I just had a visit to Jiri and Charikot last month. This was my fourth visit to Jiri since 1992. I can easily see the meaningful impacts of the road to the whole Dolakha and neighbouring districts as mentioned in Pragya Shrestha's article ('The great green road', #254). My conclusion is that building the road with development and economy of the area in mind as the Swiss did was the key to this success. I am happy to hear that the district rural road project is expanding to 18 other districts which is another sign of the road's positive impact. While in Jiri and Charikot last time, I asked myself if the people here would be better off without the road. The answer is definitely not.

And that's all that counts.

Devi P Dahal,
Training & Employment Project