Better roads boost rural economy
PARBAT, DEC 26 -
Chandra Kanta Bhusal of Waki VDC in Parbat returned from Saudi Arabia after working as a migrant worker for years and plans to start a new venture in his own village. Bhusal has abandoned the idea of going back to the desert kingdom and wants to start potato farming.
Bhusal was inspired to do something in his homeland after the road linking Chisapani and Ranipani was upgraded. “The road improvement has motivated me to start something of my own here,” said Bhusal.
The 16.4 km road has been upgraded by the Rural Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Sector Development Programme (RRRSDP) with an investment of around Rs 102.8 million. The project is funded by several donor agencies led by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Department for International Development (DFID) and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The track connecting Waling, Syangja to Chisapani was already in operation and was opened in joint initiation of the World Bank and DFID.
Like Bhusal, many people in nine VDCs of Parbat district have benefited by the road development. Now they are looking for various avenues of income generation. Most people who used to depend on remittance for their survival are now planning to go into orange, ginger, cauliflower, radish, tomato and potato farming.
“Due to the bad road, transporters used to charge Rs 350 per quintal to transport goods. Now they charge Rs 250 which has lessened the cost burden,” said Thau Prasad Bhandari of Huwas, Parbat, adding that the road has lessened the remoteness of the place.
Locals of Triveni VDC said that they had exported 20 quintals of oranges to Syangja and around 30 quintals more are being exported within a few days. This has prompted locals of another eight VDCs to start cultivating cash crops. Apart from Syangja, Parbat people are now planning to export their products to major cities like Pokhara and Butwal.
Development of rural roads has also increased real estate transactions in Parbat. Locals in Huwas said that the price of properties have doubled in recent days due to the increment in economic activities. While people used to hardly buy or sell real estate in the past, the number of transactions has increased with people wanting to start their own businesses.
Apart from vegetable and fruit farming, Parbat people have now started commercial farming of livestock like goats, pigs and fish, among others.
Development of motorable roads has also made the price of most daily essentials cheaper. Maya Bhusal of Ranipani said that the price of sugar has gone down from Rs 90 to Rs 80 per kg and rice has become cheaper by Rs 500 per 10 kg. Edible oil for which she used to pay Rs 190 per litre is now available at Rs 160. “Truckers were taking advantage of our remoteness. Since we started travelling to Waling ourselves, prices have started going down here,” Bhusal said.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
