JHAPA: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Physical

Panning and Works Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar today laid the foundation stone

of Mechi Bridge near Bhadrapur.

Addressing a function held on the occasion, Gachhadar vowed to construct the bridge at any cost. ‘’I will quit politics if I cannot construct a bridge here,’’ he said. Former parliamentarians from India, high-ranking Nepali officials and a number of people from the bordering areas were present on the occasion.

Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Sharat Singh Bhandari urged the stakeholders not to doubt the construction of the bridge. “Minister Gachhadar is dedicated to constructing the bridge and we are here to support him,’’ he said.

Guru Prasad Dhakal, Director of Department of Roads, said the bridge would be constructed at the cost of Rs 380 million. State Minister for General Administration Jitu Gautam, Assistant Minister for Physical Planning Kalawati Paswan and former home minister Krishna Sitaula were also present on the occasion. The Indian team included State Minster for Home Affairs Tasalimuddin, lawmakers of Bihar State Hemraj Kathar, Bhimraj Rajbanshi and Bhupendra Chaudhari. Industrialist Mohanlal Agrawal as well as Dibya Bhurtel, Shiva Bhurtel, KB Karki and Yam Bhandari, who were jailed for fighting for the bridge in the past, were felicitated.

Meanwhile, Maoist cadres showed black flags to DPM Gachhadar at Sagarmatha Chowk in Bhadrapur while he was on his way to the programme venue.

Twelve protesters have been injured when the police charged them with batons. The injured are undergoing treatment at Mechi Zonal Hospital. The infuriated Maoists also torched the gate constructed to welcome the ministers.