Pokhara's Lekhnath Area Demands Re-establishment as Separate Municipality

Pokhara | After becoming a metropolitan city by incorporating Lekhnath in the past, leaders from the Lekhnath area have been complaining from time to time that Pokhara has neglected them. There have been instances where voices have been raised from public forums to separate Lekhnath.

Now, that demand has intensified. A large interaction program was organized on Sunday with the demand to re-establish the former Lekhnath as a separate municipality. Political parties, industrialists, businessmen, social workers, and intellectuals among others have expressed solidarity for the re-establishment in the program.

Participants in the program demanded that Lekhnath should be a separate municipality, stating that the structure of the metropolitan city has always overshadowed the Lekhnath area. Their conclusion is that merging the former Lekhnath Municipality into Pokhara Metropolitan City at that time was flawed from geographical, administrative, economic, and cultural perspectives. They unanimously agree that due to geography and an imbalanced administrative structure, service delivery to citizens has become difficult, development has not received expected priority, and Lekhnath's distinct identity and existence have weakened.

Shalikram Poudel, former mayor of Lekhnath Municipality, stated that while the core principle of the federal democratic republic is to make local governments strong and close to the people, the opposite situation has been created in Pokhara. He said that merging Lekhnath into Pokhara Metropolitan City during the local level restructuring was unjust, and its impact on development, administration, and identity is now clearly visible.

‘The Lekhnath area is a geography that possesses the capability to be self-reliant in terms of natural resources, economic potential, and tourism. No one has been able to provide an answer as to why it was merged into Pokhara,’ he said. ‘It was wrong to confine an area rich in lakes like Begnas and Rupa, agricultural production, tourism, and trade potential into a limited ward of the metropolitan city.’ He argues that establishing a municipality again is essential to restore Lekhnath's lost identity and ensure equitable development.

Kishordatta Baral, chairman of Nepali Congress Kaski, said that all political parties must stand together for the prosperity, identity, and development of Lekhnath. Stating that no decision can be greater than the will of the people, he said that the wishes of the people of Lekhnath must be respected. ‘The most important thing is the will of the people. When the will does not align, forcing it is not justified,’ he said. ‘We must move forward with the campaign for re-establishment by studying the legal and constitutional provisions and completing the necessary procedures.’

Bainbahadur Chhetri, chairman of CPN-UML Kaski, shared that some decisions made during the past local level restructuring have not been effective in practice. He said, ‘In accordance with the spirit of federalism, local levels should be accountable to the public, accessible, and balanced; that has not happened in our case. Now, all parties must be serious about protecting Lekhnath's identity, history, and prosperity.’

Bishwaprakash Lamichhane, district coordinator of the Nepal Communist Party, said that the campaign for Lekhnath's re-establishment is not just an issue of one party or group but a common movement of all the people of Lekhnath. ‘To implement the concept of 'Singha Durbar in every home' in practice, local governments must be brought closer to the citizens,’ he said. ‘Everyone must work to further strengthen this campaign.’

Rastriya Swatantra Party representative Krishnaraj Bhurtel said that after the local level becomes a municipality, there should be no room for public complaints regarding service delivery. ‘The municipality is the government at the doorstep. The reality is that our citizens have to endure more hardship,’ he says. ‘The spirit of federalism must be established.’

Participants argued that dividing Pokhara Metropolitan City, which is geographically very large, would be appropriate. Section 4 of the Local Government Operation Act, 2074 (2017) provides the legal provision for altering the number and boundaries of local levels. Everyone agreed that the initiative for re-establishment should be taken legally in accordance with that provision. Some time ago, Mayor Dhanraj Acharya had also suggested separating Lekhnath from Pokhara and making it a separate municipality.