Project News

In this series of project site introduction, we have introduced our project's pilot municipalities which are actively proceeding to their recovery from the Nepal Earthquake that occurred in 2015. Following Balpak Sulikot Rural Municipality in Gorkha District, Chautara Sangachowgadhi Municipality and Helambu Rural Municipality in Sindhupalchowk District, this is the last of the series, and we would like to introduce Palungtar Municipality in Gorkha.

Liglig hill

Female group cultivating Bananas

Palungtar is located in the southern part of Gorkha and is approximately 140km west from Kathmandu. Thanks to the national highway, Palungtar has one of the best accessibilities among our 4 pilot sites. While most other pilot sites are located in mountainous lands, there are several rivers such as Daraudi River passing through in this area. These rivers have been creating a fertile plain and rich forests. The climate is relatively moderate. Banana and lichi farming are very popular in this area. Around 80% of the population engage in agriculture. In Khoplang village of Palungtar, there is a hot spring which the community people believe that can cure any disease.

There is one more highlight in Palungtar that needs to be mentioned here. It is that Palungtar is where the Gorkha dynasty (AC 1559 - 2008) originates from, which is the basis of modern Nepal. Many tourists visit the vestige of Liglig kingdom located 1427meter above sea level. Liglig means "beautiful and clear scenery" in Magar language. We can view this famous and beautiful sight from the top of the hill. It is a popular story among the people of Palungtar that a marathon race was held every year during the era of Liglig kingdom. The participants of the race run from the foot to the top of hill, and the winner was selected as the king of the following year. Even now a marathon race is held in this hill. People in Palungtar are proud of this historical Liglig hill. The people describe Palungtar as the town of tourism, commerce and Liglig (beauty).

Ampipal Hospital was reconstructed by JICA's former project

Including Dharmodaya secondary school in Gorkha and other districts, around 300 schools were reconstructed by JICA's former project

In 2020 and 2021, just like many other counties around the world, many Nepalese people suffered from the COVID-19. The pandemic also affected the implementation of many of our project activities, especially those at the community level. This year in 2022, with the COVID situation gradually under control, we are conducting activities to accelerate the progress while taking utmost care of safety of all the people involved in the project. In the upcoming articles, we are going to share many updates from our 4 pilot municipalities and about the community people participating in our project.