Jajarkot, December 31

Construction of the access road to link the proposed Nalsinghgad Hydropower Project of Jajarkot has failed to start for the past one year, thanks to the negligence of the contractor.

Khadka Construction Pvt Ltd had won the bid to build the 10.8-km road from Lahan VDC-6, Kalimati to Laikham of Sakla VDC in three years’ time at a cost of 220 million rupees.

However, a year after it had bagged the contract, the company still has not started construction work.

It had been citing the impact of the earthquake earlier, and now it has for its pretext the fuel crisis resulting from the blockade at the border entry points. The locals, on the other hand, are furious at the procrastination of the contractor.

“I’ve heard the project is among those projects considered to be a national glory, but I wonder if the same is true as the contractor hasn’t bother to start any work on the construction of even the short stretch of road even after one year. What’s worse is that the state seems to be least concerned and other bodies of the state have also maintained an uncanny

silence over the lack of work,” said Mohan Singh, a local, adding, “I doubt that my generation will be able to see this project completed.”

Sources at Nalsinghgad Hydropower Project Development Committee have informed that the contractor, about a year ago, had taken 20 million rupees as advance to start the project. The 450MW power project of topmost state priority will be based in Sakla and Khagenkot VDCs of Jajarkot, about 50 KM east from the district headquarters.

The project has allocated 55 million rupees for establishing its camp office. The camp office is entrusted with the preparatory works of the project, such as requisitioning land, providing compensation to land owners and constructing the access road to the project site. The project is estimated to be completed by the year of 2021 and the estimated cost is 100 billion rupees.