Kanchanpur, December 2

“If we get a far-sighted leader, Purnarbas has the potential to become one of the most developed towns of the country,” says former Indian army serviceman Sanju Gurung, explaining how place was originally envisaged as a planned town in 1971 and how it now lacks basic facilities such as black-topped roads, water supply, drainage and electricity.

Punarbas, which means re-settlement in English, was the brainchild of late King Mahendra and the project was inspired by Chandigarh, one of the early planned cities in post-independence India, according to Gurung, who owns a house in sector 38 of the settlement. The project was initiated by resettling landslide victims of Dhading, Surkhet and Bhojpur in Punarbas. Initially, there were seven clusters from ‘Ka Gaun’ to ‘Chha Gaun’, while more clusters like Araniko Basti, Ram Basti, Balabhadra Basti — named after national heroes—were added later.

The resettled families had been given three bighas of land each for residence and farming, and the town was planned to have modern facilities like inner roads, water supply, electricity, cinema halls and green parks in each cluster.

However, the plan never materialise, and the residents have now even encroached roads, let alone green parks, according to another local Khushi Ram Tamang. He said land plots measuring five katthas had been earmarked in each of the clusters for green parks with an aim of having open spaces to take refuge during natural disasters such as earthquakes. “But now, there’s no such safe place,” Tamang said.

Gurung added that Punarbas also lacked basic health facilities and electricity. “The village was connected with a three-phase power line just three months ago,” he said. “A treatment centre for snake-bite, which is rampant here, and other facilities like irrigation, drinking water and drainage are still uncertain.”

Since the elections during the Panchayet era, local residents are expecting the rise of a leader who could resume the development of the region. All the election candidates are assuring development, but the locals doubt if any leader would walk the talk. “We can only hope,” said Gurung, blaming the leaders for Punarbas lagging behind nearby towns such as Mahendra Nagar, Belauri and Dhangadi.

Voters of Punarbas, which now falls under Kanchanpur-1, are demanding basic infrastructure with every  poll candidate.

In the parliamentary election, the left alliance’s Bina Magar is contesting against Diwan Singh Bista of the Nepali Congress.