It has been four and a half years since the contract for the Kanchan Khola-Khursani road of Palpa section under the Saljhandi-Sandhikhark-Dhorpatan road scheme, still the progress is not as expected. So far, only 35 percent progress has been made in upgrading 13 km of roads to black paper level.

This road starts from Saljhandi in Rupandehi and reaches Dhorpatan in Baglung via Palpa, Arkhakhanchi, Gulmi. Its total distance is 197 km. 

Gagal Bahadur Bhandari, head of the Saljhandi-Sandhikhark-Dhorpatan road planning office, said that the biggest problem is in the Kanchan Khola-Khursani section. This road section has become a headache for everyone including the social leaders and public representatives of this area. Bhandari says that the locals are disappointed because the road has not been built for years. 

Out of 197, 18 km of road has been blacked out. According to Bhandari, the work is being done under a contract to lay a black sheet on 70 km. "The most problematic area is the Kanchan Khola-Khursani section," said Chief Bhandari.

The contract for this road section was signed on 27th January 2077. According to the initial contract, the work was to be completed by May 20, 2080. For the first time, the deadline was extended till 30th February 2080. The deadline was extended for the second time till Chait 5, 2081. According to the extended deadline, the work should be completed within Chait 5. "Looking at the work, the progress has not increased, this section has caused problems in the overall road project," said Bhandari, "There are workers and construction equipment at the construction site." But the builders have not increased the speed of work saying that there is a cash flow problem.' 

Raman-Om-Sugam JV has taken the contract for this road section. Although it is a joint contract, the work is being done by Raman Construction. The contract amount including VAT is 245.4 million rupees. So far, Bhandari said that the payment is being made according to the work done. "It is not that they left the site without work, but there is no progress in the work," he said, "There is progress in other sections of the contract." 

The planning office issued a public notice saying that even after repeatedly informing the construction professionals to finish the work within the specified time, the planning office has issued a public notice and urged them to finish the work quickly. It was asked to increase the progress of the work within 7 days by mobilizing construction equipment and workers at the construction site. If there is any legitimate reason for not taking action, the Planning Office had warned by publishing a notice on February 20 to submit an explanation within 7 days. 

"After the publication of the information, there was a problem with the construction materials, the work could not be done, the answer came that we will work," Bhandari said.

Raman Mahato, Finance Director of Raman Construction claims that there is a problem in not getting the payment for the work done on time. There are no employees on the site. We have to wait for four to five months to get the payment for the work done," he said. "There are many technical problems on the road, the road is steep, more than half of it has been damaged due to the flood in October. No decision has been made on this yet.' 

Mahato said that the planning office is working on responding to the notification. "There is a problem at work due to non-payment on time," he said. But the project chief Bhandari claimed that the payment was made as soon as the bill was submitted. "All this is just an excuse of the contractor who does not work," he said, "We have not stopped any payment." 

Director General of Road Department Ramhari Pokharel says that even after giving the last opportunity, the progress of the work has not increased. "I came to see the construction site, there is no progress in the work, there is also progress in the next contract after this," he said, "In this section, there is a problem, now there is no option to go to the process of breaking the contract." The Burtibang-Falleghar road section, which is under the Saljhandi-Sandhikhark-Dhorpatan road plan, has not progressed, and on February 20, they were asked to respond within seven days as to why they should not take action.