JUMLA, May 9: With the election date approaching nearer, locals of Jumla are determined to participate in the polls and vote for the candidates who will develop transportation in the district.
With just five days left for the local elections, political leaders, candidates and cadres have intensified their visits to the villages in order to seek vote. This has emptied the district headquarters Khalanga. Though political parties and candidates are making many promises, the locals have attached top priority to building roads and developing transportation in the district. They have assured to cast votes for those candidates who will understand the need of the villages and formulate their plans accordingly.
Billions for local roads in home districts of bigwigs
Locals of various rural municipalities like Tila, Hima, Kankasundari, Gothichaur and Patarasi have clearly announced that they will be voting for those candidates who are willing to build roads and develop transportation in these areas.
Aimed at winning votes, political parties and candidates have promised to make a lot of changes but their plans seem less likely to have impressed the locals. Instead, the villagers have suggested them to focus on transportation which is the most important infrastructure for the village as of now. Birkha Budha of Tila Rural Municipality requested the political leaders to bring an ambulance in the village so that no one in the village has to die due to the lack of treatment. “It is really difficult to take patients to the hospital with the help of wheel chairs as the way to the hospital is very narrow and difficult,” said Budha, adding “Sometimes, we are worried that our sick family members won’t return alive with their wheel chairs stuck in the middle of the way.”
It takes almost four hours on foot for the villagers to reach the Karnali Highway.
According to Simanta Rokaya of Kankasundari Rural Municipality, “The locals of Jumla are in search of a candidate who can provide food, shelter, education, health, employment, transportation and the right to live equally.”
There are a lot of places in Jumla that don’t have access to roads. This has ultimately deprived the locals of various other services and infrastructures. As Jumla is also one of the tourist destinations of Nepal, locals have urged the candidates to make plans to build roads in rural Jumla which can attract a lot of tourists. Villagers are hopeful that they won’t have to walk for days to the headquarters and other districts in search of better facilities.
There are seven rural municipalities and one municipality in Jumla.
