MK/Amit JV signed a contract agreement with the Road Division Office, Jumla, on 26th Magh 2076 for the repair of the blacktop in the Kalikot section of the Karnali Highway.

The company, which had taken the contract for 33.8 million rupees to complete the road construction work within a year, had already taken an advance of 81 million rupees. But the Road Division Office has canceled the contract agreement, saying that even 20 percent of the road construction work had not been completed despite extending the deadline twice.

MK/Amit JV signed a contract agreement for the repair of the blacktop in the Dahikhola-Serighat section within a year on 19th Chaitra 2077. The company, which had taken the contract for 32 million rupees, had not completed even 30 percent of the work even after extending the deadline once.

The Road Division Office has terminated the contracts of 16 contracts that have been pending for a long time along the Karnali Highway in Jumla. The office had terminated 10 sick contracts of the highway two months ago.

According to the office's information officer, Saurabh Kumar Singh, the terminated projects are from the fiscal year 2074/75. 'The contracts were canceled as per the provisions of the Public Procurement Act after the construction companies did not show interest in the work despite repeated written requests,' he said. 'We have issued a public notice and terminated 16 contracts, 12 in Kalikot, 3 in Jumla and one in Mugu.'

According to him, there has been a tendency among construction entrepreneurs to take contracts but not work for a long time. He informed that action has been taken against those companies, including blacklisting them, confiscating the amount of security and deposit and recovering the amount paid with 10 percent interest.'

According to the Road Division, four contracts with MK/Amit JV and three with Karnali Construction and Engineering of Kalikot have been terminated. Similarly, the contracts with Himali Nirman Sewa of Jumla, which was awarded the contract for the construction of the Seri-Pantadi Bailey Bridge in Kalikot in the fiscal year 2074/75, Narayan Nirman Sewa of Jumla, which was awarded the contract for the construction of the Nagma-Jumla section of the road in the fiscal year 2077/78, and Nanjila & Akanksha/Majdur JV, which was awarded the contract for the Talcha-Rara section of the fiscal year 2078/79, have also been canceled.

Information Officer Singh said that contracts with Himanshu Nirman Sewa of Kalikot, which was responsible for the construction of the Dahikhola-Khulalu road in the fiscal year 2079/80, Malika Construction of Jumla, which was responsible for the repair of the Nagma-Khalanga section drain in 2080, and Chhayachhahara Nirman Sewa of Humla, which was responsible for the construction of the Kalikot-Malkot road, have also been terminated.

According to him, the office has also terminated contracts with Singh/Kalika Nirman Sewa of Kalikot, which was responsible for the upgradation of the Ghattegad-Gela-Padmaghat road in the last fiscal year, Malika Builders of Surkhet, which was responsible for the construction of safety bars in the Khulalu-Nagma section of the Karnali Highway, and Laxmi Nirman Sewa of Jumla, which was responsible for the repair of the road from Tallo Dungeshwor to Khalanga. He informed that this year alone, contracts for 26 sick contracts have been terminated.

Locals have been suffering for a long time due to the delay in road upgrading work. Kamal Bahadur Shahi, the mayor of Khandachakra Municipality in Kalikot, said that after most of the blacktops built in 2072 BS with the assistance of Rs 1 billion from the World Bank have worn out, they have had to travel on muddy roads even during normal rain and dusty roads when the sun is shining. According to him, most places have only one lane, which causes traffic jams for hours. He informed that the risk of landslides is equally high due to the weak geography.