LAHAN, JUNE 28

The construction of stalled bridges over the Balan and Kamala rivers along the Postal Highway has brought cheers to the locals of Siraha district.

The bridges have made it easy for locals to commute to neighbouring districts.

The bridge over Balan River links Siraha with Saptari, while the bridge over Kamala River connects Siraha to Dhanusha.

Construction of these bridges was long overdue.

The contractors had been negligently dilly-dallying for nearly a decade. Irate locals had lodging lawsuits against the contractors over the land issue causing delay in the construction.

Movement of people and vehicles have started on this bridge measuring 470 metres in length and 11 metre in breadth, which is 95 per cent complete, said Surya Prakash Sharma of Pappu Lumbini Builders, the contractor. The remaining construction will be completed by mid-July, he said. Similarly, the bridge over Balan River is also 90 per cent complete.

Saroj Shah of Bhagwanpur said locals could not help but be happy with the construction of the bridges in their village.

Earlier, the locals had to undertake difficult and perilous journeys in the absence of the bridges, added another local of Bhagwanpur, Shiva Dayal Yadav.

Meanwhile, blacktopping of the roads along the Postal Highway has also been completed in Siraha district, thanks to the continuous pressures piled by locals on the contractors.

The 14-kilometre road from Siraha Municipality to Bariyarpatti in Siraha district under the Postal Highway have been blacktopped while asphalt has been put over 18 kilometres of the road from East Rajbiraj to West Balan in Sapatri.

Blacktopping of the road sections along the Postal Highway and other highways have been accelerated, informed Sashi Kumar Yadav, contractor manager at Swachanda Roshan Mahadev Khimti JV Company.

A version of this article appears in the print on June 29 2021, of The Himalayan Times.