It has been more than two years since the construction of the concrete bridge under construction on the Mahakali River has been stalled. Even now, there is no preparation to resume the bridge work.

The construction of the guide bond and the access road for the pond to be built on both sides of the bridge are still pending. But the construction company has not been able to work due to the lack of a variation of the changed design of the guide bond. Not only the variation, but the issue of changing the design of the guide bond has also been brought forward after it was washed away by the Mahakali floods two years ago. 'There is still 7 percent of the work physically left, but it has been in a state of disrepair for two years,' said Durga Awasthi, engineer of the Mahakali Bridge Project. 'The construction company has also initiated the process of terminating the contract as the variation could not be done for a long time.'

The construction company has also yet to receive payment of Rs 360 million for work done in the past. ‘How can we work without paying for the work done in the past and without variations?’ Engineer Kishor Pandey of bridge construction company Shrestha CFEC JV said, ‘We have already initiated the process of terminating the contract, but the department has stopped it.’

Engineer Pandey said that even if there is an immediate variation, it is not possible to work this year. According to him, since the work is not possible to complete before the water flow in the Mahakali increases, he said that work can only be done in the next fiscal year.

After the Mahakali flood destroyed the guide bund two years ago, the area was declared a disaster area and work was done through the Nepali Army. The army repaired the guide bund and channelized the Mahakali to divert the flow to the middle. Apart from that, no other work has been done.

Currently, the work of blacktopping the access road in some sections under the project is pending. In addition, the work of constructing the guide bond is also pending. A 6-lane, 8-kilometer access road needs to be constructed from Gaddachauki to Malaria Nala in Dodhara Chandani Municipality-1.

In Bhadra 2074, a contract agreement was signed with Kumar Kshestha CFEC JV for Rs 3.27 billion to complete the work within 3 years. Regular work has not been possible due to the high water flow in the Mahakali River due to the corona infection. In the last two years, the construction work has not been able to gain momentum due to the variation.

The design of the bridge includes the construction of two ponds, 600 meters wide and 2800 meters long, on both sides of the bridge. The initial design was to build the guide bond of the pond with large stones. But after the construction company did not get large stones, the design was changed and a guide bond of gravel and concrete was made. The project has stated that the design has been changed again after the guide bond was recently destroyed by the Mahakali flood.

‘The contractor company has initiated the process of terminating the contract, which is under consideration,’ said Thaneshwor Khatri, Project Director of the Road Improvement and Development Project Directorate of the Road Department. ‘No decision has been made yet on how to proceed with the stopped work.’ He informed that just like the work done through the army in the past, this time too the work will be done before the flood. Khakri was deployed in shifts while the work was done through the army.

The materials including gabion nets that the army purchased for the guide bond at that time are now kept in the camp of the construction company. According to sources, construction materials worth more than Rs 10 million have been kept in the camp. Up to 15 percent of any project variation is done by the department. Above that, up to 25 percent has to be done by the secretary of the concerned ministry and variations of more than 25 percent have to be done by the Council of Ministers.