BANKE: The people from Rapti River bank of Banke district have made up their mind to cast votes to those who could help resolve their long-enduring problems of inundation and soil erosion.
“The candidates contesting the upcoming parliamentary election on November 20 must demonstrate their willingness and capability to deliver on the inundation and soil erosion problems to win our votes,” said resident of Daduwa Rural Municipality-1, Rajkumar Shukla.
Daduwa River and Rapti River have been sweeping away a vast stretch of arable land and inundate human settlements every year, thereby affecting as many as 24,000 people of 5,000 households from Holiya, Betahani, Fattepur, Tepari and Ghodiyanpur, according to Shukla.
He frowned that none of the government in the past had taken concrete initiatives to solve the issues facing the residents of Rapti River bank.
Shukla, who is also secretary of the Laxmanpur Embankment Struggle Committee, ranted that although the election hopefuls were running door-to-door campaign to lobby for votes, they seldom revisit their constituencies after their election to the post.
According to him, the locals in Rapti River bank area were long facing inundation and floods due to the Laxmanpur Embankment built by India on the Nepal-India border area breaching the international rule.
However, CPN (UML) candidate contesting to the House of Representatives election from Banke constituency no 1, Surya Dhakal, shared that he had a plan for sustainable solution for the most pressing issue of people here.
“It is impossible to work on embankment project with scant budget. For this, efforts need to be coordinated with the provincial and federal governments.”
Controlling the sweeping of land and inundation always find space in the election manifesto of almost all political parties’ candidates contesting from this area.
What has been troubling the locals here like the inundation and soil erosion issue is the lax implementation of the manifestos.
Similarly, Minister for Youth and Sports in the federal government, Maheshwor Jung Gahatraj, who is contesting for HoR election from the same constituency representing democratic-left alliance, pledged to build embankment along the Rapti River and the Daduwa River to resolve the inundation and soil erosion issues.
Lal Bahadur Thapa of Rapti Sonari Rural Municipality-6 is resolute that he would only vote to him/her who would deliver on the expectations of the people here.
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