Dhangadi, January 1

Three districts of Province 7 have demanded that they be declared the provincial capital.

Locals of Kailali, Dadeldhura and Doti have been demonstrating for the same after formation of pressure group in the respective districts.

Voices are being raised to establish the provincial capital in Attariya of Kailali, Dipayal of Doti and Dadeldhura of Dadeldhura. The pressure groups have also increased their demonstrations for the same in Doti and Dadeldhura districts. District dwellers have started discussing, submitting memorandums to the government and lobbying with powerful leaders to establish the capital of Province 7 in their respective districts.

The pressure group from Kailali submitted a memorandum asking the government to announce Attariya as the provincial capital. Uddab Bhattarai, a member of the pressure group, said that Attariya was appropriate as provincial capital because of its geography, population and infrastructure among others. “Attariya should be the capital of Province 7 to address the demands of Tharus and Ranathrus among others groups,” he added. Most of the elected provincial assembly members from Kailali and Kanchanpur are one on establishing Attariya as the provincial capital.

Provincial Assembly Member Krishna Raj Subedi said Attariya was suitable for provincial capital in every aspect.

The members elected from hilly districts are, however, in favour of establishing the provincial capital either in Dipayal or Dadeldhura.

Similarly, the pressure group formed in Doti said that Dipayal was appropriate for tprovincial capital due to its infrastructure. Doti Chambers of Commerce and Industry Chairman Narendra Khadka said Dipayal was best for provincial capital as it was of international standard and only 50 kilometres away from the international border.

Newly elected provincial assembly member Bharat Khadka from Doti said that the hilly districts would always remain backward in terms of development if the provincial capital was established in the Tarai. “The provincial capital should be in Dipayal as it has sufficient government land along with infrastructure,” he said.

Likewise, locals in Dadeldhura have been demonstrating in favour of declaring Dadeldhura as the provincial capital. Provincial Assembly member Pathan Singh Bohora said Dadeldhura was most suitable for  provincial capital due to the dispute in Kailali and Doti. He said that the provincial capital should be in the hilly district to develop the hilly districts proportionally to Tarai.