Hetauda

Hetauda (Nepal: हेटौडा) is a town in the Makwanpur district of the Narayani Zone in southern Nepal. It is also the administrative headquarters of the Makwanpur district. The city has 84.671 inhabitants. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 53,836 people living in 10,420 individual households.
It is 132 km from the capital Kathmandu via the old Tribhuvan highway. There are now two alternate roads that are less than 80 km. They are, however, not black topped yet. The city is enclosed by three rivers, the Rapti to the west, the Samari to the north and the Karra to the south. It is one the important industrial regions of Nepal. The settlement started due to its location at Tribhuvan highway, and later was the meeting point of another major national highway - East-West Highway.
Hetauda is considered one of the cleanest and greenest cities in Nepal, although there is no official data to support this claim. Due to its geographical features and its climate, it has been a popular choice for people migrating from the northern hilly regions to the south and from the southern Terai region, hence its causing increase in the population every year. Hetauda is situated in a unique geographical structure called doon, which means that it has a geography like a valley. It is surrounded by hills: the Mahabharata range in the north and the Siwalik range in the south. The rivers Rapti, Samari and Karra run through the city and flow southwest to meet Narayani, one of the bigger and popular rivers in the nation.
It is an hour drive from the Nepalese border city of Birgunj, which is adjacent to its Indian counterpart, Raxaul. Both the existing highways to the capital city Kathmandu - Tribhuwan Highway and the East-West Highway, Mahendra Highway that trails the length of the nation - traverse through this city. With so many entry and exit points leading in and out of this town, Hetauda is set to grow into a commercial powerhouse if only the country realized its potential.

Forest (Flora & Fauna)

The major forest species in the city is Sal(Shorea robusta). The city is all surrounded by beautiful Sal forest hill. In the banks of Rapti and Karra river Sissoo (Dalbergia sissoo)can also be found mixed up with Sal and other tropical species. Being greenery as the well known indicator of this city, most of the community forest are found proudly aware to conserve protect and use of the forest resources in a sustainable way. Ashok tree is plying absolute role to show the main city area green and nice. No doubt Community Forests are the backbone of the city for its greenery. Among all the Community Forest User Group- Rani Community Forest User Group is well known in the country for its intensive sustainable forest management as well as for the good governance in a very short history of its scientific management. Besides that all the community forests seem fallowing the path of sustainable management for the fulfillment of this generation demand as well as for insuring the rights of future generation demands.
As the government body; District Forest Office Makwanpur, District Soil Conservation Office Makwanpur and District Plant Resources Office Makwanpur, under the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, are situated in the district headquarter Hetauda. Some I/NGOs are also giving some support in the sustainable development of the forest resources in the area.