Bajura, July 13

The authorities concerned seem to have paid no attention to development activities in remote Bichhaya village of Bajura district, with locals deprived of basic facilities, such as education, transportation and delivery of daily essentials.

Local students  are compelled to go to distant places to pursue higher studies due to lack of higher secondary school in the village, which is five days’ walk from the district headquarters, Martadi.

The only high school in the village, Bichhaya High School also lacks physical infrastructure. The school has a total of 229 students who are forced to take classes in the open for want of school building and furniture.

A local, Pune Thapa, said it was not possible to run classes when it rained. School inspector at the District Education Office, Bajura, Umesh Regmi said all schools in the village lacked human resources and physical infrastructure.

Locals said the authorities concerned paid no attention to building a bridge over the local Siudeni Khola. Earlier there was a bridge but it was swept away in 2014.

Another local, Ammalal Budha Thapa, said children from Rumdi and Siudeni were compelled to reach Bichhaya High School risking their lives while crossing the river. He said locals were also forced to use wooden bridges to cross local rivers at multiple locations, including Devasain, and Chhinduri, among other places.

Other development activities such as road construction in the village are non-existent. Due to absence of    transport facility, the village has to rely solely on porters and animals for delivery of daily essentials.

A local, Brikha Bahadur Bhandari, said they had no option but to buy goods at exorbitant prices. “We have to pay Rs 60 to 100 even for a packet of salt,” he added.