KATHMANDU, Dec 22: Local residents have barred the operation of government vehicles in the Lumbini Province capital area, protesting plans to expand the Dhankhola–Lamahi road section.
The protest is aimed at opposing the road upgrade being carried out under the US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) project. Locals are demanding that the Dhankhola–Lamahi stretch be expanded into a four-lane road instead of the proposed two-lane configuration.
According to Prakash Shahi, coordinator of the Dhankhola–Lamahi Four-Lane Road Construction Struggle Committee, government vehicles will not be allowed to operate in the provincial capital area from Monday (Poush 7) through the end of the month unless their demands are addressed.
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Led by Shahi, a group of local youths gathered at the main entrance of the Lumbini Province administrative center in Rapti Rural Municipality–3, staging protests and enforcing the restriction.
Under the MCC project, MCA-Nepal has planned to upgrade the existing 7-metre-wide Dhankhola–Lamahi road by adding 2.5 metres on each side, making it 12 metres wide while retaining a two-lane structure. Protesters argue that, as the provincial capital road, it should instead be developed as a four-lane corridor.
Earlier, Rapti Rural Municipality Chairperson Prakash Bista, along with representatives of the local struggle committee, had visited Kathmandu and submitted a memorandum to Minister for Physical Infrastructure, Transport and Irrigation Kulman Ghising, urging him to intervene and address their demands.
However, Minister Ghising reportedly responded that the project would proceed strictly in accordance with the MCC design, and that changes as demanded by locals would not be possible.
