Bara, August 14

The six-lane Birgunj-Pathlaiya road section has started peeling off before its completion.

The road got damaged before it was completed because construction companies used substandard materials. The road has been damaged in many places even as the road is being constructed and in the final stage in some places. The road, which is yet to be completed, is filled with ditches in many places of Pathlaliya, Simara and Nitanpur.

Aftab Alam, a local of Jitpur Simara sub-metropolis, said the trade road started peeling off before it was completed due to utter negligence on the part of the planning office and construction entrepreneurs.

Engineer Ashok Yadav of the project said the reason behind the dilapidated condition of the road was not the fault of the construction company, but overloaded vehicles plying the road section. “The road was damaged due to the movement of vehicles loaded beyond the bearing capacity of the road,” he added. He said the road would not remain in good state for a long time until heavy vehicles were banned on the road section. “We have sent letters to the authority concerned asking it to ban heavy vehicles,” he informed.

Construction of the 30.5-kilometre road section was started from Pathlaiya to Birgunj at a cost of Rs 5 billion. As many as seven entrepreneurs are constructing the road, while three construction companies have been working on the bridges along the road section.

The planning office has extended the deadline for the road after it could not be completed within the stipulated time.