Jhapa, November 30

Construction of an overhead bridge along the East-West Highway road section at Damak Municipality, Jhapa, has been delayed.

Six months after the contractors signed the project, the work has yet to begin.

According to the municipality, the bridge will be the first of its kind outside the Valley.

Engineer Tirtha Narayan Shrestha of the municipality said Kankai and Prabin construction Service had jointly received the contract on June 14 through a tender called by the municipality.

He added that the construction company had already received Rs 3.2 million to start the work.

“The estimated budget for the construction is more than Rs 20 million, including VAT. The work will be completed within a year,” he informed.

Shrestha said the contractors had informed him that the equipment and other necessary materials had arrived in Biratnagar and the construction work would begin from the second week of December.

Meanwhile, the contractors said they could not begin the work due to the ongoing crisis in the country.

It is said that Prime Minister KP Oli and Nepali Congress lawmaker Mahendra Kumari Subba had contributed some budget from Infrastructure Area Development Fund for construction of the bridge that falls in Prime Minister Oli’s hometown in Jhapa.

The local leadership of CPN-UML claimed that the construction work was initiated by party leader as well as Prime Minister Oli in his home land.