Jhapa, December 30

Construction of a bridge over the Mechi river in Jhapa remains yet to be completed eight years after the launch of the project.

The work to construct the 560 metres long bridge that links the Jhapa district headquarters Bhadrapur with the Galgaliya entry point of India had begun in February 2010. The project was to be completed in three years.

The contractor company has attributed the delay to technical glitch. So far, the construction of 15 of the total 17 pillars of the bridge has been completed. No work has been started for building the remaining two pillars, with the company citing technical reasons.

“As we have to work on just two pillars now, the bridge construction will be completed in two months from now,” said engineer Surendra Kumar Khadka.

Also, work related to construction of link roads on either sides of the bridge hasn’t started. The bridge under the postal road project is the first to link Nepal with India.

Some stakeholders blame lack of cooperation between the government and the contractor company. “If we are to bring the bridge into operation soon, work on link roads should start soon.  But neither the government nor India has done anything in that regard,” said Bhadrapur Municipality’s former mayor Om Prakash Saraogi.