About HETAUDA, Makwanpur [From Wikipedia]

Hetauda (Nepali: 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. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 53,836 people living in 10,420 individual households. However, the population has skyrocketed since the 1991 census and it is a widely acknowledged fact that the city's population is much higher than the count commonly found on the internet. Wolfram alpha search engine presents the 2004 estimate of population to be about 85,000. Similar projection can also he found here. 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, hence causing the population of increase 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's 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, aka 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.