Okhaldhunga rural roads in sorry state

Okhaldhunga, July 11

With the onset of monsoon, locals travelling on the rural roads of Okhaldhunga rural have to put their lives at risk.

Most of the roads in the district are constructed without meeting the set criteria. Now the monsoon rain has made travel on the Rumjatar-Okhaldhunga, Okhaldhunga-Ghorakhori, Gorumare-Buipa, Ramailodanda-Bhusinga, Okhaldhunga-Shreechaur, Dhande-Khijifalate, Sanghutar-Gamnangtar roads very risky.

Jeep driver Anil Giri said they had to take a great risk to operate vehicles on the muddy roads.

“It’s really challenging to travel on these routes, many of which are newly constructed and unfinished roads, while others are old routes that have not bee repaired for ages,” he said, adding that vehicles often skidded on the slippery roads.

Former district chair of Community Forest Users’ Federation Gopalnath Thapa rued the condition of the roads and blamed it on the tendency of constructing roads without proper environment impact study. “The tendency to open new tracks and leave them unfinished has caused the problem,” he said.

District Coordination Committee Chief Jaya Bahadur Shrestha appreciated the construction of new roads but cautioned that development works should be carried out keeping in view the risk factor.