In the last year, 83 kilometers of footpath construction was completed under the Great Himalayan Trail. According to the annual progress report of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation for the fiscal year 2076/77, work was done for the Great Himalayan Trail in four different sections in one year.
Under this, a 10 km long trekking route has been constructed from Jiri of Dolakha to Chaurikharka Lukla of Solukhumbu to the Everest Base Camp. A 20 km long footpath has been built in Langtang of Rasuwa under the Great Himalayan Trail.
According to the Ministry, a 20-kilometer long structure has been constructed on the trekking route from Helambu Thadepati in Sindhupalchowk to Langtang. Meanwhile, a 15-kilometer trekking route has been constructed for the trek to Chho Rolpa. A footpath has been constructed to reach Chho Rolpa through Khare Sotali.
According to the Ministry, the trekking route has also been constructed in the Kanchenjunga region and Makalu region of the Great Himalayan Trail. A 7-kilometer trek has been completed in Kanchenjunga, 8 kilometers in Makalu, and 8 kilometers in Yarsa Trail.
What is the Great Himalayan Trail?
Of the 4,500 km long Great Himalayan Trail, Nepal alone covers about 1,700 km. It covers the area from Kanchenjunga of Taplejung in the east of Nepal to Darchula in the west. The government has a policy of making the structure of the Great Himalayan trekking of the same quality from east to west.
Accordingly, it has been allocating budget for a large trekking route. The concept of the Great Himalayan Trail has been drawn up covering the top 10 regions within Nepal. It is being divided into ten parts, including Kanchenjunga, Makalu Varun, Everest Rolling, Helambu Langtang, Ganesh Himal Manaslu, Annapurna Mustang, Dolpa, Rara and Jumla, Humla and Far West.
In last year’s budget, the government included a program to start infrastructure construction by drawing a Himalayan green footpath connecting Darchula in the far west to Taplejung in the east.
A State Started Working On A Destination
The government started constructing infrastructure last year by selecting seven destinations under the One State One Destination program. The Ministry has stated that the work has progressed based on the detailed project report.
Sandakpur of Ilam, Dhanushadham of Dhanusha, Indrasarovar of Makwanpur, and Panchase of Kaski have been selected as one state and one destination.
Similarly, Nigalihawa of Kapilvastu, Rara of Mugu, and Bhadagaun of Kailali were selected as state-level tourist destinations. The central government keeps the budget for these destinations. The government had started work for the development of these destinations by making a master plan last year.
Besides, the Ministry has stated that 90 percent of the construction work of the Ranatharu Museum in Kanchanpur was completed last fiscal year.
Information center buildings have been constructed in Chitwan, Lukla, and Janakpur this year. According to the Ministry, construction work of a shrine at Kagweni of Muktinath and a house at Muktinath has also started.
The Ministry has mentioned that the construction work of the tourist bus park at the NRB Chowk in Pokhara is 90 percent complete. The Ministry has stated that a park and a view tower have been set up in Dasdhunga of Chitwan and a view tower in Ghanousa Syangja.
The Ministry has also included the beautification of Wawa Lake in Siraha and the construction of a lookout tower as achievements of this year.
710 Million Budget For Infrastructure
The Ministry of Tourism had allocated Rs. 709.2 million for infrastructure in the fiscal year 2076/77. Out of that, Rs. 526 million has been spent. The financial percentage of the Ministry is 74.10 percent in infrastructure construction. The physical progress is 82.73 percent, according to the Ministry.
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