RAUTAHAT, FEBRUARY 10
The under-construction bridge over the Chandi River has been left in the lurch despite extension of the deadline time and again for the past five years at Gaindatar of Chandrapur Municipality, Rautahat.
Locals complained that it could not be ascertained when the bridge would be completed.
The then Physical and Infrastructure Minister Ramesh Lekhak had laid the foundation stone for the bridge in 2017.
Pappu Shivashankar JV had signed over Rs 224 million contract to accomplish the construction work in 2019.
Locals were elated after the foundation stone was laid thinking that they would have a bridge to facilitate travel from one place to another.
They now look sad as there is no sign the work will be completed any time soon. They said they had drawn the attention of the authority concerned, but in vain.
Govinda Timalsina, a local, said the locals had reached the division road office time and again following delay in the construction work.
He added that the contractors paid no heed even though the locals had frequently complained.
He said locals had formed a protest committee to grab the attention of the authority concerned, but to no avail.
Raju Dhami, a CPN-UML cadre, who is also the social worker, said locals had faced many problems due to the lack of bridge. However, the authority concerned, construction company, among others, did not care.
Chandrapur Municipality Ward 3 Chair Bodh Nath Devkota said the construction work could not gain momentum after they piled pressure on the contractor to complete the work.
Bridge Construction Protest Committee Coordinator Lal Bahadur Dong said the bridge construction was delayed due to negligence on the part of the contractor.
Road division office, municipality, federal, province lawmakers, among others, have drawn the attention of the contractor, but construction work has not gained momentum.
The protest programme was postponed after the construction company committed to accomplish the task on time.
Meanwhile, Road Division Office, Chandrapur accepted that the construction work was delayed.
The office added that the construction company would have to face legal proceedings if the construction work was not completed even after the extended time.
A version of this article appears in the print on February 11, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
