KATHMANDU: The number of tourists visiting Lumbini, a World Heritage Site, has started to decrease due to the poor condition of the Narayangadh-Bhutwal road section.
According to the Lumbini Development Trust, at least one million domestic tourists used to visit Lumbini annually before 2076 BS.
However, this number has significantly decreased over the past two years.
Member-Secretary of the Trust, Sanuraja Shakya, told RSS that although the country has returned to normalcy after the coronavirus pandemic, only around 600,000 tourists visit Lumbini each year now.
He attributed this decline to road defects.
Shakya highlighted that it took 13 hours to reach Kathmandu from Butwal in an office vehicle, stressing the need for upgrading various roads to boost religious tourism.
Despite infrastructure developments in the Lumbini area, tourists have been complaining about the problems, particularly the Narayangadh-Butwal road section, he noted.
Shakya emphasized that the arrival of both domestic and foreign tourists in Lumbini, as well as in different districts of western Nepal, would increase if the Narayangadh-Butwal road was upgraded on time.
RSS
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