Mechinagar Municipality

Mechinagar (Nepali: मेचीनगर) is a municipality in Jhapa District, Koshi Province, Nepal and is the main entry point from India on Nepal's eastern border. Nepal's customs office is in Kakarvitta (Nepali: काँकडभिट्टा), a section of the municipality. The city lies 475 km southeast of the capital Kathmandu and 115 km east of Biratnagar, the capital of Province No. 1.

Mechinagar Municipality मेचीनगर नगरपालिका
Municipality
Flag
Motto:  To develop local area.
Mechinagar Municipality मेचीनगर नगरपालिका Location in Koshi Province Show map of Koshi Province Mechinagar Municipality मेचीनगर नगरपालिका Mechinagar Municipality मेचीनगर नगरपालिका (Nepal) Show map of Nepal
Coordinates: 26°40′00″N 88°07′20″E
Country	Nepal
Development Region	Eastern
Province	Koshi Province
District	Jhapa District
Government
• Mayor (2022-2027)	Gopal Chandra Budhathoki(NCP)
• Deputy Mayor	Mina Upreti (NCP)
• Chief District Officer	Bishwanath Baral
Population  (2021)
• Total	131,520
• Rank	4th (Province No. 1) 26th (Nepal)
Time zone	UTC+5:45 (NST)
Postal code	57207, 57208
Area code	023
Website	mechinagarmun.gov.np

Origin

Mechinagar Municipality initially originated by combining Dhulabari (Nepali: धुलाबारी) and Kakarbhitta Village Development Committee. The municipality got its first territorial expansion by merging with nearby VDCs Bahundangi, Duhagadhi, Jyamirgadhi and Dhaijan in 2073 BS (2017 AD). The population of the expanded city is 131,520 (as of the 2021 census), and its area is 192.52 sq. km. The municipality is the municipality with the highest population in the country. Kakarbhitta used to be the hub of betel nut trade in Nepal. There is still a street named ‘Supari (betel nut) Lane’ in Kakarbhitta.^[1]

Geographical status

The city lies in the eastern part of Nepal. The city is the largest municipality in the Jhapa District. The city has Arjundhara Municipality and Birtamod in the Western Part, Buddha Shanti Gaupalika and Ilam District in the North, Bhadrapur, Mechi in the South and West Bengal, India in the East. Mechi River separates the City and Nepal from India.

Two major highways, Mahendra Highway & Mechi Highway, run in the city. The city is the link between the Northern Mechi Zone for the rest of the nation. The nearest airport is Bhadrapur Airport, which is just attached to the Southern part of the city. Daily 6-8 flights make it to Kathmandu two ways from the airport.

Ward Division

Previously, the city was divided into 13 wards. The city was divided into 15 wards after expansion. The following are the new ward divisions:

Ward No	Previously	Area (km2)	Population (2011)	Density (per km2)
1	Bahundangi 7,8 & 9	13.10	5,793	442
2	Bahundangi 4 & 6	13.50	5,877	435
3	Bahundangi 3 & 5	18.50	7,102	384
4	Bahundangi 1 & 2	12.40	5,050	407
5	Mechinagar 8 & 9	9.17	4,533	494
6	Mechinagar 10	4.43	14,289	3,226
7	Mechinagar 11 & 12 and Jymargadi 8 & 9	16.21	10,904	673
8	Mechinagar 7 & 13	12.10	6,527	539
9	Mechinagar 4,5 & 6	13.50	10,162	753
10	Mechinagar 1,2 & 3	8.05	13,588	1,688
11	Dhaijan 1, 2, 7, 8 & 9	9.55	5,507	577
12	Dhaijan 3, 4, 5 & 6	7.01	4,313	615
13	Duwagadi 2, 3, 4 & 5	12.30	5,594	455
14	Duwagadi 1, 6, 7, 8 & 9	19.10	5,103	267
15	Jymargadi 1,2,3,4,5,6 & 7	23.60	7,395	313

Local Election

Local Level Election 2017

Mechinagar Municipality is in the Jhapa district of Pradesh 1. There are 90,202 eligible voters for the Nepal local elections 2017, according to the Election Commission. There are 15 wards in the metropolitan city with a population of 111,520.

• Total Population: 111,520
• Number of Wards: 15
• Election Center: 35
• Number of Male Voters: 45,112
• Number of Female Voters: 45,090
• Number of Other Voters: -
• Total Eligible Voters: 90,202

Mayoral election

Summary of Mechinagar mayoral election, 2017

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nepali Congress	Bimal Acharya	20,776	41.61%
	CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist)	Bishnu Prasad Prasain	19,192	38.79%
	Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre)	Hand Lal Rajbanshi	7,696	4.61%
	Rastriya Prajatantra Party	Ramesh Dahal	803	0.72%
	Others		1246	14.27%
Total			49,711	100
Result			Nepali Congress gain

Summary of Mechinagar deputy mayoral election, 2017

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist)	Mina Kumari Pokharel	20,016	40.42%
	Nepali Congress	Durga Khatiwada	19,106	38.59%
	Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre)	Indira karki	7,690	4.56%
	Rastriya Prajatantra Party	Sabina Bajagain	1,235	1.89%
	Others		1246	14.54%
Total			49,711	100
Result			CPN (UML) gain

Local Level Election 2079

Mechinagar Municipality is in the Jhapa district of Pradesh 1. There are 90,202 eligible voters for the Nepal local elections 2022, according to the Election Commission. There are 15 wards in the metropolitan city with a population of 131,520.

• Total Population : 131,520
• Number of Wards : 15
• Election Center : 35
• Number of Male Voters : 45,112
• Number of Female Voters : 45,090
• Number of Other Voters : -
• Total Eligible Voters : 90,202

List Of Table

Party	Mayor	Deputy Mayor	Results
Nepali Congress	Indra Bahadur Budhathoki	-
CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist)	Gopal Chandra Budhathoki	Mina Kumari Pokharel
Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre)	-	Prakash Bhandari
Mangol National Organization	Kishore Dhimal	Shikha Limbu
Rastriya Prajatantra Party	Ramesh Dahal	Sabina Bajgain
Loktantrit Samajwadi Party	Lawan Singh Dhimal	Anita Murmu
Maulik Jarokilo Party	Hira Bastola	Sita Dulal
CPN (Maxist Leninist)	Bharisadas Poudel	-
CPN (Unified Socialist)	-	Sharada Sharma Ghimire
Independents	Ram Kumar Budhathoki
Independents	Bijay Kumar Adhikari
Independents		Dilli Ram Ghimire

Council formation

Representation of Mechinagar Council Members

1. Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) (72%)
2. (Nepali Congress) (19%)
3. CPN (Maoist Centre) (9%)

Party		Mayor	Deputy Mayor	Ward Chairman	Ward Members	Total seats	Remarks
	Communist Party of Nepal (UML)	1	1	11	55	28	' ' ' Majority' ' '
	Nepali Congress			3	5	8
	CPN(Maoist Centre)			1	0	1
Total		1	1	15	60	77	42 for Majority

Current members

Ward no.	Category	Members	Party
Ward chairman (15)
1	Ward Chairman	Raj Kumar Rai		CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist)
2		Deepak Baral
3		Harka Basnet
4		Arjun Kumar Karki
5		Kanak Karki
6		Lalit Bahadur Tamang [2]		Nepali Congress
7				CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist)
8		Giriraj Dhamala [3]		Nepali Congress
9				CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist)
10		Narayan Khanal		CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist)
11				CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist)
12				CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist)
13				CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist)
14				Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre)
15				Nepali Congress

Demographics

At the time of the 2011 Nepal census, Mechinagar Municipality had a population of 112,997. Of these, 63.5% spoke Nepali, 8.7% Rajbanshi, 3.6% Limbu, 3.5% Maithili, 2.6% Rai, 2.6% Tamang, 1.8% Mech, 1.8% Newar, 1.5% Santali, 1.4% Magar, 1.2% Dhimal, 0.8% Rajasthani, 0.8% Urdu, 0.7% Kisan, 0.7% Tharu, 0.6% Gurung, 0.4% Bengali, 0.4% Bhojpuri, 0.4% Danwar, 0.4% Hindi, 0.4% Uranw/Urau, 0.3% Bantawa, 0.3% Sherpa, 0.2% Chamling, 0.1% Dungmali, 0.1% Kharia, 0.1% Kulung, 0.1% Majhi, 0.1% Malpande, 0.1% Musalman, 0.1% Sunwar and 0.4% other languages as their first language.^[4]

In terms of ethnicity/caste, 22.3% were Hill Brahmin, 18.6% Chhetri, 8.9% Rajbanshi, 5.1% Rai, 4.7% Limbu, 4.4% Newar, 4.3% Tamang, 3.9% Magar, 3.5% Kami, 2.0% Damai/Dholi, 1.9% Mech, 1.9% Sanyasi/Dasnami, 1.3% Dhimal, 1.3% Musalman, 1.3% Santal, 1.1% Tharu, 1.0% Gharti/Bhujel, 1.0% Gurung, 1.0% Marwadi, 0.8% Kisan, 0.8% Sarki, 0.7% Danuwar, 0.7% other Terai, 0.6% Jhangad/Dhagar, 0.5% Kathabaniyan, 0.4% Sherpa, 0.3% Bengali, 0.3% Majhi, 0.3% Munda, 0.3% Sunuwar, 0.3% Teli, 0.3% Yadav, 0.2% Terai Brahmin, 0.2% other Dalit, 0.2% Dhanuk, 0.2% Hajjam/Thakur, 0.2% other Janajati, 0.2% Kalwar, 0.2% Mallaha, 0.1% Bantawa, 0.1% Bantar/Sardar, 0.1% Chamling, 0.1% Dhobi, 0.1% Dom, 0.1% Halwai, 0.1% Kanu, 0.1% Kayastha, 0.1% Kewat, 0.1% Khawas, 0.1% Kulung, 0.1% Kumal, 0.1% Musahar, 0.1% Pattharkatta/Kushwadiya, 0.1% Rajput, 0.1% Samgpang, 0.1% Sonar, 0.1% Sudhi, 0.1% Thakuri, 0.1% Thami, 0.1% Yakkha and 0.4% others.^[5]

In terms of religion, 81.9% were Hindu, 6.4% Buddhist, 6.1% Kirati, 2.5% Christian, 1.2% Muslim, 1.2% Prakriti, 0.2% Jain and 0.5% others.^[6]

In terms of literacy, 77.0% could read and write, 1.4% could only read and 21.6% could neither read nor write.^[7]

Climate

The city temperature reaches up to 40 degree Celsius in the summer and falls below 8 degrees in the winter. The city is a summer city and the winter lasts only for four months (November to February). During March and April, high winds are likely to occur and moderate rainfall is seen in June and July.

Road Network

• Asian Highway 02 (AH02)
• Mahendra Highway (H01)
• Mechi Highway (H07)
• Bahundangi Road