Movement in Siraha demanding inclusion of Kamala bridge in the budget

They formed the Bridge Construction Struggle Committee and started the movement. As part of the program of the movement, they have been blocking the headquarters since this morning.

Chakkajam will be opened at 11 am and then all the government offices here will be closed, Sangharsh Committee said. Earlier, they took out a masala procession at the headquarters on Saturday and closed the market in protest on Sunday.

Sangharsh Committee sent a letter to the Prime Minister through the Chief District Officer last Friday. They demand that the budget should be allocated to ensure the construction of Kamala Bridge in the budget to be announced on May 15.

'We protest repeatedly because we cannot bear the suffering,' Rabindra Sah, coordinator of the struggle committee, told Kantipur.

It has been 13 years since the foundation stone of this bridge was laid. A 470 meter long and 11 meter wide bridge was built in Kamala within three and a half years.

However, due to the extreme carelessness of the state and the construction company, the locals have to suffer a lot when the bridge is not yet built on the Kamala river. "We have a lot of problems because we don't have a bridge," says Ramprayag Yadav of Sirha municipality-19. However, we have to suffer a lot because of the lack of a bridge.'

Pappu Lumbini Builders JV Construction, which got the contract for the construction of the bridge, did not build the bridge on the specified date. After that, the bridge was not built even though the deadline was extended several times. Due to the indifference of the state and extreme carelessness of the contractor, the construction of the bridge became uncertain.

After the Hulaki Road Struggle Committee led by Ramrizhan Yadav started a relay hunger strike in December 2075, the Hulaki Highway Directorate took away the contract from Pappu Construction and assigned it to Lumbini Builders Construction on October 1, 2076 to complete the work by June 13, 2078. When the construction was completed and preparations were being made for the inauguration, on 17th June 2078, the bridge was washed away due to a small flood.

Lumbini Builders are currently rebuilding the bridge. However, showing financial problems, it is not doing as expected. Because the bridge is not built in Kamala, the daily life of thousands of common people is full of misery. It has also stopped the economic growth and development of this region.