the 14 wards of Puthauttarganga, only 7 wards have road facilities. Similarly, in Sisne Rural Municipality-1 and 2, the daily life of the common people is difficult due to the lack of roads. In the absence of roads, people are forced to bring daily necessities themselves or by carrying them on horses or mules, and even when they fall ill, they have to bear the burden of suffering and illness.

‘The produce here is not enough to eat throughout the year. We have to buy rice and also carry salt, oil and clothes from the district headquarters, Rukumkot,’ says Dhan Bahadur Budha of Sisne Village, Sisne-1. ‘In every election, those who come to seek votes say that we will build roads and provide motor vehicles.’ But let alone that motorway, those leaders will not return until the next election.'

Saying that only their address has changed after federalization, another local from Sisne, Rama Kumari Budha, lamented that they have not been able to experience development and ease. 'It's not that nothing has happened, but paths and some suspension bridges have been built. But this alone will not alleviate our suffering,' she said.

The road track up to Pelma in Putha Uttarganga-2 has yet to be opened, while the Sani Bheri River in Ward-1 Maikot has no bridge, so it is often difficult to travel due to the increase in water flow. Similarly, the road tracks leading to Ward-3 Ranma, Ward-4 Arjal, Wards-7 and 8 Chargaun and Ward-9 Kharbang have been opened, but there is no way for vehicles to move.

Road construction has not picked up speed due to the lack of motorable bridges at about half a dozen places on the Sanibheri River. Even in wards where road facilities are not available, vehicles are unable to move around even though dozers are being sent to dig up the track, causing problems for the locals.

Rajkumari Sen, a local from Chargaun, said that it would be easier and faster to reach her village from Deukhola via Sisne-2 than from Putha. ‘Currently, vehicles come to Deukhola, but from there you have to walk all day to reach home,’ she said. ‘You have to travel through the steep path and face the fear of the river and landslides. It is not easy.’

Stating that they are taking all possible coordination and initiatives with the provincial and federal governments to provide roads to areas without transportation facilities, Sisne Rural Municipality Vice-Chairman Gopal Reule said, ‘First of all, a bridge needs to be built in Sanibheri to connect Wards-1 and 2 from Deukhola to the road network. For this, preparations are underway through the Lumbini Provincial Government. We are working hard to speed up this work.’