Only 20% of bridge construction work done in 8 years

A bridge under construction on the Seti River at Banidugrisain, Shikhar Municipality-10 of Doti has only seen 20 percent completion in eight years. Despite the agreement to complete the construction within three years, only 20 percent of the bridge has been completed so far due to negligence of the contractor.

According to the Federal Road Supervision and Monitoring Office, Road Division, Kulpate, only 20 percent of the work has been completed so far even though the promised date was July 13, 2017.

An agreement was reached on July 13, 2014 to build a bridge connecting Satnali Mellek Road with KI Singh Highway which had started construction in 1992. Locals and CPN (Unified Socialist) leader Indra Blair said that the locals were outraged saying that the work was not completed even after the first three-year contract expired four times. He said, "The time allotted for the construction of the bridge has expired. The bridge contractor is not working even after repeated extensions. The concerned bodies do not care. Those who do not work should be accordingly punished."

According to him, as per the current agreement, the last term of the contract is till 13 April, 2022. Yogendra Bahadur Adhikari, Information Officer and Engineer at the Division Office informed that Division Road Office, Kulpate Dipayal has signed an agreement with Pushpa Rajendra JV Construction Company for the construction of the 320 meter long RCC bridge which is said to be constructed at a cost of Rs 262 million including value added tax (VAT). According to him, the work could not be carried out as the contractor used the excuse of not finding workers due to coronavirus infection.

According to the Division Roads Office, Pushpa-Rajendra JV Company has so far received a payment of Rs 32.1 million. Another local, Ram Bahadur Dhami, said that the locals were disappointed as they were hoping to be connected to the road network after the construction of the bridge started. He said, "Our dream of having an operational bridge and connecting it to the highway has turned to ashes. There has been no progress in the construction of the bridge."

On the other hand, Pushpa-Rajendra JV, who is in charge of the construction of the bridge, has been claiming that the work has been delayed due to problems in the foundation. Locals allege that Bhim Bahadur Saud, the director of the construction company, was also the mayor of Parshuram municipality in Dadeldhura district, so no one could take action against him.