Government reluctance to admit its limitations urges villages to think big when it comes to development. They are encouraged to ask for airports and highways rather than to initiate projects that they are already able to maintain.
Walking up to Lo Manthang, the ´capital´ of Upper Mustang, the graffiti on the rocks are still full of the pledges made during the generalelections of June 1991. The candidates of the three main political parties ambitiously promised to bring a road in lO years, and electricity in five.
A road to connect Lo Manthang to Baglung, in the mid-hills near Pokhara, would have to be about 150 kilometres long and would be difficult to align along the steep flanks of the Kali Gandaki valley. The Karakoram Highway of Pakistan, which traverses similar terrain, is considered a marvel of modern engineering but would be prohibitively expensive to replicate. The high way to Lo Manthang would cost at least- NRs 1.5 billion (US 32 million), which would certainly require foreign aid, loans and international contractors.
The politicians´ promise of electricity, though a bit more modest, would nevertheless cost much more than the annual budget of the entire district. The politicians promised a hydropower plant at a village named Ghami, to cost an estimated NRs 100 million.