Due to lack of water during road construction, sometimes passengers are bothered by dust, and sometimes two-wheelers are bothered by slipping due to excessive water on the road. Diversions built on the road are also increasing the risk of accidents.
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Work is underway to expand the East-West Highway to four lanes to upgrade it to the 'Asian Highway'. This work is ongoing on the road section from Kakadbhitta in Jhapa to Laukahi in Sunsari. However, neither the construction work has progressed as expected, nor is the condition of the road section under construction good.
Due to lack of water during road construction, sometimes passengers are troubled by dust, and sometimes two-wheelers are troubled by slipping due to excessive water on the road. Diversions built on the road are also increasing the risk of accidents.
On 20 December, two youths died in a motorcycle accident at a diversion near Giribandhu Tea Garden in Birtamod. Bhupal Adhikari, 25, of Bhadrapur-9, and Shirki Subedi, 25, of Bhadrapur-7, died in the accident at the diversion.
On the same day, one person was injured when a scooter skidded on the slippery road near NMC Dairy in Mechinagar. Thus, due to negligence during road construction, accidents are happening one after another. Road construction is at a slow pace. It has been two years since the road construction contract was signed. So far, only about 30 percent progress has been made. The contract, which was signed to be completed in three years, is valid until 19 Magh 083. About 70 percent of the work needs to be done in the remaining 13 months before the contract expires.
The Kakadbhitta-Laukahi road, which is being expanded with a loan of $84.9 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and a 15.1 percent investment from the Government of Nepal, is being divided into two sections. Each of these sections has been divided into different sections and contracts have been awarded. Although the 120-kilometer road from Kakadbhitta to Laukahi was to be awarded under the contract, only 95.76 kilometers have been awarded under the contract to Labipur in Sunsari.
An agreement was signed on 2 Kartik 2080 for the 95-kilometer road expansion and the construction of bridges along it, but the work started late. During the construction of the road, contracts were awarded in two sections, the eastern section and the western section. The 45-kilometer road from Kakadbhitta in Jhapa to Sitapuri in Kamal Rural Municipality of the district was allocated under the eastern section, while the 50.76 kilometers from Kerkha to Labipur in West Sunsari were called the western section.
A contract was awarded under Package 1 for the construction of the road and construction of small culverts in the eastern section. Engineer Ashray Mahat of the Kakadbhitta-Laukahi Road Project Office (Eastern Section) said that 31 percent of the work has been completed. According to him, only 22 percent of the work on the bridges over the Kankai, Ninda and Biring rivers in the eastern section has been completed. 'The work should be completed by Magh 2083. However, due to lack of necessary materials, problems in moving electricity poles in urban areas, etc., the work has not progressed as expected,' he said. 'However, efforts are ongoing to complete the project on time.' Although the project aims to blacktop the first phase of 30 kilometers of the road by Ashad, only 5 kilometers have been blacktopped so far. That too in two lanes.
The contract for the construction of bridges over the Kankai, Ninda and Biring rivers in the eastern section has been won by the Kovech-CREGC-Tundy JV for Rs 5.97 billion. The contract for the construction of the road has been won by Evercon-Kalika JV for Rs 10.6 billion. The 50.76-kilometer road from Sitapuri in Jhapa to Labipur in Sunsari, which is divided into the western section, is also not progressing as expected. Jagat Prajapati, the chief planner of the Kakadbhitta-Laukahi Road Project (Western Section), which covers 10 kilometers in Jhapa, 35 kilometers in Morang, and 5 kilometers in Sunsari, said that the contract was awarded in three packages for the western section, which includes the road area of 10 kilometers in Jhapa, 35 kilometers in Morang, and 5 kilometers in Sunsari.
The 40-kilometer road from Sitapuri in Jhapa to Gothgaun in Morang was awarded in one package. The progress of which is 30 percent. Similarly, the 10.76-kilometer road from Gothgaun to Labipur in Sunsari was awarded in another package. The progress of which is only 15 percent. ‘This package includes major cities like Itahari. Where the relocation of electricity poles is taking a long time. Which has affected the road construction,’ says Prajapati, the chief planner, ‘Of the more than two thousand poles that need to be relocated, not even 500 poles have been relocated so far.’
