In Ramechhap, all roads—except the Manthali-Ramechhap stretch—are in a poor condition. Although the road network in the district has expanded its reach to all the previous 55 VDCs, the connectivity has done little to mitigate commuting woes of the local people.

The roads leading to Chyasku, Saipu, Doramba, Bhirpani, Rakathum, Gothgaun, Sukajor and Ramechhap, among other remote areas, are unsafe for vehicles to ply on. However, giving in to locals demands, bus operators are running passenger buses on these roads. “Locals need to commute; we understand that. But it’s difficult to drive vehicles on these roads. It puts us and the passengers at risk of meeting with accidents,” said Jiban Shrestha, a bus driver, informing that the concerned authorities have not paid any heed to the looming risk.

Ramesh Kumar Basnet, mayor of Manthali Municipality, said that concerned authorities have not taken any initiative to construct safer roads. “Almost all dirt roads were constructed without consulting technicians,” said Basnet, adding that 30 to 40 percent of the roads are in bad shape. Yam Bahadur Ghising, a native of Daduwa, said that a majority of the roads are in an extremely poor state. “The settlements near the roads are at risk of landslides since the contractors have dug up roads without carrying out the necessary tests,” said Ghising.

Two years ago, the Swiss government had provided financial assistance to launch a local road upgradation programme. However, not much has been done in terms of upgrading the condition of the roads.