DHANGADHI: Numerous infrastructure projects in Sudurpashchim Province have been left in limbo due to years of negligence by builders. The construction of a concrete bridge over the Doda River in Laljhadi Rural Municipality-4 of Kanchanpur has been stagnant for eight years, with only three pillars erected.
Rajendra Kumar Shrestha JV was awarded the contract to build the bridge, which connects Dekhabhuli with Parsiya, in December 2015 with a quoted price of Rs 247.38 million. Despite receiving multiple time extensions, the project has failed to gain momentum.
Officials state that construction work was halted after faults were discovered in the foundation of one of the pillars. Although the Department of Roads has approved the proposed remedy to fix the faults, the project has not gained momentum. Piyush Chatout, the information officer at the Road Division Office in Mahendranagar, mentioned that the builder has not made satisfactory progress despite repeated reminders.
The Division Road Office has already seized bid bond amounting to Rs 25.5 million made by the builder. The latest construction deadline offered to the contractor expires in mid-July.
Similarly, the construction of another bridge over the Seti River, connecting Shikhar Municipality and Adarsha Rural Municipality of Doti, remains incomplete even after being granted five time extensions. This bridge is a crucial infrastructure project as it connects the Satnali-Mellek-Bajhang road with the KI Singh Highway.
A bridge project in Dhangadhi Municipality is another example of gross negligence in infrastructure projects by the builders.
The project was awarded to Pushpa-Rajendra JV in 2014 with a three-year timeframe and a quoted price of Rs 262.08 million. However, according to Ram Chandra Jaisi, the information officer of the Division Road Office in Doti, the builder has only achieved about 22% physical progress, falling far behind the mid-July deadline. Despite receiving five time extensions, the builder has not even reached 20% physical progress.
Deepak Kumar Jha, the chief of the Division Road Office in Doti, said that the office has initiated the process to seize the bid bond worth Rs 22.9 million deposited by the builder.
A bridge project in Dhangadhi Municipality is another example of gross negligence in infrastructure projects by the builders. The Division Road Office in Kanchanpur awarded a contract to Pappu-Adventure JV in 2017 to build a concrete bridge over the Shivaganga River. Although the project was supposed to be completed in three years, the bridge connecting Pahtari in Ward-16 and Rampur in Ward-17 still remains incomplete.
The construction was halted after a flaw was detected in the foundation of one of the pillars erected by the builder. Since the builder did not take any initiative to resolve the issue, the Division Road Office has seized the bid bond of Rs 11.6 million submitted by the builder.
