Dharan : A Model City of Public Participation

Dharan being a model of public participation, people from far and wide visit it nowadays. The Municipality has put Government of Nepal (GON)'s policy of sustainable development through the participation of private sectors to practice. The policy is implemented through public participation in the construction of development infrastructures. The concept of more and more public participation in the mobilization of local resources is the basis of the sustainable, balanced, planned development of the city's education, health, tourism and trade. The public participation for the city's development includes both financial and physical labour.

Looking back, the history of public participation in the development works go well before 1980s. However, the active participation started only in 1998/99 fiscal year. At first the investment on the development projects were 25 and 40 per cent from the public and 75 and 60 per cent from the Municipality, depending on the amount of the cost, and afterwards the cost of project works were borne up to 50% by both parties.

Construction includes roads, drainage system, Ward Committee buildings, school buildings and public conveniences, too. One special aspect of the public participation is that the users themselves manage the maintenance and cleaning of the roads and drainage. The users themselves maintain and clean the roads daily/weekly, stop the bullock carts, stop the vehicles that carry loads more than the road standard, and control speed.

Private sector plays vital role in construction and management of childcare centers, schools and mother-child health clinics, too.

Further more, construction of the "Dharan Clock Tower", mainly funded by Dharan Hong Kong Forum, Macaw residing citizen form Dharan, local Dharan Citizen and Dharan Municipality is a one of best practice of Public Participation for whole Nepal.

Dharan an Introduction

Dharan is a beautiful and multicultural town of eastern Nepal. It lies on Sunsari District and Koshi Zone. It is also a major town of Nepal and the town of many different races and ethnic groups.

The town of Dharan was established when a thick jungle was cleared for a small human settlement in 1890s. In 1902 the then Prime Minister Juddha Sumshere Rana established a small village at the foot of Vijayapur hillock and named Chanrdranagar (now Purano Bajar), and steady growth of the settlement got into a shape of town in course of time. It was declared a municipal town in 1960. However, the history of Vijayapur village goes back more than 225 years.

In the beginning there was a thick jungle where the modern town of Dharan stands now. Fellers had set up dharan (wooden platforms to saw logs). That's how the town got it's name.

The British Gorkha Recruit Center was established in 1953 and this increased the flow of people and expansion of the town. In 1962, Nepal was divided into 14 administrative zones and 75 districts and Dharan was made the Zonal Headquarters of Kosi Zone. At first the town was divided into eleven wards, but in 1980 Banjjhogara Gaon Panchayat at the east and Ghopa Gaon Panchayat at the west were added to Dharan Town Panchayat. This expansion led to re-formation of the wards, and thus the town was divided into nineteen wards.

Home of many different races, castes, creeds and an ethnic group, Dharan is proud to be a center of education, health, tourism and trade. And it's trying to come up not only as a model municipality in the eastern region but also in the whole of Nepal.