Bhupi Sherchan (Pokhara-Baglung) highway is written on the board at the front of Pokhara's turn bridge, 'Caution! Accident area. Two other boards with similar messages have been placed near the board of District Traffic Police Office Kaski. The reason for placing the board in this way to alert the driver is because of the narrow bridge over the Firke river.

If the new bridge was built on time according to the agreement on the side of the current bridge, there would be no need to put a board like this . The bridge was not built for 6 years due to the negligence of the contractor after the local dispute was not resolved by the government mechanism before the construction started. Therefore, this bridge on the Pokhara-Baglung highway, which is very busy, has become an illustration of the government's weakness and delay in development and construction work.

The road division office of Pokhara has canceled the bridge construction contract last week. It should be completed in 2077. We have also made delegations to the road division many times . Nothing has happened for so many years," said local Sanjeev Bahadur Koirala, "now the contract has been broken. Now the demand is how to make it fast.'

In 074, a 6-lane 3-kilometer road was built from zero kilometer of Pokhara to Vindhyavasini temple. When the work of this section started in 071, a 6-lane road was not built within the Gandaki province. After the lack of budget, the 2-lane turnpike under the road remained as it was. We were hopeful that the road and bridge will be built together. It didn't work,' Koirala said, '8/9 motorcycles and 2/4 vehicles fall from the bridge in a year.'

After the widening of the road, the incidents of vehicles coming crashing into the bridge and falling into the river have increased. After this, the Road Division Office Pokhara started the process of building a bridge on the 'Sample Road Section'. In 075, a contract was signed between the office and Shanti-Arogya JV Lalitpur to build a bridge connecting Pokhara-4 and 5. An agreement was reached between the office and the builders on 075 Oct 8 for 12 crore 32 lakh 26 thousand rupees including VAT. According to the contract, the work was to be completed by 077 Chait 30 .

The office has broken the contract with the construction company after not working even after the deadline three times . Head of Office Navraj Bastola said that the contract was canceled due to failure to complete the work on time, no progress even though the deadline was extended three times, no reliable resource mobilization plan and lack of diligence to continue the work. The deadline was extended three times. Didn't work for 6 years . It didn't seem to work, so it was decided to proceed with a new process," he said.

There was an agreement to build a 'Special Extra Dose Motorable Bridge' of 11-11 meters width and 50-50 meters length on the right and left sides of the bridge that is now in operation . Along with the contractor, the government machinery is also to blame for this bridge not being built on time . It was the weakness of Road Division Pokhara to make a contract for construction without resolving the compensation dispute. The next year after the

agreement, in 076 Chait, the lockdown started due to Covid-19. After that the contractor could not work . By this time the compensation dispute had not been resolved . The office gave time till 079 Chait Manast . The road division office had already distributed the compensation to the affected people in June 079 . Chief Bastola said that 30 of the 31 people have been distributed compensation, but one landowner has not been contacted. After the compensation dispute was resolved, the construction company was not interested in the work . The addition did not work till March 079 .

Bhupi Sherchan highway under the construction of the bridge in Firke Khola of Pokhara. After not working for 6 years, the bridge construction contract has been broken . Photo: Anup/Kantipur

Not only the Road Division Pokhara, the then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Physical Infrastructure Development and Transport Narayankaji Shrestha instructed the contractor to reach the construction site on February 5, 1979 and complete the work on time. "Because of you, the construction company is being discredited." Please build a quality bridge in the specified time . Otherwise, action will be taken," he said.

There was a month left to the end of the extension period, and only 10 percent of the work was done at that time . The representative of the contractor company, the site in-charge, said that he would be able to do the work if he had time until December 080. Again the deadline was extended till 081 June 20 . In the meantime, even though the foundation was raised on the one hand, nothing else was done. After this, the office started the process of breaking the contract .

The contractor company filed a writ in the Supreme Court after the office did not extend the deadline and prepared to recover the money from the deposit. The court ordered that the performance of the Pesky claim be stayed until the contract is terminated or until a final order is made . After this, the office could not proceed with the pesky claim process .

The contractor company has taken Rs. According to the update in the office, only 25 percent physical progress has been made so far. According to Section 63 of the Public Procurement Act 2063, Rule 141 of the Public Procurement Regulation 064, the contractor company has been recommended to the Public Procurement Monitoring Office to be blacklisted, said Engineer Dhruv Pokharel, Information Officer, Road Division Office, Pokhara.

Updated work, cost of remaining work after evaluating the remaining work, cost of protection, interest of 10 percent of the forfeited amount and other expenses will be charged as government debt, he said. He said that the new contract process for the construction of the bridge will be taken forward by securing resources from the Ministry of Finance. Even if the new contract is opened immediately, it will take at least 3 years to build the new bridge.

As there is a 6-lane road on both sides and a narrow 2-lane bridge in the middle, the risk of accidents is high on this bridge. Since the construction of the bridge started, there have been 94 accidents around the bridge and around 100 meters of the bridge, according to the data of District Traffic Police Office Kaski. 108 people were injured in the accident. There is no alternative route on the highway to connect Pokhara 4 and 5. Therefore, pedestrians have to walk through that narrow bridge.