It has been 11 years since the construction of a bridge over the Bangari River in Banjaria under the Kalaiya-Nitanpur road section of Bara started. There is not a day that the locals do not suffer due to the lack of construction of the bridge for a long time. Kisan Shrestha, a member of the House of Representatives, reached here two weeks ago with his entourage after the locals complained that the bridge had not been built. He inquired about the problems faced by the locals due to the non-construction of the bridge.

 As the construction of the bridge, which was laid in the year 2071, has not yet been completed, MP Shrestha threatened to bury the contractor in the river if the work is not done within June 15. After the threat of MP Shrestha, the work of the bridge is now going on in full swing .

There was also a lot of commentary on his threat on social media. "Please, I am saying politely, if the final work is not done by June 15th, I will bury it in the river," MP Shrestha said, "Accept my request, I will tell the contractor Saab."

Elite-Mona JV has taken the contract in June 2071 for the construction of the bridge of Banjari Khola in June 2073 for Rs 54.3 million. MP Shrestha said that he went to see it directly after receiving a complaint about the delay in construction. "The trend of taking contracts but not working should end," he said, "I have set a deadline of 15th, let's see if they don't work."

According to the agreement, the representative of the contractor Ramakant Chaurasia and Mukesh Chaurasia have been instructed to complete the construction according to the Head of Road Division Office Hetaunda Guru Prasad Adhikari said . "If the work is not completed by June, we will look for another option," he said, "why the contractor has delayed, we do not know, the work is going on now."

Due to the delay in the construction of the bridge, the residents of Jitpursimra sub-metropolitan city, Parwanipur rural municipality and Prasouni rural municipality have been suffering to commute to the headquarters Kalaiya. Mukesh, the representative of Elite-Mona JV, claimed that the construction of Banjari Bridge will be completed soon.

On 23rd January 2073, the then Minister of Physical Sciences, the then Minister of Science and Technology, had laid the foundation stones of five bridges in Rautahat on the same day. Even though the foundation was rushed, the bridge is stuck as the work could not be done according to the contract. In this way, the prime minister and the ministers rushing to lay the foundation stone of the bridge do not see whether it has been built or not, how the work is being done. Many bridges in Madhesh province have become stranded after foundation laying. 

Chandi Khola Bridge located in Chandrapur-3 was also laid by the minister. But it is also stuck . There was an agreement to complete the construction of the bridge going to Gaindatar village by the 15th of August 2075. However, the contractor has not yet completed . 

Even after 9 years, the contractor has not yet worked, according to the Road Division Office, Chandranigahpur. Pappu-Shivashankar JV Construction, which has been busy with many bridge construction contracts across the country, got the Chandikhola Bridge contract for Rs. The length of the bridge with 11 spans is 469.50 meters and width is 7.50 meters . However, the deadline has been extended three times so far, and the work has not been completed.

Another one laid the foundation stone by the minister-writer himself is the Lamaha Khola Bridge connecting Chandranigahpur-Kothiar. Its pappu-Shivashankar JV has taken the contract . The contract for the bridge has been awarded for 9 crore 18 lakh 25 thousand rupees. The 3-span bridge is now derelict. He laid the foundation stone of another bridge at Madhavpur and Gangapipara in Bagmati connecting Rautahat-Sarlahi. The writer also went to lay the foundation stone of Tarhari Bridge in Pipra Dostia. However, the condition of this bridge is still the same. Road Division Chandranigahpur has informed that only 67 percent of the bridge which was supposed to be completed on 15th October 2075 has been completed.

The then Prime Minister Sushil Koirala laid the foundation stone of the bridge under construction for 10 years at Lalbakaiya in Tikuliaka, Gaur municipality-4. The construction contract was taken by Parsa Virganj-based Pappu Construction for 140 million 93 lakh 27 thousand rupees. The last time to complete the construction of the bridge was set on June 25, 2074. Road Division Rautahat has terminated the contract after the contractor has repeatedly extended the deadline and failed to complete the work . The company in charge of making

was the chairman, Harinarayan Rauniar. After being elected MP from Parsa in 2074, he left the post of chairman. Rauniyar 2080 Mansir 5 changed parties and entered the UMA. However, his company could not change the situation of Lalbakaiya. The road department terminated the contract with Pappu Construction after the bridge work did not progress beyond 17 percent for years. The department has signed a contract with Azad-Deepu JV for 276.66 million to complete the remaining work on October 9, 2080. Although the construction was supposed to be completed on Chait 1, 2081, the company has not started the work. 

Since then, the locals have complained that they have to suffer more than the facilities after the construction of Dudhaura bridge connecting Bara's Jitpursimra, Prasauni and Kalaiya sub-metropolitan areas. 

On January 4, 2077, Jitendra Sonal, then Minister of Physical Infrastructure of the Madhesh Province Government, laid the foundation stone of the bridge. Locals say that the Dudhaura bridge with foundation stone was built at a different place than mentioned in the 'Detailed Study Report'. The bridge was constructed at a cost of 127 million rupees by the state government. Except for the access road, most of the construction work of the bridge has been completed. Lately the contractor has not worked . Suraj Kushwaha, a local, said that he had to suffer because the bridge was not operational. He said that even the contractor was out of touch when the remaining work of the bridge was to be completed. 

It was mentioned in the agreement that the foundation should be laid in October 2019 and completed in April 2022. Sapna Marina Construction JV has taken the contract for the construction of the bridge with a length of 120 meters. 

Similarly, the foundation stone of the Kamala river bridge at the Sirha-Dhanusha border was jointly laid by the then Physical and Planning Minister Hridayesh Tripathi and the then Finance Minister Barshman Pun in May 2068 . However, even after 14 years of the foundation stone, the construction has not been completed. On May 24, 2068, Pappu-Lumbini Builders JV took over the responsibility to build the bridge within three and a half years for 249.1 million. The work of the 470 meter long and 11 meter wide bridge has not been completed yet.  The company responsible for the construction of

could not complete the work even after extending the deadline seven times. Hulaki Highway Directorate canceled the contract and gave a new contract to Lumbini Builders Construction on October 1, 2076 to work till June 13, 2078. Although the work was completed, the bridge was swept away by the flood on June 17, 2078. Although the construction company has continued the work since the second week of February 2079, it has not been completed yet. 

The construction of the Bagmati Badharwa Bridge connecting Sarlahi located in Durgabhagavati Rural Municipality-5 of Rautahat, which was laid by the then Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, has not been completed for 15 years . Lumbini-Pappu Construction had taken a joint contract for the construction of this bridge for 358.9 million rupees on June 31, 2067, in three years, i.e. by June 30, 2070. Meanwhile, after Pappu Construction was blacklisted, Lumbini Builders took up the work alone. After the contractor completed the work of all 17 spans, the river changed its course and started flowing towards Sarlahi, 800 meters east of the bridge. 

After the Directorate of Postal Highways asked the contractor to stop the work immediately, the work has not progressed till now. Lumbini Builders has unilaterally terminated the contract saying that they will not work. After that, the Directorate of Postal Highways Kathmandu canceled the contract of Lumbini Builders and invited the contract for the second time. In the second contract, Mahalakshmi, Vikas, YP JV has been entrusted with river control work for a length of 2,241 meters at a cost of 574 million. Although there was an agreement on May 11, 2079 that the contractor would complete it by October 10, 2081, only 20 percent progress has been made in the construction of the bridge. If the bridge is not built, the locals of Bataspur, Badharwa, Rajdevi etc. are forced to travel by boat. Deepak Sah, owner of

construction company, said, "When we were about to start the work, the Birganj office of the directorate told us that the design was not available. And the work stopped. The directorate claimed that the contractor made an excuse that he could not work long after the design was given. 

President of Durgabhagavati Rural Municipality Shambhu Singh said that the Prime Minister and Ministers have a tendency to rush to lay the foundation stone but do not account for the fact that the bridge was not built on time. 

National Assembly member Pooja Choudhary said that there is a bidding war to lay the foundation stone of a bridge under a big plan in the districts of Madhesh province. "From the start of the construction work until completion, there is no one to inquire about the progress of the work," she said, "The ministers are in a hurry to take pictures after laying the foundation stone." Now the locals are suffering because the bridge is not built.' 

In Barkhayam, Tikulia of Rautahat, Bagmati bridge of Durga Bhagwati could not be built, local people are forced to take a dangerous journey by boat . In that area, although the diversion works temporarily in the winter, it is washed away during the rainy season. 

Ex-Secretary Arjun Thapa, who has been the Director General of Bridge Division for a long time, says that most of the bridges are stuck after foundation laying due to lack of budget. "How will it be completed on time after allocating millions and thousands of dollars in bridge contracts?" he said, "Financial constraints, design and weak contractors are also the main root of the problem." Thapa said that there are problems with bridges across the country not being completed after the foundation stone laying due to lack of consideration for the design, land compensation disputes, JV contracts and not being able to intervene in the pace of work.