The construction of two large concrete bridges under the Hulaki Highway, which were contracted 14 years ago, is still not complete. The contract for the Kankai Bridge in Jhapa was signed 14 years ago, i.e. on 29 Jestha 2068. The progress of this bridge is only 56 percent so far. The contract for the bridge was won by Pappu-Mahadev Khimti JV for Rs 349 million.

Mahadev Khimti is the company of Nepal Construction Entrepreneurs Federation President Ravi Singh. The work on this 725-meter-long bridge was initially done by Pappu Construction. The main person of the company is former MP Hari Narayan Rauniyar. The Public Procurement Monitoring Office has blacklisted this company after it failed to complete the work on time after taking the contract for the bridge and road. It is not allowed to take new contracts. The other contract taken by the same company in the JV is the Kamala River Bridge connecting Siraha-Dhanusha under the Balan-Kamala road.

The contract agreement for this was signed on 31 Jestha 2068. According to the initial agreement, the work should be completed by 30 Mangsir 2071. The deadline for completing the work has been set to 30 Chaitra 2082. The Roads Department has stated that the contract will be terminated if the work is not completed within that time. So far, the construction progress is only 83 percent. Its contract amount is Rs 249 million. So far, Rs 204.2 million has been paid. Since the contract is under design and build, the contracting company must design and construct it. The contracting company is Pappu-Lumbini JV.

When the construction of the bridge was completed and handed over, two foundations of the bridge were washed away by the flood on 17 Ashad 2078. Similarly, 4 slabs were damaged, according to the Roads Department. After discussions in the presence of the Director General of the Roads Department, construction entrepreneurs and experts, the design and drawing for the reconstruction of the bridge were approved and the construction work was moved forward. In fact, the Postal Directorate had repeatedly written to and urged the entrepreneurs to move forward with the construction. The length of the bridge, which has 12 spans, is 496.2 meters.

The bridge, which had already been built, suffered major damage due to the floods that occurred in 2078 BS, said Kuber Nepali, director of the Postal Highway Directorate. ‘A bridge is designed for a specific period, but it cannot be designed to withstand all floods and landslides,’ said Nepali. ‘It was the responsibility of the construction contractor to rebuild it after the flood damage.’

Nepali says that even though the construction contractor claimed insurance after the damage, he did not get it. ‘The contractor will take responsibility for the work and fight the case.’ But they are working on the bridge saying that they will do it with their own investment,’ he said. ‘The main work is planned to be completed by April.’ Nepali said that the office is monitoring this. ‘Even though it was a bad contract, it was not on the list to be broken,’ he said, ‘This is the main two-lane bridge connecting Siraha and Dhanusha along the Postal Highway.’

claims Lumbini Builders CEO Nawaraj Gyawali, who is working on the bridge with his own money. ‘The flood caused problems, we had insured through Neco Insurance, but they did not assess the damage, and when they said they would pay only Rs 19.3 million, the insurance authority did not give a proper hearing to it. Now we have filed a case in the Patan High Court.’ Gyawali says that he filed a case in the High Court against Neco Insurance two years ago.

‘Initially, Pappu had done the foundation work on the bridge and left.’ After that, we did all the work, the bridge that was ready to be handed over was washed away by the flood in 2078,' Gyawali said, 'We are currently working with our own money.' He said that an insurance claim of Rs 103.4 million has been claimed for compensation. 'Currently, work is being done on the steel truss and the remaining structure of the bridge,' Gyawali said, 'The problem is that the river flows from both Siraha and Dhanusha.' The Road Department has claimed that traffic will be operated from the bridge by Asad 2083. The company that gets the contract will have to maintain it for 5 years from the date of completion of construction.

The Road Department has said that the flow area of ​​the Kamala River, which is within the outline of the Postal Highway, is about 1,800 meters and an embankment has been built accordingly. The Road Department says that river control is necessary to control and manage the river as it is a big challenge to drain water from the bridge built between two embankments during the rainy season. Work is being done for that.

When the bridge is not built on time, the locals of Siraha and Dhanusha have been facing problems crossing the river during the rainy season. The locals have been pressuring the construction of the bridge to be completed quickly. The locals of Jhapa have also been suffering in their daily lives due to the non-construction of the Kankai Bridge. After there was no progress in the construction of the bridge for a long time, the Itahari Planning Office under the Postal Highways Directorate issued a public notice on 31 Asoj asking why the contract should not be terminated.