In Picture:Â A dilapidated section of the Amarpath road in Kankai Municipality, Jhapa in this recent picture.
Jhapa, June 14, 2016:Â While the government upgraded number of VDCs across the country to municipalities, people were hopeful that it would roll out development plan that is expected in a typical municipality. People in Jhapa also had similar expectations. However, three years down the line, locals of these newly declared municipalities have realized that the only thing that has changed in the course of time is nothing but the tax rate. While the facilities have been rarely availed, they are paying higher tax to the government as they now live in a municipality.
“During monsoon, it’s hardly possible to get through the roads. It’s so muddy, slippery, with potholes everywhere,” says Anil Dev Rai, of Satakschhidham municipality – 5. He said that many villages which are now part of a municipality lack even basic facilities. “Schools, hospitals, government offices and other public service providers are still centrally located in the district. People in different corners of the district are still deprived of facilities. The upgrade has been limited to namesake,” he added.
Locals claim that municipalities in Jhapa lack fire brigade and ambulances. Along with that, they also lack infrastructures for responding any crisis or emergency. There are eight municipalities in Jhapa including the five new.
Kankai, Satakchhidham, Shani Arjun and Gauradaha municipalities are poorest of all in terms of infrastructures. According to the municipalities’ officials, the government has not yet released budget for making necessary upgrades. While they say that they expected to have fire brigades with each of them, they have not received any so far. Not only the new, some of the old municipalities also lack them. And those who have it don’t have functional fire brigades that would come in use in time of emergency.
“In Mechinagar, Bhadrapur and Damak municipalities too, the fire bridge they have are out of use,” said an official. “When any mechanical failure is seen, these vehicles are hardly repaired. What’s the use of having such machines which can not be used in time of need?” he questioned.
Satashidham and Shivagunj VDCs were merged in Satashidham municipality. This municipality also lacks fire brigades. The lack can have serious consequences for them considering the fact that fires are common here, especially in summer. This situation, locals feel, is a serious setback in addressing their safety and security concerns. In the past some of them have lost house, assets and some have even lost their loved ones to infernos, which would have been saved if they had fire brigades in place. Chief Executive Officer, Hariprasad Guragain, defended that the municipality has plans in place to respond to such situation.
Guragain stated that the municipality borrows fire brigade from municipality in neighborhood during emergencies. “Whenever we require we call for fire brigades from other municipalities. But it is a problem, if they are fighting against their own emergency or if the machine is not in condition to respond to crisis,” said Guragain. “The government has not provided any budget for procuring fire brigades and its not possible for manage funds to buy a fire brigade on our own,” he added.
Fire brigade is just one of the many lacks that these municipalities are facing. Locals now feel that the conditions of roads within have worsened following upgrade to municipality from VDC. “Mahabhara road was in good condition before our VDC upgraded to municipality. But now the same road is in dilapidated condition,” said Rai.
Equating roads with development, Rai said that poor transportation facility means poor development in any given region. Elaborating further on the woes of the municipalities, he said that many of them are still deprived of basic facilities like electricity, drinking water, irrigation, health centers, and educational institutions, among others.
Shaniarjun municipality was also formed by merging Sanishchare and Arjundhara VDCs. It has no different story to tell. Road and electricity are the biggest issue here. During monsoon, the road connectivity is badly affected.
Gauradhaha was announced municipality just a year ago. According to Krishna Bahadur Karki, CEO at the municipality, it does not have adequate budget to ensure sanitation, telephone facilities, electricity, roads and health centers, among others, in the municipality. “Facilities are not on par. We get no budget to upgrade the facilities,” he said.
Bhim Prasad Adhikari, former president of Surunga VDC, said that the government should have upgraded necessary infrastructures before upgrading VDCs to municipalities. “Markets, roads, electricity, sanitation, drinking water among others are basic need of people. It would have been better if the government had appraised the condition of the VDCS, built necessary infrastructures and than upgraded them to municipalities,†he said adding that lack of far sightedness has frustrated the locals who despite lacking every facility that municipality is supposed to provide, have to pay high taxes.
By Raju Adhikari
