Sauraha to get a facelift

Domestic and international tourists will soon find better facilities in Sauraha as the stakeholders are chalking out a master plan for the popular tourist destination in Chitwan. Different associations such as the Regional Hotel Association of Sauraha, the Restaurant and Bar Association of Nepal (REBAN), Sauraha chapter, and the locals are working on the ´Sauraha Tourism Master Plan´, which is estimated to cost around Rs 45 million to Rs 60 million. “The master plan includes widening of the roads by two meters on each side, development of tourist bus park, effective drainage to keep roads dry during the rainy season, development of green belt on both sides of the roads and installation of streetlights, among others,” said Narayan Bhattarai, president of the Hotel Association. Currently, the locals and the hoteliers have jointly collected the money and the association said that it will now seek help from different private and the governmental organizations. According to Suman Ghimire, general secretary of the association, of the total estimated budget, around Rs 5 million will be spent for the green belt development alone as tourists have always been attracted by the greenery of Sauraha. “We have already spent around Rs 800,000 for the development of the green belt,” said Ghimire, adding that they aim to carry out plantation of 200 plants before the great Hindu festival of Dashain. Most of the hoteliers and locals of Sauraha have provided their private land to widen the road by two meters on each side which has made the road widening work easier, said the association. REBAN, Sauraha chapter has taken the initiative for installing the streetlights in 1.5 km road section, which is rather dark and difficult to walk during the nighttime. According to Ghimire, around 16 streetlights will be installed 100 meters apart. “For the time being the REBAN plans to operate the streetlights using inverters, but in the near future we will be using solar power to cut down the cost,” said Ghimire. Besides the ongoing development activities, people visiting Sauraha will also get to see new hotels and resorts. A two-star hotel named ´Seven Star´ is coming into operation at the beginning of September. Likewise, four more new hotels are coming up by October, according to the association. Green Park, Landmark, Sutanchuli and Central Park are the new hotels which are all set to begin operation from October. With the addition of new hotels, Sauraha will have around 90 hotels altogether. As Sauraha is mostly focused on safari-based tourism, hoteliers are hopeful that the new changes in Sauraha will help lure more tourists.