DHADING: Construction of a concrete bridge over Lapang Khola has started in Tripurasundari Rural Municipality of Dhading district. The bridge will connect people in the northern region of Dhading to accessible transportation services all-year-round.

Foundation stone for the bridge, 45-metre long and 8.4-metre wide, was laid on Thursday by Khem Prasad Lohani, a federal lawmaker elected from Dhading Constituency-2. The bridge is being constructed with the financial support of the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) with a total allocated budget of Rs 55.4 million.

The bridge over Lapang Khola lies along Dhading Besi--Sankosh Tipling--Somdang road section, which is the lifeline of locals as the road connects remote areas of Dhading with the district headquarters.

Lack of a concrete bridge over the river has been affecting a majority of villages in the region including Rubi Valley, Khaniyabas, Ganga Jamuna, Tripura Sundari, Netrawati, among others, during monsoons.

Rasuwa Construction Company (RCC)/JBNS JV has won the tender for the bridge construction, informed Jayaram Shrestha, head of Grant Management and Local Infrastructure, District Programme Implementation Unit of the NRA. The company should hand over the bridge within the stipulated deadline which is December 15, 2020, he added.

With the construction of the bridge, people living in the then VDCs -- Tripureshwor, Gumdi, Marpak, Darkha, Satyadevi, Jharlang, Sertung, Rigaun, and Lapa -- will have easy access to the road network.

Meanwhile, construction is underway for Darkha-Jharlang-Sertung-Tipling road section, which will make mobility easier in various regions of the district, previously not connected to the road network.

People living in remote areas of the district, which are not linked with road networks, have to walk at least three days to reach the district headquarters.

(Translated by Nishant Pokhrel, Edited by Priyanka Adhikari)