ITAHARI: Construction works on 42.5 km out of the 49-kilometer Rani-Biratnagar-Dharan Road has made significant progress. The construction on a five-kilometer stretch of the six-lane road in Dharan, however, is still uncertain.
According to the Rani-Biratnagar-Itahari-Dharan Road Project Office, Itahari, out of 21 sections of the road, 17 sections have been fully completed, while work is underway on four sections. The office is still to select contractors for the five-kilometer stretch in Dharan and a 630-meter stretch in Duhabi.
Engineer Ashmita Subedi, the information officer at the project office, said road construction is underway in Seuti Bridge area on the Itahari-Dharan segment, the Budhi Khola Bridge area on the Duhabi-Biratnagar segment, Charkoshe forest areas and Duhabi. “Some of these works are now in their final stages,” she added.
The 5.3-kilometer stretch from Tarhara’s Panipiya to Seuti Bridge has achieved 80% work progress and is expected to be completed within a month. “We suffered delay earlier due to non-performance of the contractor. Work, however, is progressing smoothly now,” Subedi said. “It should be completed within a month.”
The office has not been able to award the contract for the 630-meter stretch in Duhabi’s main market area due to compensation issues with locals. Except market area, work is progressing smoothly in the remaining 1.3-kilometer stretch in Duhabi.
According to Subedi, the problem emerged as locals had kept an 8.23-meter setback from the road instead of 25-meter mentioned in the Gazette in 2002.
The project, which began in 2012, should have been completed in 2022. Despite receiving multiple time extensions, contractors have not been able to complete work within the deadline. According to the project office, all works on the road project except on the five-kilometer stretch in Dharan will be completed within the current fiscal year which ends in mid-July next year.
About 90% of the total contracted amount of Rs 8.84 billion has already been spent.
Uncertain in Dharan
According to Subedi, work in Dharan has remained uncertain due to issues with compensation and site clearance. “Though we held meetings with local authorities and stakeholders a year and a half ago, we haven’t been able to move forward,” she explained. “Some 1,500 houses in Dharan will need to be demolished. Until those houses are cleared, site clearance can’t proceed, and construction can’t begin.”
Although 1,500 houses were previously marked for demolition, a lack of cooperation from the local government has hindered progress, according to the project office.
“There is also a lack of data on whether compensation has been provided to owners of these houses. This has also complicated things,” Subedi said. “There was even a proposal to create a bypass road to avoid the stretch where houses need to be demolished. But the current plan does not include a bypass.”
According to the project office, works on the remaining two bridges in Duhabi and Charkoshe forest areas will be completed by the end of this fiscal year.
However, the local government in Dharan, a major city in Sunsari, appears indifferent to the project’s implementation. Former Dharan Mayor Tilak Rai had attempted to reduce the six-lane road to four lanes to facilitate the implementation of the project. However, no consensus was reached on his proposal.
Some say work on the Dharan stretch has become uncertain with the election of Harka Raj Rai aka Harka Sampang as the Mayor of Dharan Sub-metropolitan City.
Dharan Sub-Metropolitan City’s Senior Engineer Suraj Shrestha confirmed that no substantive discussions have taken place with the project office regarding the six-lane road. “The Department of Roads of the federal government earlier sent letters requesting site clearance. But the department provided no concrete details on the road’s dimensions or specifications,” Shrestha said. “It is also essential to consult with the local residents.”
According to Shrestha, there is confusion also because many houses marked for demolition have been mortgaged to banks and financial institutions.
