The DEVELOPING ASIA JOURNALISM AWARD WINNING STORY

By: Gajendra Budhathoki

(This is a story about how private sector can play vital role in the process of development. The Udayapur district, a mid-terrain district (430 km away from capital city Kathmandu) has only 7 Km pitch road. Much of the district has covered by hilly areas. This is a district of under-development. Government's priority rate to the development of this district is very low. Two national highways are planned to construct covering this district, but governments allocation to these Road Projects are very low. It seems these projects will take more time to complete. Despite this factor local transport entrepreneurs invest money to rural roads and started public transport without governmental supports. This is a pilot work for private initiative in the development. )

The road has been just traced out, condition is not better yet. It is believed that if it is left unilaterally to government, it may take more than a century to be completed. Government hardly allocates ten millions Rupees for this road in budget announcement, but it gets only five millions when passing budgets to the project and after all when the work in progress the project gets the limited budget of only three millions. This is the reality of upper Sagarmatha Highway. The highway has been started to connect the district headquarter of Udayapur, Gaighat to the headquarter of Khotang, Diktel. In the past 9 years has completed cycling the same order. Only 26 kilometer, out of 182 km, road has been hardly traced during one decade.

The Baruwa River, which generally have a strong flow in rainy season became the great hurdle for this roadway. The layer of the road is very poor because it has been traced recently and the road starts across this river. Only graph of the road could be seen. Sometimes the continuous rain dismisses the graph also. But on the other hand local transport entrepreneurs has strong determination to rich out public transport to everywhere in the district. However, the concept of the traveling has not been dismissed and the process of tracing the road kept on. The transport entrepreneurs have the strong interest to complete the motorway; therefore they requested the permission of local authorities to run public transport.

"The way was very hard to complete, everybody do not have the hope of completing it, but we kept on our process because it was the prestige to us." - says Prem Chamling, President of Himali Yatayat (Himali Transport Entrepreneurs Association-HTEA).

"Everybody says you can't operate public transport on this road, the road condition is also bad, but we didn't harassed, we invested money to maintain the road and we started to operate public transport." - Chamling further describes that they did not wait and blame the government. Instead, they worked. If they have depended upon government only, the Udayapur's people would have never seen the bus in their area.

Their hardwork, for the sake of prestige at beginning, has turned in a good result now. For 23 Km ways, they started Public Bus service, which leads towards SAUNE. It does not only shorten the way to upper hilly villages of Udayapur and Khotang, but also used as a companionship to the local Villagers. They are fruitful to have such transportation for the things they need in daily life. Everyone has the charming to have such transportation. Ganesh B.K. a man of Bokse (half an hour walking distance from Gaighat), who have gone to SAUNE to take some bamboo, smiling genuinely, "It has changed our life style." The same idea does have with Nar Bahadur Rai, resident of SAUNE, "We can take oranges and other local products, such as herbs, towards market easily".

The public transportation facility towards SAUNE has made drastic change of their financial activities. The numbers of shops and other business activities has been multiplied in a short duration. Now we get Chowmin, Thukpa, Puri-Jalawi, Pakauda and all kinds of veg and non-veg meals in well-decorated shops. Before this there were only two shops full of local wines (JAAD & RAKSI). Ram Kumar Bista of Indrayanipokari (Khotang) has shifted to SAUNE last year to become a shopkeeper. He has started his shop with a small capital of ten thousand rupees, but now his daily transaction is not less than seven hundred rupees. All kind of shop does not seem to be expensive in this newly developed hilly station. 60 rupees have been charged for transportation; according to the villagers this is not costly.

This is not a first work of HTEA to the road tracing and operating public vehicle."Himali Yatayat has done much to trace the motorway in other areas of district also, where it has maintained rural road and operated public buses ", said secretary of HTEA, Om Bhakta Mainali.

Similarly, Udayapur Cement Industry, which was established in Jaljale (7 Km to Gaighat), has made their work even easier. The cement factory has made a way to Murkuchi to take limestone from mine. This is the first step of HTEA to operate public buses to rural, hilly and unconditioned roads. Mohan Singh Tamang's experience to this road is quite interesting - "after operating public buses in this hilly rural road, The Murkuchi, a hilly station, is became a good commercial center now." He was working in public transport sector for many years.

After the Murkuchi has becoming a commercial center, the Udayapur District Development Committee decided to construct rural road to connect old district headquarter, the Udaypur Gadhi and Murkuchi. Committee has traced the Murkuchi-Nepaltar road under the 'food for work programme'. "But the road which was made by only human has a large extent of difficulties, if you want to drive you take risk of your life," says Tilak Bhujel, a driver of Paruhang Travels (a bus operated to Murkuchi-Nepaltar). Sometimes I had to take my bus with two tyres in road and two tyres out of the road.''

HTEA's president Mr. Chamling's determination was really encourageble. His idea of self-funding on the rural roads has great importance and challenge for the government. The Paruhang is his own bus, he has self-funded for maintenance in Murkuchi-Nepaltar rural road.

Another side of the district, Katari, the main commercial center of Udayapur (46 Km from district headquarter), where the Royal Nepal Army involved to construct the Sagarmatha Highway. Concept of this highway was to link Katari to Okhaldunga. The road project is under-construction, but the transport personals' hurries to keep the vehicles toward Ghurmi, which occurred 42 km from Katari. Local bus operators requested to the Army Authority but initially they were given permission to run for only limited vehicles. When the road had handed over to local government in 2050 BS (in 1994/95) the way of transport became easy, according to Kajiman Tamang the president of local bus operators' association. They said at this moment there are 30 buses running by dial-system.

Another commercial center of Udayapur, Beltar has also been connected with the transport network since 2001. Transport expert says-there has much difficulties to operate vehicle in the way of Gaighat-Fattepur, due to the swampy area of shore of Triyuga River. Vehicles need to cross sandy path on various areas on this road, in the rainy season there has much harder.

The bus service has been started despite of hurdles. Now the 50 km way to Gaighat-Jogidaha-Handiaya-Beltar-Basaha, has covers by the public transport service since 2002.

"The rural roads has been constructed by local people on their active participation, but we, the transport entrepreneurs make our contribution for maintaining the road in proper condition to operate public buses," says Om Bhakta Mainali, secretary of HTEA.

The bus operators also facing a lot of hurdles for their work but they made their own rules and regulation to run the system properly.

Before operating buses in the local route, there was needs to move from Belatar, from the way of Fattepur of Saptari-Kanchanpur and finally to the capital city Kathmandu and Dharan. From the last year when government completed bridge on Triyuga River near by Fattepur, the local transport network has extended to Thoksila, the eastern border of the district, and the bank of Saptakoshi River. At the beginning, the way was very small and congested, there has only a cart with ox was able to move, but when this path has developed into the rural road, now public bus was running there.

The bus operators have also joined their service to Bhagalpur through Fattepur and Ambashi. There has also inner bus service conducted now inside Triyuga municipality.

HTEA has extended its members to move them150 numbers now and their plan to link bus service in every corner of the district, where has graph of the path. Mr. Chamling has the prospectus of the prospered District. " We entrepreneurs should not think or look for self benefit, it is for the mass advantage. And if our project succeeds, in long term our business also get advantage.'' He has looking beyond, after the operating public buses in rural areas, where the road has just traced out. HTEA has made rule for operating public vehicles in these areas, they who want to run buses in this route, have to invest in the maintenance of these roads and they cannot add this cost as a burden to public fare. Their non-dependent to the government is much appreciable.

The transport professionals' investment to the motorway and its components were highly challenging. They've planned to surround the whole district with motorways. They did not even have records of invested money and labour.

"We didn't have any record of investment. In everywhere in the district where public buses are operated now, we invested there, money has counted millions of Rupees at all," says Mr. Mainali, Secretary of HTEA, while asked about their contribution s.

The first bus service to Gaighat started in 1990, when Jha transports' one old bus goes to Gaighat, gradually follows by Das Bus service and Natraj travels. Now in Gaighat, there have more than 60 buses in operation. The well-known commercial center Katari also serving around 60 buses, where as the Beltar has 25 buses. Around half of these buses have been conducted in internal rural routes.

(Translated from National Daily NEPAL SAMACHARPATRA, Published in 19th of April 2003, in the National Daily NEPAL SAMACHARPATRA's Saturday Supplement – SAUGAT.