Road construction work has not yet progressed in some places. The overall distance of this project is 1,857 kilometers. So far, 1,380 kilometers have been blacktopped.
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The work on the nationally-proud postal highway, which was launched to connect the district headquarters of the Tarai to the east and west, is not yet complete. It has been 16 years since the construction began, but the progress is only 74.35 percent.
Although the Postal Highway is nearing completion, the source agreement has not been reached this year, there is a liability of 10.5 billion, and an additional 27 billion rupees are needed to complete the project - Kuber Nepali, Director, Postal Highway Directorate Its construction was started from the fiscal year 2066/67 as per the concept of connecting the area from Kechanakawal in Jhapa to Dodhara Chandani in Kanchanpur in the west. Although construction has started to benefit about 10 million people in 21 districts of Tarai-Madhesh, the project has not yet been completed. In some cases, due to budget constraints, in some cases, due to delays in policy decisions, the work has not picked up speed. Currently, the entire project is stuck in the middle of budget shortages and how to renew broken contracts.
After 14 years of no progress in the work under the Postal Highway Directorate, the process for a new contract has not been able to move forward after the contract agreement for the Kankai Bridge in Jhapa was terminated on 11 Mangsir. According to the contract agreement signed on 31 Jestha 2068, the bridge should have been completed by 30 Jestha 2072. At that time, the cost was estimated at 349 million rupees. When the deadline was extended for the fifth time, 60 percent of the progress has not been made. The contract for this was taken by Pappu-Mahadev Khimti jointly (JV). Immediately after the contract was terminated, the construction company filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court seeking an interim order. But the court did not give an interim order.
The project office is now confused about how to proceed with the contract for this bridge. A solution is being sought for this bridge, says Kuber Nepali, Director of the Postal Highway Directorate. ‘The bridge work was 60 percent complete, and the decision on how much work to award will be made after evaluating the work done by the previous construction contractors,’ he said. ‘Only after it is determined that there is no risk in the old and completed work, will another construction contractor take the contract. Only if we can say that we will take the risk of the underground work, will a new contract be awarded, otherwise the construction contractors have been reluctant to take the contract.’
He said preparations are underway to study this. ‘How many structures are in good condition, how many new structures need to be built, all will be examined during the study,’ he said. ‘We will see whether we should build a new one or if we can add to the existing one. If it does not work, a new one will have to be built next to it.’ He said that the company to study it will be selected by Baisakh. He said that since the court has not issued an interim order, there is no problem in moving forward with further work. ‘We were trying to move forward with the river control work here,’ he said, ‘It has been stopped because of the bridge, and the failure to manage the broken contracts on time has had an impact on the entire project.’
The Kamala River Bridge connecting Siraha-Dhanusha under the Postal Highway has also not been completed even after 14 years of construction. Its contract agreement was signed on 31 Jestha 2068. According to the initial agreement, the work should be completed by 30 Mangsir 2071. The deadline has been set to complete the work by 30 Chaitra 2082. So far, the construction progress is 83 percent. Its contract amount is 249 million rupees. Since the contract is under design and build, the company that will be awarded the contract should design and construct it. The company that will be awarded the contract is Pappu-Lumbini JV. When the construction was completed and handed over, the flood on 17 Asad 2078 caused a problem as two foundations of the bridge collapsed. If the bridge is not built on time, the locals of this area are forced to suffer daily in Ohardohar. The project claims that the bridge work will be completed by Asad.
Similarly, road construction work has not yet progressed in some places. The overall distance of this project is 1,857 kilometers. So far, 1,380 kilometers have been blacktopped. Similarly, out of the 300 bridges to be built, only 153 have been completed. The contract management of 150.90 km of roads and 69 bridges that have been completed is yet to be done. The project said that the outline of where to build the highway in some sections is yet to be finalized. The distance of the east-west and north-south roads under the Hulaki Highway is 975 km and 882 km, respectively.
When the project was started, the completion time was set for the fiscal year 074/75. Now the time has been revised to the fiscal year 083/84. 71.55 billion rupees have been spent since the project started. The initial cost estimate of the project was 47 billion rupees. Later, it was revised to 65.20 billion and now it has been made 101.93 billion rupees.
‘The Hulaki Highway is in the process of being completed, this year the source agreement has not been received yet, according to the multi-year standards of the Ministry of Finance, it is mentioned that it will be submitted to the National Planning Commission by mid-Poush, and the commission will send the Ministry of Finance by Magh 15 and give source agreement,’ said Director Nepali, ‘Currently, there is a liability of 10.5 billion, now 27 billion rupees are needed to complete all the work.’ Currently, road contracts are yet to be awarded in the Chitwan National Park area, Kapilvastu and the forest area on the border of Dang. Similarly, road sections and bridges in the forest area on the border of Dang and Banke are yet to be awarded. New contracts are yet to be awarded for the Ratuwa-Keshaliya, Inaruwa-Kaptanganj roads in Morang, Mohan-River-Dokebajar-Belouri-Beldangi roads in Kanchanpur, Kankai in Jhapa and Patri Khola bridges in Chitwan.
‘If the source agreement had been obtained to award the contract for the new road and bridge, the work would have been done, but since the agreement has not been obtained yet, the work will not be done this year,’ he said, ‘There has been no budget arrangement.’ He said that while the road has been made into two lanes, the bridge is a single lane, so the work of making it two lanes is still pending. "We need a plan and resource agreement on how to do the remaining work. It has been said that it will be completed in 2083/84. The distance of the road that needs to be constructed after preparing technical drawings is 250 km," he said. "If the situation continues and sufficient resources are provided, it will take three to five years to complete the remaining work."
Initially, construction contractors and consultants from there came to work on the project run by the Indian government. But after the Indian construction contractors left the work behind, its structure was changed. This is the reason for some delay in the construction, according to the Postal Highways Directorate.
A memorandum of understanding was signed between the governments of Nepal and India in 2016 to construct the remaining 17 roads, or 518 km, in the first phase under Indian grants. Of these, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Road Department and the Indian consultant National Highways and Infrastructure Development Limited to supervise the construction of 10 roads (305 km).
The work was carried out with the assistance of 5.52 billion baht (Indian rupees) from the financial year 2066/67 to 2076/77 as an Indian grant. 'The work has been completed, 200 million rupees are yet to come from the Indian government,' said Director Nepali, 'There are 6 planning offices under the directorate, and work is being done under those offices.'
Joint Secretary and Spokesperson of the Ministry of Finance Tanka Prasad Pandey said that the work of giving multi-year resource consent has been stopped due to the election code of conduct. "Due to the election code of conduct, multi-year resource consent cannot be given now," he said. "This work will be done after the elections, and discussions are underway to give more time for it." The ministry has given special priority to projects of national pride, and in the case of the Postal Highway, the file for the multi-year resource consent has not been received by the ministry from the national plan.
After the construction of the Postal Highway, the industrial area has expanded, industries have been added in the Gulariya-Nepalgunj section, which has increased economic activity at the local level - Arjun Jung Thapa, former secretary The construction of the Postal Highway with the aim of providing transportation facilities in the densely populated areas of the Terai Former secretary Arjun Jung Thapa said that the concept has been taken forward. "There was a large population especially in the southern Terai, the Mahendra Highway had not been built, there was a large population near the Indian border," he said, who also worked as the Director General of the Roads Department for a long time. "There were large populations in Kalaiya in Bara, Gaur in Rautahat, Malangwa in Sarlahi, the southern area of Mahottari, and Janakpur in Dhanusha. When the Mahendra Highway was built, it was not possible to connect those areas." At that time, the 'postman' had to carry letters and letters to the settlements and reach from one settlement to another. The postman used to travel on foot and by bicycle.
‘The concept of constructing the places where the postal service used to pass as a highway has been brought, its construction has been completed in many places, connecting Thori in Chitwan to Madi and Madi to Meghauli has been stopped due to the Chitwan National Park, connecting Meghauli to Nawalparasi has to be done, that too has been stopped due to the park,’ he said, ‘The postal highway has been built up to Triveni in Nawalparasi and Thori in Chitwan.’
The work on the bridges that were broken and that needed to be built new has not been completed. ‘Not only because there is no money in the project, but also because businessmen are not working in some places, the construction has not progressed,’ he said, ‘Even the road department has been delayed due to technical problems and not being able to give quick decisions.’ He said that the postal highway is working to connect the entire Terai region where agricultural products are produced. "After the construction of the Hulaki Highway, the industrial area has expanded, and industries have been added to the Gularia-Nepalgunj section," he said. "It has connected the southern Terai, increased economic activity at the local level, and made it easier to market local products."
