Rambabu Sah and Bharat Raut of Tikulia, Gaur municipality-4, always tremble when they reach the Lalbakaiya river towards the west from their village. Rambabu lost his 70-year-old mother Shantidevi and Bharat lost his wife Indudevi in ​​a boat accident at Lalbakaiya 6 years ago.

Had the bridge been built on time, neither the locals would have had to travel dangerously by boat nor would they have lost their relatives. After the accident in which 5 people died, the construction of the bridge has not been completed until now.

Tikulia Bridge under construction for 10 years at Lalbakaiya in Rautahat. Photo: Shiv Puri/Kantipur

On 29 June 2071, Pappu Construction got the contract to build a bridge at Lalbakaiya. Pappu, who signed the contract for 140 million 93 million rupees, had to complete the work within 25 June 2075 i.e. within 4 years. However, by the time the bridge was supposed to be completed, work had barely begun. The accident occurred on August 9, 2075 due to the necessity of traveling by boat when the bridge was not built.

Lalbakaiya river flows through Tikulia village, which is about 7 km west of the capital Gaur. Most of the local farms are in the Ishanath municipality across the river. For years, people have to cross the river to go to the fields. The locals, who were hopeful that the bridge would be built and that they would not have to cross the river by taking a dangerous boat, are still forced to suffer. The then Prime Minister Sushil Koirala laid the foundation stone for the construction of the bridge at Lalbakaiya.

Pappu Construction's misadventure: The boat accident collapsed bridge

The company entrusted with the construction was Harinarayan Rauniyar. After being elected as MP from Janata Samajwadi Party in the 2074 election, he left the post of chairman.  Rauniyar 2080 Mansir 5 changed parties and entered the UMA. However, his company could not change the situation of Lalbakaiya. Local Sanjay Sahni started a hunger strike on February 1, 2079 after the bridge construction did not progress. Madhav Kumar Nepal, President of United Samajwadi Party and former Prime Minister, reached the hunger strike site after four days to address Sahni's demand. Even after pressure from the locals, the bridge work did not proceed. The road department terminated the contract with Pappu Construction after the bridge work did not progress beyond 17 percent for years. 

The department has signed a contract with Azad Deepu JV for 27 crore 66 lakhs to complete the remaining work on October 9, 2080. Although the construction was supposed to be completed on Chait 1, 2081, the company did not proceed with the work. "Due to lack of budget, the new contractor has not started work yet," said Dipendra Pandey, head of Road Division Office, Chandranigahpur. Ramsagar Raut, owner of Azad Dipu JV, said that the work will start as soon as the budget is fixed.

Similarly, even after 12 years of laying the foundation stone, the Kamala river bridge on the Sirha-Dhanusha border has not been constructed. On May 24, 2068, Pappu-Lumbini Builders JV took over the construction of the bridge within three and a half years for 249.1 million. The work of the 470 meter long and 11 meter wide bridge has not been completed yet.

Even after 12 years of the foundation stone, the Kamala bridge on the Sirha-Dhanusha border has not been constructed. Photo: Shiv Puri/Kantipur

Thousands of locals have been suffering because the bridge was not built. Last May 1, Ramkumar Yadav of Kamala-3 in Dhanusha was going to Siraha with his 75-year-old father Chaliter on a motorcycle. He met the accident while dangerously crossing a temporary bamboo bridge built near an unfinished concrete bridge. "Luckily there are people nearby and they reached the hospital on time and got treatment," he said. Because there is no bridge, small accidents happen here every day while crossing the river. However, the company in charge of the construction could not complete the work even after extending the deadline seven times.

In December 2075, under the leadership of Ramrizhan Yadav, the Hulaki Sadak Sangharsh Committee started a relay hunger strike for pressure. After that, the Directorate of Postal Highways canceled the contract and gave a new contract to Lumbini Builders Construction on October 1, 2076, to be able to work till June 13, 2078. Although the company completed the work, the bridge was swept away by the flood on June 17, 2078. Although the company has continued its work since the second week of February 2079, it has not been completed. Bechan Bhandari, Spokesperson of Postal Highways Directorate, Janakpur said that the work is being done within the current financial year. 

However, the locals who have been suffering for years are not convinced that the bridge will be built soon. Therefore, since May 11, the locals have again formed the Bridge Construction Struggle Committee and started the movement. From June 11 to 14, they reached the Sirha headquarters and took out a masala procession. Through the chief district officer, a letter was also sent to the Prime Minister. "We will continue the movement until the bridge is built," said Rabindra Shah, the coordinator of the Sangharsh Samiti. 

The condition of the bridge in Valuhi river between Pateharwa Sugauli and Jirabwani Rural Municipality of Parsa is also the same. It has been 14 years since the construction of this bridge started. It is not certain when this bridge, which is considered the lifeline of the Hulaki Highway, will be completed. The road division office, Hetaunda, awarded the contract for the construction of this bridge to YP-Mona Construction JV on June 29, 2066 at a cost of 22.2 million rupees. According to the contract, the company had to build a bridge of 61.84 meters in length by 2068. 

Construction started 14 years ago on the Bhaluhi river between Pateharwa Sugauli and Jirabwani Rural Municipality of Parsa. Photo: Shiv Puri/Kantipur

Rajesh Kumar Yadav, Head of Road Division, Hetounda, claimed that the construction of the Baluhi Khol bridge has been completed and said, "The bridge could not be put into operation after the flood cut the front and back parts. After preparing a new design, we will start the work of adding pillars to the flooded part. Access roads on both sides of the bridge, river control for bridge protection and other works have not yet been completed. 

Ramakant Chaurasia, the owner of YP-Mona Construction, said that the bridge could not be put into operation due to a technical error in the design. The width of the river is 150 meters. The engineer designed the contract for only 61 meters in length,' he said, 'The Asar flood destroyed the approach road on both sides, so the bridge could not be handed over.' Basu Panjiyar, the ward president of Sugauli Rural Municipality, said that everyone had to suffer because of the derelict bridge. said, "Let the government pay attention to this and build a bridge soon." 

The work of other bridges started by YP-Mona Construction is also slow. According to the department, the Sirsia river bridge on the Itiyahi-Maniyari road section of Parsa, which was entrusted with the construction by this company, has been under construction for 8 years. According to the department, the contract for the Sirsia river bridge of 70 meters length has been signed for 78.1 million rupees. The contract agreement was signed on June 31, 2073 to be able to work until June 31, 2076. Yadav, Head of Road Division, Hetaunda, said that 2 more roofs are yet to be sloped.

It has been 14 years since the foundation stone of Wagmati Badharwa Bridge connecting Sarlahi located in Durga Bhagwati Rural Municipality-5 of Rautahat was laid. Lumbini Builders and Pappu Construction took a joint contract for the construction of this bridge at a cost of 358.9 million rupees on June 31, 2067 to complete the construction within three years, i.e. by June 30, 2070. The foundation stone of the bridge was laid by the then Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal. Meanwhile, after Pappu Construction was blacklisted, Lumbini Builders took up the work alone.

After the contractor completed the work of all 17 spans, the river changed course and started flowing towards Sarlahi, 800 meters east of the bridge. As the Directorate of Postal Highways asked the contractor to stop the work immediately, the work has not progressed till now. Lumbini Builders has unilaterally terminated the contract saying that they will not work. Then the Directorate of Postal Highways Kathmandu canceled the contract of Lumbini Builders and invited the contract for the second time. 

In the second contract call, Mahalakshmi, Vikas, YP JV has been entrusted with river control work for a length of 2,241 meters at a cost of 574 million. Although the contractor signed an agreement on May 11, 2079 to complete the work by October 10, 2081, only 20 percent progress has been made in the construction of the bridge. Engineer Sanjay Kumar Thakur of Hulaki Highway Directorate Planning Office Birganj said that after completing the review of the bridge, he has written to the construction company to start the work soon.

It has been 14 years since the construction of a bridge on the Wagmati River at Durgabhagavati-5, which flows through the border of Rautahat and Sarlahi. After years of breaking the first contract and awarding the second contract, the construction of the bridge has not been completed. On June 31, 2067, Lumbini Builders Siddharth Nagar had completed the construction contract of this bridge for 358.9 million rupees. But after not working on time, the contractor unilaterally terminated the contract on February 9, 2071. If the bridge is not built, Bataspur, Badharwa, Rajdevi etc. locals are forced to travel by boat. Shambhu Singh, Chairman of Durgabhagavati Rural Municipality, said that there is a risk of flooding during the rainy season and there is a risk of death in boats. 

After breaking the first contract, it took almost four and a half years to get another contract. When the contract was invited for the second time, the directorate said that Mahalakshmi, Vikas, YP JV won the contract for 574 million rupees along with 2,241 meter long river control work. The contractor has signed an agreement to complete the work on October 10, 2081 on Baisakh 11, 2079. But due to the dispute between Hulaki Highway Directorate and the contracting company, the construction of the bridge did not proceed for the first two months.  Deepak Sah, owner of

construction company, said, "When we were about to start the work, the Birganj office of the directorate told us that the design was not available. And the work stopped. The directorate claimed that the contractor made an excuse that he could not work long after the design was given. 

Lalijan Khanal, head of the bridge division under the road department, said that due to the failure of the construction companies, the contractors are not completing the bridge work as per the contract. "Those who have contracted the bridge in some places may have had problems," he said. Contractors are negligent in construction with the mindset that the deadline will be extended.' 

Bangreri river bridge in Bara's Prasauni rural municipality-7 is also an example of delay. The contract for the construction of this bridge, which connects most of the villages within Jitpur Simra, Prasauni and Kalaiya sub-metropolis, was taken on June 30, 2071 by Mamona JV Elite Construction to be completed by the end of June 2073. But even after 10 years of construction, barely 90 percent of the work has been completed.