KATHMANDU:  The heart of local businessman Bharat Chand sinks when he sees the dream of going to the city of Taklakot—which is right next to the path—still far away, even though the short footpath in South Asia, leading to the joint Hindu and Buddhist pilgrimage site of Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet, China, became ‘motorable’ back in the 1970s.

China’s globally attractive centre, Kailash Mansarovar, sits at the head of Khalanga. However, the morning of the dream called ‘development’ has not yet arrived in the courtyards of the people of Darchula, even after five decades.

“Taklakot and Khalanga are close. Business is conducted by both neighbours every year, but it has to be done just like in our grandfathers’ time, relying on mules and yaks,” he expresses his sadness.

Tusarpani, which the army has taken responsibility for, is 40 kilometres north of Khalanga. It is from here that the old days of Darchula begin.

Even today, for locals from this tri-nation strategic district headquarters, where Chinese people come to Darchula from Kathmandu by helicopter to buy Yarsa Gumba (caterpillar fungus), there is no option but a two-day walk to reach the modern city of Taklakot.

“There is no comparison between Taklakot, a city in Tibet located on the head of Khalanga, 55 kilometres from Mansarovar, and Darchula’s counterpart city,” says Gyalbu Singh Bohara, a local who has been doing business in Taklakot for generations.

If a road were built, this distance would be only three hours, but the people of Darchula can’t help but feel uneasy when they see the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), a military collaborator of India, has already built a seasonal road across the Mahakali River, flowing right before their eyes, through the disputed Kalapani and Lipulekh to the Tibetan plateau.

Therefore, on the gate built to welcome those who arrive in Khalanga, they have written: “Why doesn’t Kalapani pain Kathmandu?” This is a statement of the late local leader Prem Singh Dhami, who brought Kalapani into the limelight.

The footpath, constructed five decades ago by the command of King Birendra, is still less than halfway open as the Khalanga-Taklakot road, while paved roads have been completed in other Himalayan-across districts of the country. “They say the Darchula-Tinkar road is being built, but we don’t know when it will be finished,” local Bhojraj Joshi expresses his doubt. When the Nepali Army took charge of this road during the COVID-19 period, people thought the road would be completed soon, but the pace of work is very slow.

While the length of Khalanga-Tinkar was 96 kilometres according to the first survey, stretching the road has increased its distance to 121 kilometres.

The government has spent 3.68 billion rupees so far on the Darchula-Tinkar Road Project, which began construction in the fiscal year 2008/09. The expenditure for the work done by the army is not included in this.

According to Ramchandra Joshi, an engineer of the Mahakali Corridor, contracts worth 1.39 billion rupees are still currently operational on this road. Tusarpani, which the army has taken charge of, is 40 kilometres north of Khalanga. It is from here that the old days of Darchula begin.

Indian pilgrims also used the Nepali route back then. But now, the modern Taklakot and Khalanga cannot be compared.

According to Colonel Rajesh Katuwal, the Head of the Development and Construction Battalion Number-2, the army is working by considering Tusarpani as the ‘zero point’. Work is also being done from the Vyas area, which borders India and Tibet. 200 technicians of the battalion are currently charting the road on this sensitive border.

After successfully suppressing the Khampa revolt in 1974 at China’s request, King Birendra visited Vyas and Tinkar, which lie on the border of India and Tibet along this same route. Soban Singh Tinkari of Vyas was the Pradhan (chief) at that time. The King asked Soban, “What do you need?”

Soban requested a ghodeto bato (bridle path) from Khalanga to Vyas. Smiling gently, the King immediately ordered the concerned officials: “Build this road immediately.” Following the King’s order, a quality bridle path was constructed through the Mahakali gorge in the 1970s, and the people of Vyas were happy. Cutting through the terrifying cliffs of the Mahakali and linking Vyas via Tambaku and Dumling, this footpath was once the main route to Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet.

Indian pilgrims also used the Nepali route back then. But now, the modern Taklakot and Khalanga cannot be compared.

Although the government has named this road the Mahakali Corridor and is attempting to develop it—which is supposed to connect Tinkar starting from 2008 through the Mahakali bank in Brahmadev, Kanchanpur, then Jogbuda in Dadeldhura, Pancheshwor and Jhulaghat in Baitadi, Chameliya, Lali, Uku, Khalanga, Hikila Huti, Dhaulakot, Sunsera and Vyas Valley in Darchula—its pace is exceedingly slow.

The Mahakali Corridor, which covers three border crossings with India (Brahmadev, Jhulaghat, Khalanga) and one with Tibet (Tinkar), is 413 kilometres long, of which the Khalanga-Tinkar distance is 121 kilometres. Of this, the government handed over the responsibility for 79 kilometres of road from Tusarpani to the Tinkar border to the Nepali Army five years ago, on April 27, 2020.

The road length was increased due to political reasons, by routing it through the villages of Brahmadev, Hikila, Dhari, and Pipalchauri.