SARLAHI, AUGUST 3

Construction of a section of the Postal Highway in Sarlahi district has been almost stagnant with no progress in sight for a long time now.

The construction of the road section stretching 40.37 kilometres in the district was initiated years ago, but much to the dismay of the locals, it remains to be constructed efficiently and is far from completed.

The contract was awarded to Hindunga and Thokar Hira and Namita JV and Hindunga and Thokar Saha Construction Services and Diva Construction Services to build this stretch of the Postal Highway in 2016 at a cost of Rs 640 million within five years.

Although the construction company has already obtained Rs 320 million for the construction, the condition of the road remains the same.

Kapil Mahato, a local in Godaita Municipality, bemoaned that they had been facing great difficulties due to the sorry state of the road section.

He said, 'We must use the Postal Highway wherever we want to go. Construction work related to the road section is sluggish and on the other hand, the already constructed road-section is dilapidated.'

The 1,792-km highway is considered to be a vital road for the Tarai region as it connects most of the districts in the region stretching from Jhapa in the east to Kanchanpur in the west, including Sarlahi district.

According to Mahato, due to the poor condition of the road, they were compelled to travel through dust in winter and mud in the monsoon.

A version of this article appears in the print on August 4, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.