Mahakali Corridor: 30 km of road construction in 12 years

The mega infrastructural and development projects which are being implemented in Kanchanpur have witnessed snail-paced progress.

The Mahakali corridor road construction project, which was designed and executed for trade expansion up to Tinkar, the tri-country border entry point of Nepal, India, and China, has seen dismal progress.

Only 30 km of the road section has been blacktopped even though 12 years have already elapsed since the road construction was initiated in 2009.

Though the contract was awarded first for road construction in Bramhadev area of Kanchanpur, it has not been initiated as workers have not received permission to cut down trees.

There have been protracted hassles in cutting down trees along the 413 km road under the project that aims to expand access to roads from Bramhadev of Kanchanpur to Tinkar of Darchula through Dadeldhura and Baitadi.

Engineer at Mahakali Corridor Darchula Tinkar Road Project, Milan Ghatani said track opening was underway in different sections of the corridor road.

A contract amounting to Rs 55 million was signed last year for the opening of the 15 km track from Bramhadev of Kanchanpur to the Jogbudha area of northern Dadeldhura. It has yet to be initiated. The Diwa-Shanidev JV was awarded the contract for the task.

Proprietor of Diwa Shanidev JV Devi Dutta Bhatta complained that he could not advance the project works for the past year since the project had not obtained permission for cutting trees.

"Had there been the permission for cutting the trees, much would have been progressed so far along the corridor", he said, adding there was no option but to wait for permission.

As many as 1,951 trees have to be cut down in the Kanchanpur area under the corridor. The 15-km track has to be completed by 2080 BS.

Likewise, the construction of the postal road in Kanchanpur which had to be completed in 30 months was still incomplete despite spending double time as the originally planned.

Similarly, contractual responsibility was entrusted for the construction of a 62 km road from Doke Bazaar to Daiji through Belauri in February 2017. As of now, only 34 km of the road has been blacktopped, shared Information Officer of the Postal Highway Project office Dhangadhi Padma Bahadur Madai. He further informed 28 km stretch of the road is yet to be blacktopped.

Though the contractor was warned of action for delay in construction works, the timeline was expanded for the fifth time.

"Timeline has been extended up to November-December for the package from Doke Bazaar to Belauri and next year June-July for remaining two packages, he said.

Likewise, the progress of the third phase of the Mahakali Irrigation Project – which is the national priority project being implemented in Kanchanpur has also seen a snail's pace.

Two other big projects of the district – the establishment of Daiji Chhela Industrial Area and Dodhara-Chadani dry port are also not in priority. In the current fiscal year, the government had allocated Rs 1 billion each for both the projects but it was not gaining momentum as anticipated.