Still. The Dulegauda-Harkapur motorway becomes the election slogan of the leaders in every election.

From the local level to the state and the House of Representatives, the candidates make the same promise: I will build this road. Although the leaders won the election by showing this road, the condition of the road is the same. The condition of the road has not improved for years. In the rainy season, the vehicle gets stuck in the mud, in the winter, it is difficult to breathe due to the dust.

Dal Bahadur Thapa of Shuklagandaki Municipality-3, Kalimang complained that those who had shown assurances to the people during the election were not working after winning the election. “When elections come, we visit people’s doorsteps. They fold their hands, they dream. But after winning, no one asks who we are. It is a shame that the leaders do not open their eyes when they see such a condition of the road. We will become citizens only when elections come. ”

Bishnu Maya Pariyar of Shuklagandaki municipality-6 complained that roads get priority only during elections. He said, “The condition of the road cannot be described in words. The leaders made this path only an issue of election speeches. We are suffering, they are reaching power by giving speeches. ”

It has been seven years since the contract was awarded for the blacktopping of the Dulegauda-Harkapur motorway from Tar of Shuklagandaki municipality-3 to Harkapur section of Myagde rural municipality-6. Shankarmali Construction Service Pvt Ltd, Kathmandu was awarded the contract on October 19, 2019 to blacktop the Dulegauda-Harkapur motorway under the ‘One Constituency, One Strategic Road’ project of the Gandaki Province government.

Although an agreement was made to complete the blacktopping of the 10.18-km road by January 30, 2021, the deadline has been extended four times so far. The extended deadline expires in March. However, 50 percent of the work has not been completed.

The 23-kilometer distance of the road connects to Byas Municipality via Shuklagandaki Municipality, Myagde Rural Municipality. In the first phase, a contract was signed for the blacktopping of 10 kilometres road.

Local and former chair of Dulegauda Harkapur Motorway Users’ Committee, Deu Bahadur Shrestha lamented that the construction of the oldest road in the area has not been completed on time.