Government of Nepal

Handover of Sannighat- Syuna-Sipkhana District Road – SSDR (18 km)

Rural Access Programme (RAP) Phase 3

February 2018

Handover of Sannighat-Syuna-Sipkhana District Road – SSDR (18 km)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Rural Access Programme – Phase 3 (RAP3) is a joint programme between government of Nepal and Britain project covering 14 districts in Nepal. It aims to improve people‟s income and resilience through employment, sustainable access to markets and improved access to economic opportunities. Expected outputs include improved and sustainable access due to climate resilient rural transport infrastructure, maintenance, upgrading and road/trail-bridge construction. Out of the 14 Programme districts, RAP in four new districts undertakes construction of 97.5 km of seven new roads whilst the other 10 districts focus only on the maintenance of prioritized LRNs of around 2,000 km along with CBID in all districts and economic development activities in some selected core districts.

The Sannnigaht-Syuna-Shipkhana district road (SSDR) is a newly constructed earthen road forming part of Kalikot‟s District Road Core Network.The road construction started in October 2013 and has substantially been completed by December 2017, as standard norms of DoLIDAR. It was taken up by RAP3 based on Kalikot‟s 5-Year District Transport Master Plan. The former District Development Committee (DDC) had prioritized this road mentioning that this road provides road facility to large number of population in minimum investment. The road is 18 km long and serves the population of 22,824 comprising , Syuna, Shipkhana, and Mumra villages and 7 schools. The SSDR is now connected to Khulalui-Hilsa (Karnali corridor) which is an important and strategic road of Nepal government and provides economic opportunities for the people of this area. It obviously increases access to regional and national markets, health and education sector.

After successful completion of construction works of SSDR, the road has formally been handed over to Municipality organizing a ceremony on 31st January 2018 in presence of member of provincial assembly, Joint Secretary and other high officials from MoFALD and DoLIDAR, Head of DCC, Head of DFIDN and other officials, district officials, RAP3 Deputy Programme Manager, local people and journalists. It was really a historical day for all road users, municipality and RAP3. RAP3 is constructing seven roads in four new construction districts and this is the first road of RAP3 that has been completed and handed over to the concerned municipal. This great achievement has been possible today due to continuous efforts and hard work of Road Building Groups, Special Building Groups, staff of RAP3 DTA/TMO, local stakeholders and continuous and encouraging supports of Raskot Municipality, Nepal government and DFID.

BACKGROUND

Rural Access Programme (RAP3) funded by UK government is a bilateral programme of Government of Nepal and United Kingdom (UK). The programme is being implemented in since October 2013 and constructing two district roads: Sannighat-Syuna-Sipkhana District Road (SSDR) and Jarkot-Ramnakot District Road (JRDR). The SSDR road corridor covers the area of Raskot municipality only. However, this road also serves the nearest municipal Sanni-Tribeni rural municipality. To construct the SSDR, 54 RBGs, 18 SBGs, 4 Boulder Breaking Groups and 2 drill groups were formed and more than 1486 members (hhs) got employment daily during road construction.

A Test Drive was done by RAP3 DTA in SSDR in April 2017. Since that day, the road had become pliable and public vehicles have been plying daily. However there were mentionable outstanding works left to accomplish for convenient movement. The road has now been accomplished with required standards of DoLIDAR. RAP3 therefore organized a formal handover ceremony on 31 January 2018 in consent and coordination of Raskot Municipality.

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Handover of Sannighat-Syuna-Sipkhana District Road – SSDR (18 km)

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

The main objectives of the handover programme is as follows:  Hand over the road to Raskot Municipality

OUTCOME OF THE PROGRAMME

The road was formally handed over to Raskot Municipality by Mr. Anandaraj Dhakal joint secretary of MoFALD and Rurik Marsden, Head of DFID Nepal in presence of Head of DCC, Kalikot. Raskot municipality committed to continue the maintenance works after RAP3‟s tenure and take necessary initiations to upgrade the road in near future.

SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES Mr. Kashi Chandra Baral, Mayor of Raskot Municipality received and welcomed the guests from Kathmandu and Kalikot at ZERO point. Local artists also welcomed the guests demonstrating a local cultural dance. Mrs. Sushila Shahi, member of provincial assembly, Mr. Ananda Raj Dhakal, joint secretary of Nepal Government, Mr. Rurik Marsden, Head of DFID and Mr. Anipal Shahi Head of DCC jointly cut the ribbon at ZERO point and travelled throughout the SSDR road. The invitees also observed the roads being stopped at specific locations and interacted with Road Maintenance Group (RMG) who were working at site during the visit.

After travelling throughout the road, the team gathered at the premises of Raskot municipality to attend formal handover programme. Mr. Kashi Chandra Baral honored the special guests offering Tika and Khada. Then, Mrs. Sushila Shahi, Mr. Ananda Raj Dhakal, Mr. Rurik Marsden and Mr. Kashi Chandra Baral formally opened the programme by inflaming PANASH (a holy light). Mrs. Mimsara Bam welcomed all the guests giving a welcome speech. She also thanked governments of Nepal and Britain and RAP3 for providing road access to the municipality and locals. After the welcome speech, Mr. Ananda Raj Dhakal and Mr. Rurik Marsden jointly handed over the road to Mr. Kashi Chandra Baral, by granting a formal memorandum along with the road project documents in presence of Mrs. Sushila Shahi and Mr. Anipal Shahi.

As part of the event, representatives of Local Road Users Committee (LRUC) and Local Road Coordination Committee (LRCC) gave speeches mentioning how they succeeded the road construction works. They stated that RAP3 gave the opportunity to the poorest, women, Dalit and marginalized community. Other bright part is transparency maintained by RAP3 which ultimately led the programme to success.

Mr. Gorkha Shahi, NCP (UML), Mr. Daman Shahi, NC and Dharmaraj Shahi, NCP (Maoist Centre) had put their opinions during speeches on behalf of political parties and thanked Nepal and British Governments for this great achievement. They all appreciated the working modality and transparency maintained by RAP3. They also stated that RAP3 has become a model project in the district. They added that though many other projects were launched in the district with the goal of development but none of them could bring noticeable changes within community and exited without any fruitful results. But, RAP3 became a reputable project and brought incredible changes as committed during programme implementation. They highlighted the day as a historical day for all local of Raskot municipality. Out of the total 34 crores project cost, 32 crores has directly been paid to RBGs without any manipulation. The road provided access towards market, health, education and increased the opportunity of economic developments. They also requested governments of Nepal and Britain to expand the programme in Raskot area and all over Kalikot district. They stressed that the programme like RAP3 is still needed in such a remote and extreme poverty area to bring significant economic and physical changes. 2

Handover of Sannighat-Syuna-Sipkhana District Road – SSDR (18 km)

Mr. Ananda Raj Dhakal, Mr. Rurik Marsden, Mr. Arjun Poudel, Deputy Programme Manager, RAP3 TMO, Mr. Anipal Shahi and Mr. Bishnu Ram Bista, ADTL MHLR, Mr. Min Bahadur Bogati, VDSEF NGO, representative of LRUC and LRCC delivered speeches.

On behalf of RAP3, Mr. Arjun Poudel stated that the road has been accomplished maintaining design standards and quality. He specially thanked all RBGs/ SBGs for the invaluable contribution they had made in constructing the road. He also thanked political parties and concerned stakeholders for their positive supports and incessant efforts. Similarly, he congratulated team of RAP3 Kalikot for their hard work and best efforts. He urged locals to own the road as personal property and stop any activities of road encroachment. Since water is a major factor of road destruction, he made locals aware to stop the flow of water on the road. He requested the municipality to mobilize RMGs for sustainability of the road.

Mr. Bishnu Ram Bista recalled the difficult situation undergone in past while implementing the programme in Kalikot. However, this road has now become the first completed road among the new roads being constructed by RAP3 in four districts and been officially handed over to municipality. The credit of this goes to those members who continuously worked and sweated in construction works.

On behalf of British government, Mr. Rurik Marsden delivered an encouraging and motivative speech. He appreciated the quality of road constructed by RAP3 that has been an amazing example of partnership of governments of Nepal and Britain. Further, he got influenced by the 1/3rd involvement of women in the construction of the road. He got delighted to have a talk with RMGs working on the road and requested to continue the RMGs on the finished road to ensure it remains a valuable asset. Moreover, he focused on the incredible transformation in movement of people within past 20 year period. Unlike the 10-15 day non-stop walk from Nepalgunj to Kalikot 20 years ago, people have been able to commute the same distance in just 10-15 hours at present. He thus requested local to grab new economic opportunities using this road.

Similarly, on behalf of Nepal government, Mr. Ananda Raj Dhakal delivered his speech. He highlighted that although the road could be constructed in a year or less, RAP3 completed the work in around 3-4 years because RAP3 is a poverty alleviation programme and aimed to provide employment to the Poorest, Dalit, Women and marginalized people. He stated that there is high possibility of economic development along with challenges to protect and upgrade the road and make it sustainable. He suggested locals and municipality to explore more opportunities via the use of the road for the prosperity of people. He stressed that the road would be worthless if no local productions are exported outside the district. Due to transformation of political situation, local bodies are facing different kinds of problems like lack of human resources and experiences which will take few years to settle all this and government is working for this. He also stated that the Ministry is positive to expand the programme in Kalikot. Mr. Aanadaraj Dhakal and Mr. Rurik Marsden appreciated mayor for taking ownership of the road.

Similarly, Mrs. Sushila Shahi, member of provincial assembly also thanked to government of Nepal and Britain for this great support.

After completion of speeches, Mr. Kashi Chandra Baral formally closed the road handover programme and granted a “Letter of Appreciation and gratitude‟‟ to Governments of Nepal and Britain and Rural Access Programme (RAP3). He stated that this road has become a milestone of development for the municipality being connected to the national highway which increases access to regional and national markets, health and education sector. He promised to maintain the road efficiently using the fund of municipality and explore the resources for further upgrading of the road. He expressed a heartfelt gratitude towards Nepal and British governments, RAP3 and all stakeholders for providing such a great opportunity. He also granted a „‟Token of Love” locally produced to the Government of Nepal and Britain and RAP3. Overwhelming mass of locals enthusiastically participated in the programme. 3

Handover of Sannighat-Syuna-Sipkhana District Road – SSDR (18 km)

The representatives of Antenna Foundation Nepal and other journalists had also participated in the programme. The programme was chaired by Mr. Kashi Chandra Baral and facilitated by Mr. Kul Raj Subedi, Chief Administrative Officer of Raskot Municipality.

EXPENSES OF PROGRAMME The total expenditure of handover programme is as follow:.

Estimated Expenses (NRs) Expenditure made (NRs) Remarks 484,000.00 231,000.00

SCHEDULE OF PROGRAMME

Allotte Time Activities Programme Facilitator d Time Chairing Guest Seats,

Opening ceremony, 1:30-1.40 PM Chief of Administrative Officer, Raskot Municipality 10 min Offering Khada and Tika to guests 1:40-1.44 PM National Anthem ALL 4 min 1:44-1.49 PM Welcome speech Deputy Mayor, Raskot Municipality 5 min Event of road hand 1:49-1.54 PM Chief of Administrative Officer, Raskot Municipality 5 min over to municipality Representative of LRUC

Representative of LRCC Mr Min Bdr Bogati, Chairperson VDSEF

Mr. Bishnuram Bista, Deputy Team Leader MHLR Representative of Political Parties (UML, NC, MK, NCP) 1:54-2.44 PM Speeches Mr. Anipal Shahi, head of DCC Kalikot 50 min Mr. Arjun Poudel, Deputy Programme Manager, RAP3 TMO Mr Jivan Guragain, DoLIDAR Mr. Rurik Marsden, DFIDN Head Office Mr. Ananda Raj Dhakal, Officiating Secretary Mr. Sushila Shahi, Member of Provincial Assembly Performance of local 2.44-2.54 PM cultural song/dance Local artists 10 min 'Deuda' Hand over ''letter of appreciation and 2:54-2:57 PM gratitude'' to Nepal and Mayor and Raskot Municipality 3 min British Government 2:57-3:04 PM Closing Mayor, Raskot Municipality 7 min

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Handover of Sannighat-Syuna-Sipkhana District Road – SSDR (18 km)

LIST OF GUESTS AND ORGANIZERS

S.N. Name Designation Organization Member of Provincial 1 Mrs. Shushila Shahi Kalikot Assembly 2 Mr. Anipal Shahi Head of DDC Kalikot DCC, Kalikot 3 Mr. Ananda Raj Dhakal Secretary MoFALD

4 Mr. Rurik Marsden Head of DFID Nepal DFID Inclusive Growth Team 5 Mr. Simon Lucas Leader DFIDN

6 Mr. Suman Vaidhya Infrastructure Advisor DFIDN Programme coordinator 7 Mr. Jivan Gurgain RAP3 DoLIDAR

Former Programme 8 Mr. Mohan Chapagain coordinator RAP3 DoLIDAR

9 Mr. Kashi Raj Baral Mayor Raskot Municipality, Kalikot

10 Mrs. Mimsara Bam Deputy mayor Raskot Municipality, Kalikot

11 Mr. Arjun Poudel Deputy Programme Manager RAP3

12 Mr. Bishnuram Bista DTL MHLR RAP3

13 Mr. Khagendra Rai Advisor RMO

14 Mr. Yogya Banjade Journalist Kantipur

15 Mr. Rabi Rayamajhi

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Handover of Sannighat-Syuna-Sipkhana District Road – SSDR (18 km)

PHOTOGRAPHS

Figure 1 Mr Kashi Chandra Baral waiting guests to welcome.

Figure 2 Member of provincial assembly, Joint secretary of MoFALD, Head of DFIDN and Head of DCC cutting the ribbon at Zero point of SSDR.

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Handover of Sannighat-Syuna-Sipkhana District Road – SSDR (18 km)

Figure 3 Local Artists welcoming the guests by performing cultural dance

Figure 4 The vehicles moving towards end point of SSDR

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Handover of Sannighat-Syuna-Sipkhana District Road – SSDR (18 km)

Figure 5 Head of DFID interacting with RMG at 17th loop at Gorkhaligaun

Figure 6 Head of DFID pointing Logo of UK AID

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Handover of Sannighat-Syuna-Sipkhana District Road – SSDR (18 km)

Figure 7 group photo taken at end point of SSDR

Figure 8 Overwhelming participation of local community

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Handover of Sannighat-Syuna-Sipkhana District Road – SSDR (18 km)

Figure 9 Member of provincial assembly, Joint secretary of MoFALD, Head of DFIDN and Head of DCC jointly opening the programme.

Figure 10 Head of DFIDN giving speech Figure 11 Head of DCC giving speech

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Handover of Sannighat-Syuna-Sipkhana District Road – SSDR (18 km)

Figure 12 Joint secretary of MoFALD giving speech Figure 13 Deputy Programme Manager RAP3 giving speech

Figure 9 Deputy Programme Manager giving speech

Figure 14 DTL MHLR giving speech Figure 15 Representative of NCP (Maoist Centre) giving speech

Figure 16 Representative of NCP (UML) giving speech Figure 17 Representative of NC giving speech

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Handover of Sannighat-Syuna-Sipkhana District Road – SSDR (18 km)

Figure 18 little girl singing local song Figure 19 Locals performing the cultural dance

Figure 20 Mayor of Raskot Municipality formally closing the programme delivering speech

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