Street lights installed, but rural roads neglected: Janaki’s villages continue to struggle despite development budget claims

Durgauli: Local levels have increasingly come into the spotlight for installing street lights in the name of development, promoting such initiatives on social media and presenting them through attractive slogans. However, the reality of development in the rural settlements of Janaki Rural Municipality in Kailali tells a different story.

Locals complain that despite the installation of lights in market areas and around the municipality office, long-standing problems related to rural roads, drainage and basic infrastructure have remained unresolved.

Various local levels in Kailali have been installing roadside lights under the ‘Ujyalo Palika’ campaign to project a message of development. However, citizens in rural areas say development should not be measured by street lights alone, but by accessible transportation, safe roads and basic services.

While efforts are being made to make Durgauli Bazaar, the main commercial center of Janaki Rural Municipality, more organized and attractive, village roads are still awaiting improvement. Some roads have not even been upgraded to a condition suitable for normal gravel vehicles. Potholes, unmanaged drainage systems and mud accumulation during the rainy season have made daily life difficult for residents.

The road from Latkaniya Bhul Tole to Bilaspur under Janaki Rural Municipality-7 is one such example. Locals say the road turns muddy with the arrival of rain, making vehicle movement difficult and forcing everyone from students to the general public to travel under risky conditions every day.

According to locals, the municipality appears to have prioritized publicity-focused plans over the basic needs of citizens while setting development priorities. They allege that insufficient attention to road improvement, drainage management and rural infrastructure development has created a situation of “darkness under the lamp.”

Chakra Bhul, a local resident of Janaki Rural Municipality-7, said, “When elections come, leaders from all parties come to the village and promise to build roads, develop the area and solve problems. But after winning, they do not even return to walk on these roads.”

Stating that they do not have high expectations from the municipality, he urged the local government to at least make transportation easier by improving and graveling the roads.

The complaints of residents are not limited to a single road. Rural roads in various wards of Janaki Rural Municipality are still awaiting upgrading. Locals have expressed dissatisfaction, saying that although development budgets are claimed to have been spent, ordinary citizens have not been able to directly experience the results.

Meanwhile, Janaki Rural Municipality Chairman Ganesh Chaudhary has said that the municipality is aware of the road-related problems and has committed to taking necessary initiatives in the current fiscal year.

However, locals continue to question why village roads have not improved despite claims that development budgets have already been utilized. According to them, the real measure of development should not be promotional images and publicity, but work that makes people’s daily lives easier. They say that until rural roads, drainage systems and basic infrastructure issues are addressed, development claims will not be able to gain the trust of villagers.