Rautahat, February 18

Rastriya Janata Party Nepal presidium member and Member of Parliament elected from Rautahat Constituency 1 Anil Kumar Jha made a field study of a concrete bridge under construction over the Lal Bakaiya river today.

The bridge being constructed by Pappu Construction links Gaur Municipality to Ishanath Municipality.

Today, the MP, while monitoring the under-construction bridge, expressed concern about the contractor’s negligence that had caused the delay.

Just last year, five persons lost their lives when a boat packed with locals collided with the pillars of the under-construction bridge and capsized in the river in the monsoon. The bridge links Tikuliya of Gaur Municipality to Banjaraha of Ishanath Municipality.

“It’s unfortunate that the bridge project hasn’t been completed so far. It seems that the construction will take more than three years if the present pace of construction continues,” argued the MP after monitoring today.

Province 2 Physical Planning State Minister Dimpal Jha, on her part, lamented the effect on development projects due to delay in releasing the fund.

“The provincial government is all committed to monitor the development projects happening in the area under our jurisdiction, but it is sad that most of the contractors have attributed the delay to the negligence of the central government in releasing fund in time,” she said.

Road Division Office Rautahat engineer Shyam Narayan Mishra blamed the delay in the bridge construction on the negligence of the contractor. “The contractor has not expedited the construction even after frequent prodding from our side,” said Mishra.