Socioeconomic Change in Far-West Nepal: A Town in the Doti Valley

Abstract

This article briefly examines the economic and social impact upon local society brought about by the opening of a seasonal road link between Dipayal, Doti District, and Dhangardi, Kailali District, in the Far-West Development Region of Nepal. This road, which runs via Dhadeldura Bazaar, reached Dipayal in January 1986, and since then a large, seasonal bazaar has sprung up, bus service between Dipayal and the Indian border has been established, and the town has become the most important trading center for much of the Far West. In spite of these developments, I conclude that the residents of Dipayal have yet to benefit from the new economic activity and may, in fact, have been negatively affected. Dipayal is located at the bottom of the Doti Valley on the north bank of the Seti River and is the seat of the Dipayal Nagar Panchayat, a Nepalese administrative designation equivalent to a city council. However, the bulk of the Nagar Panchayat population is located in and around Silgarhi, the district center 12 kilometers to the east, which sits on a high ridge overlooking the valley. Although the Nagar Panchayat population is around 10,000, the actual population of Dipayal is 1,953.1 The town proper consists of a small bazaar, several government offices, and approximately 205 scattered houses. There is a telegraph office, post office, Royal Nepal Airlines office, and Rastriya Bank branch office. In 1982, when King Birendra established the Far-West Development Region, the small village of Rajpur, located across the river from Dipayal, was chosen as the regional administrative center. Temporary government