New Road Connecting Myagdi, Dhorpatan, and Taksera Opens for Traffic, Offering Shorter Route to Lumbini Province

Myagdi. Vehicles have started plying on the road connecting Beni-Dhorpatan to Taksera in Lumbini Province. This 122-kilometer road, recently opened, connecting Beni-Dhorpatan-Taksera, is 50 kilometers shorter than the Baglung-Kankri section of the Mid-Hill Highway. The distance from Baglung to Kankri in Eastern Rukum is 175 kilometers.

A vehicle with license plate Ba2 Ja 3537 from Putha Uttarganga Rural Municipality traveled from Taksera to Kathmandu via Dhorpatan-Beni for the first time on Thursday. Puniraj Ghartimagar, Chairman of Putha Uttarganga Rural Municipality, stated that he used the newly opened route via Beni to travel to Kathmandu a few days ago for a feasibility study on operating vehicles.

“When there was no road access, we used to travel to Kathmandu via the Dhorpatan-Beni route through Pokhara,” he said. “If this road, currently opened based on the old trekking route, can be upgraded, it will be shorter and easier for residents of Eastern Rukum, Western Rukum, Jajarkot, and Dolpa to travel to Pokhara-Kathmandu.”

Chairman Pun's team reached Muna, the center of Dhaulagiri Rural Municipality, after a five-hour drive from Taksera, where they were welcomed by Vice-Chairperson Resham Punmagar and Chief Administrative Officer Bishnu Prasad Sharma.

“The 75-kilometer road connecting Beni to Muna-Khoriya-Mareni-Jaljala-Gurjaghat to Dhorpatan Valley was opened in Poush last year,” said Dhaulagiri Vice-Chairperson Punmagar. “Since the Dhorpatan and Taksera road sections were opened in the third week of Falgun, travel by jeep and motorcycle is now possible during the winter season.”

Dhaulagiri Chief Administrative Officer Sharma stated that this road, which still requires upgrading and the construction of motorable bridges over rivers, will also facilitate tourists visiting Dhorpatan, Jaljala, and Taksera. The currently used road connecting Baglung to Dhorpatan via Burtibang is 126 kilometers long.

If the newly opened road is upgraded, it has the potential to develop as a shorter alternative route to the Baglung section of the Mid-Hill Highway. Construction of this road from Beni began in 2055 BS. Prem Prasad Pun, Chairman of Dhaulagiri Rural Municipality, stated that the road connecting Beni to Taksera in Eastern Rukum via Darbang-Muna-Jaljala-Dhorpatan is 50 kilometers shorter than the Baglung section of the Mid-Hill Highway.

Twenty kilometers of the road from Beni to Tatopani-Babiyachaur to Tolawang has been blacktopped under the provincial government. Provincial Assembly Member Reshambahadur Jugjali (Subin) informed that the provincial government has launched two projects to upgrade approximately 17 kilometers of road connecting Darbang to Takam-Muna.

Stakeholder interest is growing in budget management and plan implementation for the upgrading and blacktopping of this road, considered the lifeline of Western Myagdi connecting to Eastern Rukum as an alternative route to the Mid-Hill Highway.

Former Prime Minister and CPN Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', who was elected from Eastern Rukum in the recently concluded House of Representatives election, committed during a program in Beni on Magh 28 to make the road connecting Myagdi via Dhorpatan to Taksera an alternative route to the Mid-Hill Highway.

Dhorpatan, spread across 1,325 square meters in Eastern Rukum, Myagdi, and Baglung, is Nepal's only hunting reserve. Dhorpatan, a destination for adventurous hunters worldwide, has recently become a favorite for Nepali tourists as well. This reserve offers numerous opportunities beyond tourism, including biological, cultural, touristic, and religious advantages.