Hemanta KC<\/p>\n
Surkhet. Although the attraction of domestic and foreign tourists is increasing in the tourist destinations of Karnali Province, the delay in the construction of necessary infrastructure has affected the development of the tourism sector. <\/p>\n
The lack of safe trekking routes, well-managed accommodation, communication facilities and easy transportation to keep pace with the inflow of tourists has posed challenges to convert the tourism potential of Karnali into economic benefits. According to the data of the Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment, Karnali Province, 540,728 domestic and foreign tourists visited various tourist destinations in the province during the seven fiscal years. Although the number of tourists has increased in Karnali due to its natural beauty, religious and cultural heritages and adventure tourism, some multi-year infrastructure development projects have not moved ahead at the expected pace. According to the Ministry, 294,401 people visited Bulbule Lake in Surkhet and 140,300 people visited Province Martyrs Park. Around 24,931 people visited Rara Lake in Mugu, around 11,000 in Kupinde Daha of Salyan, 7,228 in Shey-Phoksundo Lake of Dolpa and 5,468 in Kakrebihar of Surkhet. Similarly, 4,589 people have taken up paragliding in Humla and 215 in Bayalkanda of Surkhet.<\/p>\n
Tourism entrepreneurs say that despite the attraction and potential of tourists, the necessary facilities have not been extended to the major destinations. They say that safe transportation, accommodation, communication and emergency rescue are necessary for the tourists traveling especially in the mountainous and remote areas. <\/p>\n
Tourism entrepreneur Jitendra Jhankri said that the state should give priority to infrastructure development to make their travel safe, easy and convenient. He said that an environment should be created to encourage tourists to visit again once they arrive. <\/p>\n
‘Despite the lack of infrastructure, tourists are coming to Karnali in an encouraging way. Tourists need easy movement, well-equipped hotels and a safe travel environment,” Jhankri said. <\/p>\n
According to him, there is a need to upgrade the wooden bridges on the way from Dunai, the headquarters of Dolpa, to Phoksundo Lake. Tourists have to face difficulties due to the lack of physical infrastructure to stay on the trekking route leading to various tourist areas of Upper Dolpa. <\/p>\n
He said that there is a need for structures where people can take shelter in case of night or snowfall while walking especially in high passes and mountainous areas.<\/p>\n
He stressed the need of expanding communication facility in the remote tourist area, maintenance of trekking route and construction of rest place at necessary places. <\/p>\n
“It is not only a big thing to bring tourists, it is equally important to provide them with the necessary facilities. The delay in the construction of infrastructure in Rara, Phoksundo and other areas has had a negative impact on tourism,” Jhankri said, “The action plan made by the government should be strictly implemented and the contractors should be pressured to complete the entrusted works on time.” “<\/p>\n
Millions of investments, slow progress of projects<\/p>\n
Although the state government has invested millions of rupees for the construction of tourism infrastructure, the physical progress of some projects has been low. According to the ministry’s details, the contract amount for the Rara Tourism Infrastructure Construction Project in Mugu is more than Rs 4,52,91,000. However, the physical progress of the project has reached 20 percent and the financial progress has reached 32 percent. The duration of the project has been mentioned till the end of July 2083 and the process of extending the deadline is underway, according to the ministry’s details. <\/p>\n
Similarly, the physical progress of the construction of the compound wall around Kakrevihar in Surkhet is 55 percent and the financial progress is 50 percent. The deadline of this project, which has a contract amount of more than Rs 1,18,54,000, has been extended three times. <\/p>\n
A contract amount of Rs 1,28,96,793 has been made for the construction of the Khara People’s War Museum in Rukum West. The physical progress of the project is 58 percent and the financial progress is 50 percent. Although it is mentioned in the details that the deadline expired in mid-July 2082, the deadline of the project has been extended twice. <\/p>\n
More than <\/p>\n
Rs 2,28,97,000 has been contracted for the construction of Chauhan Park in Surkhet. Its physical progress is 30 percent and financial progress is 25 percent. According to the ministry’s details, the duration of the project is till the end of Ashad 2084. <\/p>\n
The progress of these projects shows that along with the budget allocation, attention should also be paid to the pace of construction work, adherence to the deadline and the effectiveness of the expenditure. Especially in major tourist destinations like Rara, the lack of physical progress of infrastructure construction has added challenges to the expansion of necessary facilities for tourists. <\/p>\n
Destinations of ten districts included, challenges in implementation <\/p>\n
The Karnali Province Tourism Master Plan (2077\u00f778-2086\u00f787) has included major tourist destinations in all ten districts of the province. The master plan has given priority to the development and upgradation of tourism production, infrastructure development, community participation, investment promotion, conservation of cultural and natural heritage, skilled human resources development and market management. <\/p>\n
Kupinde Daha of Salyan, Shey-Phoksundo National Park and Bala Tripurasundari Religious Area, Sinja Civilization and Dudul Stupa of Jumla and Limi Valley of Humla have been included as major destinations in the master plan. Rara Lake and Rara-She-Phoksundo trekking route in Mugu, Pachal waterfall in Kalikot, Khalanga Durbar area of Jajarkot and Panchakoshi religious area in Dailekh are also potential sites for tourism development. Likewise, Kakrebihar, Deuti Bajai, Madan-Ashrit Park, Jajuradaha, Gusi Lake of Panchapuri area, Madale, Shiva cave and Gidde Danda of Surkhet area and Gotamkot-Chitripat adventure route of Rukum West have also been included in the master plan.<\/p>\n
However, entrepreneurs say that the expected development of the tourism sector is not possible only by identifying and planning the destinations. They say that the identified destinations should ensure the construction of necessary infrastructure, regular maintenance, effective publicity and participation of the local community. <\/p>\n
Safe Accommodation and Communication Needs on Mountain Trekking Route<\/p>\n
Trekking routes of upper, central and lower Karnali have been identified under the Great Himalayan Trail for the development of adventure tourism in Karnali. These routes aim to connect the mountainous and hilly areas of Dolpa, Mugu, Humla, Jumla, Kalikot, Jajarkot and Rukum West. <\/p>\n
The trek from Rara Lake to Shey-Phoksundo Lake, the route from Shey-Phoksundo to Dho-Tarap and the border of Mustang and the route of Lower Karnali from Rukum West to Jajarkot and Kalikot to Khaptad National Park are potential bases for adventure tourism. If such trekking routes can be managed, the duration of the tourists’ stay can be increased as well as the market of local hotels, homestays, transport services, guides and local products can be expanded. But keeping in mind the remote geography, adverse weather and lack of basic services, there is a need to construct safe transportation, regular footpath maintenance, communication, rescue services and accommodation infrastructure. Entrepreneur Jhankri said that there is a need for a structure so that tourists can be safe if they have to face snowfall or bad weather while trekking in remote areas like Upper Dolpa. Therefore, along with the identification of footpaths, it is necessary to invest in infrastructure to ensure their practical use and safety. Minister for Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment Kalyani Khadka said that the state government was investing for the development and promotion of tourism in Karnali. According to him, budget has been allocated for the conservation of tourist places, infrastructure development, tourism promotion and programs to attract tourists. According to the ministry, Rs 3.60 crore has been allocated for the conservation of watersheds and tourism promotion in the Kupinde area of Salyan. It is said that preparations are being made to start the work of this program. Similarly, one crore rupees has been allocated for the operation of tourist and spectator programs, said Minister Khadka. Although the allocation of budget to the tourism sector is positive, its effective implementation, the return of the expenditure and the evaluation of the facilities available to the tourists after the completion of the construction are equally important. It seems that attention should be paid to complete the under-construction projects on time, work as per the contract agreement and ensure accountability for delays. Tourism entrepreneur Jhankri stressed on the need of expanding investment, production of skilled human resources, participation of local community and effective publicity in the destinations identified by the tourism master plan.<\/p>\n
According to him, along with increasing the number of tourists, their stay period, local employment, sale of local products and benefits to the community from tourism should also be given priority. <\/p>\n
Although there is a possibility of tourists reaching the tourist destinations of Karnali, the effectiveness of the state’s investment should be ensured to convert it into sustainable tourism development. Expansion of basic amenities, upgradation of mountain trekking routes, construction of safe havens, expansion of communication services and timely completion of under-construction projects in major destinations like Rara and Phoksundo will help to attract tourists again and increase the direct benefits of tourism to the local economy. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Hemanta KC Surkhet. Although the attraction of domestic and foreign tourists is increasing in the tourist destinations of Karnali Province, the delay in the construction of necessary infrastructure has affected the development of the tourism sector. The lack of safe trekking routes, well-managed accommodation, communication facilities and easy transportation to keep pace with the inflowContinue reading “Tourist attraction increasing in Karnali”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":115353,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[147],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-samachar-en"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/photo-1_90e075ea.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115379"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115380,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115379\/revisions\/115380"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/media\/115353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arthakhabar.com\/ak_api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}