The bridge was finally built in 10 years of the agreement, which will still take time to operate

Hetauda: A bridge started to connect eastern Nepal after the Terai movement has not been completed even after 10 years. It is said that it will take more than six months to complete the final slab of the bridge under construction on the Bagmati River on the Makwanpur-Sindhuli section.

The Madan Bhandari road construction project has stated that it will take another six months to come into operation as the road network has not touched the bridge even though the slope of the last slab of the Bagmati bridge was completed after 10 years. The slope of the last of the 11 slabs of the bridge has been completed.

Engineer Birendra Prasad Mahato informed that some trees should be cut down in the Sindhulipatti area and road construction work is still pending in the Makwanpur section. According to him, the work of forest clearance in the Sindhuli area is still pending. Although there is no problem in Makwanpur, there are problems in other areas, so it will take another six months for the bridge to be fully operational, says Mahato.

According to locals, Sindhuli and Makwanpur residents who come to Phaparbari in the eastern part of Makwanpur for daily necessities and health facilities are in trouble as the bridge contracted by Swachchhand Nirman Seva of Jayaram Lamichhane, former president of the Federation of Construction Entrepreneurs.

According to local Shankar Kumar Parajuli, a person will be freed from having to pay Rs 900 for crossing the river and Rs 5,000 for a motorcycle during the rainy season.

Swachchhand had signed a contract on Ashar 20, 2068, to complete the construction in five years. The Madan Bhandari Lok Marg Construction Project had also paid a fine to the construction company for not completing the work on time after concluding a contract worth Rs 235.39 million excluding VAT.
According to the office, Rs. 21 million 40 thousand has been recovered from the contractor for 10 percent compensation. Meanwhile, construction company Swachchhand has clarified that the work has been delayed due to unfavorable environmental conditions. Santosh Sapkota, a representative of Swachchhand Construction Services, said that no work could be completed on time due to inclement weather.

"We have not been able to work on time due to the Terai movement, blockade, Corona infection, and other adverse conditions," he said.

The overall progress of the scheme is 90 percent

The overall progress towards roads and bridges of Madan Bhandari Marg, which the government has worked on as a multi-year plan, has reached 90 percent. According to the Madan Bhandari Highway Planning Office, Hetauda, ​​the road from Jhapa to Dadeldhura has been widened to 1,250 km even though work has started from Dharan-Chatara-Gaighat-Katari-Sindhuli-Hetauda.
According to the Planning Office, out of 33 bridges to be built in Makwanpur and Sindhuli, 32 have been completed and two remain to be operated. Engineer Nirajan Thapa, information officer of the project, said that 90 percent of the work has been completed on the available side of the 115 km of Hetauda-Sindhuli section.

Addressing the problem of the 9 km area from Ghura of Sindhuli to Khatar of the project, it has been decided to make an 11-meter road 9 meters long. The construction work of Kalika Construction was halted due to the inability to provide aside.

When the Terai was closed for various reasons, work has been started to evacuate Makwanpur from eastern Nepal. Kalika and Swachchhand Yangken JV are doing all the work on the roadside of the highway, while Anak Construction and Lumbini JV are working on the bridge side except Bagmati. Work is underway with a plan to asphalt the 11-meter road and the 7-meter-wide road.