The dilapidated and broken culvert of Pullebot river in the road section connecting Rolpa through Lanti-Lekhpokhara-Damachour of Chhatreswari Rural Municipality of the district is becoming a hazard for vehicles.
The risk of vehicular accidents while crossing the culvert has increased due to the lack of attention by the relevant agencies to repair and reconstruction. The side part of the culvert has collapsed and holes have appeared in the sloped areas.
Dozens of motorcycles, ambulances, tractors, small vehicles and passenger buses travel through that road section daily. The culvert was built a decade ago by the World Bank program operated by the then District Development Committee Salyan to facilitate the movement of small vehicles.
Although the culvert was constructed along with the road construction, no agency has paid attention to the reconstruction of the culvert recently. Deepak Bohra, a local, said that there is a risk of the vehicle falling into the river from the culvert when it comes at a heavy and fast speed.
Ganesh Vick, another local, said that there are accidents every now and then because the saria has collapsed from one side and a hole has come out from the other side.
When the river is big in the dry season, the water flows over the culvert. When the culverts are narrow and blocked by tree branches due to floods in the dry season, the water reaches the fields .
The municipality does not have a budget. Faud Bahadur Basnet, spokesperson of Chhatreshwari Rural Municipality and Chairman of Ward No. 5, said that the culvert could not be reconstructed because the municipality did not have enough budget.
'A few years ago, a culvert was constructed at Sangarmul on the said road section . That too is getting worn out . Last year, we requested a budget for the repair and completion of the dilapidated culvert. But did not come. Since the budget seems to be too much, we have requested this year from the state government . If there is no budget, we will build the culvert by allocating the municipal budget", he said.
