Jaleswar had been the capital of Mahottari ever since this district was created about a century ago. It was from here that Bada Hakims, usually Rana cousins or their distant relatives, controlled the vast territory between Bagmati in the west, Kamala in the east, the Chure range to the north and India in the south.
Mahottari's revenue was so huge that the office in Jaleswar came to be called Bhari Maal, or 'hefty takings', in official documents. During the Panchayat , the central government recognised the political importance of the place by posting heavyweight hardliners as Damodar Shamsher, Lila Raj Bista and Shankar Raj Pathak as Anchaladhis of Janakpur. Attempts to shift the Janakpur Zone capital to Sindhuli was discarded once it was discovered that even the construction of the East-West highway had failed to move the weight of population northwards.
The sleepy pilgrim town of Janakpur thus emerged as an unintended beneficiary. It became de-facto centre of zonal administration and politics. Since 1990 the CDO has been operating from offices and residences built in Jaleswar during the Rana era for Bada Hakims.
Jaleshwar has been seized with another existential crisis after 18 years. Early this week, protestors padlocked all government offices to oppose the transfer of some administrative functions to Bardibas on the highway.
Locals fear it's an attempt to shift the district headquarters by stealth and the lockdown is an indication of the statelessness in most Tarai districts where anyone with a grievance can disrupt public services.
In Kathmandu, residents along the road to Sisdol landfill site always want some more privileges to let garbage trucks pass unhindered. Villages far away from the flow of Melamchi claim special concessions from a project meant for the capital. Almost every sector wants extraordinary exemption from load-shedding schedule with little or no concern for finding ways that can help reduce demand, improve supply or balance distribution.