Ramechhap, February 6

Due to faulty design and substandard construction, Ramechhap’s Betali-based Setidevi Bohorekhola Irrigation Project structures have started falling apart well before coming into operation.

Just a week before the testing of the irrigation project, the posts built to support the pipe are collapsing. “I’d noticed some defects in the construction during the monitoring earlier and I had cautioned the contractor about it,” said Thal Bahadur Tamang, chief, Irrigation Development Division, Ramechhap.

Shankar Construction Service Manthali had been entrusted with the construction of the project and the contractor Shankar Thapa attributed the damage to technical design.

He said, “The damage might have to do with the nature of the polyethylene pipe that stretches and contracts due to temperature variation.” He also complained that the technical design was done by the then chief Hariram Shrestha of the irrigation development division office.