Due to the US, Israel-Iran war, the increase in the price of petroleum products and the shortage of bitumen, more than a dozen projects in Salyan have been affected. Of these, work on four roads that are being prepared for blacktop, operated by the Road Division Office, Dang, has been halted.

Similarly, six road projects have been affected due to the lack of bitumen. Five roads and one bridge operated by the Infrastructure Development Office, Salyan have also been left stranded.

The Road Division Office, Dang, had allocated Rs 550 million for the Rapti Highway and the inner road section in the Salyan area, and the Infrastructure Development Office, Salyan, had allocated Rs 730 million. Of this, the Road Division Office, Dang, and the Infrastructure Development Office, Salyan, were to blacktop 29 kilometers and 34 kilometers, respectively.

The Infrastructure Development Office Salyan has completed the blacktop work of a few kilometers on the Khalanga-Baluwa Sanghri, Tharmare-Ragechaur-Chaurjahari and Solabangarim road sections last year.

It is seen that the contractor will not be able to complete the work within the stipulated time due to the increase in the price of petroleum products due to the shortage of bitumen. The failure to complete the work on time will not only affect the residents of the district but also force them to travel on dusty roads as in the past.

According to Ashok Chaudhary, Information Officer of the Road Division Office, Dang, the blacktop work on the roads around Kharibot under the Rapti Highway, Luham-Tunibot, Khalanga-Kalimati and Ragechaur-Bureli Khola road sections under the Rara Highway has been stopped due to the shortage of bitumen. The construction of the Ramri-Harneti and Tunibot-Samdimod roads under the Rapti Highway has been affected due to the increase in the price of petroleum products. Due to which the work has been delayed . 

As the war continues and the price of petroleum products increases, the work cannot be completed on time, informed Chaudhary, Information Officer of the Road Division Office, Dang.  ‘Construction companies are currently working on erecting walls, digging drains, and widening roads on the Ramri-Harneti, Tunibot-Samdimod roads of the Rapti Highway . However, due to the non-availability of petroleum products on time and the inability to buy them on time due to the price increase, the work has not been able to accelerate as before,’ he said. 

Bharat Sharma, Information Officer of the Infrastructure Development Office, Salyan, said that the work of Kalimati-Baluwa, Khalanga-Jaytapani-Baluwa Sanghri, Tharmare-Ragechaur-Chaurjahari, Solabang-Rim and Bagchaur bridges has been affected . He informed that although the construction company has almost completed the work of laying the base for the blacktop, it has been forced to do other work due to the increase in the price of petroleum products and the shortage of bitumen. According to him, the blacktop of the road may be stopped as the shortage of bitumen increases. He said that the Infrastructure Development Office Salyan has been operating 33 projects across the district, but such a problem has not been seen in small projects.

Raj Bahadur Shahi, the contractor of Mangaldeep Kumbheshwor Abhiyan JV, who has been responsible for blacktopping the five-kilometer Kalimati-Baluwa road, said that he has not been able to get enough bitumen and that despite contacting various companies, the blacktop, which should have started from Falgun, has not been able to start yet due to the increasing price.

He informed that due to the lack of bitumen, he is currently only laying the base on the road. 'Till a few months ago, bitumen was 80 rupees per kilogram. Due to the shortage due to the war, it has reached 170 per kilogram. The price of petroleum products has increased accordingly. ‘We are waiting for the price to come down and we will start working with bitumen. There is no possibility of it coming down,’ he said, ‘We are in contact with some companies. We are confused because the price has doubled from the previous one. If the government compensates the deficit, we are ready to start working immediately. The construction work is 93 percent complete. The equipment is ready. If bitumen is easily available, the work will be completed by Jestha.’

Mukund Tiwari, a contractor of Dhulikhel Applite JV, said that work had to be stopped for about one and a half months in the Ragechaur area of ​​the Tharmare-Chaurjahari road section due to the increase in the price of petroleum products and the shortage of bitumen. Due to the shortage of bitumen, work has been stopped in the middle even if we procure 20 tons. He informed that the work has been stopped in the middle. ‘One kilometer of road is blacktopped with 20 tons. I have three kilometers to be blacktopped. Out of a total of 9 kilometers, I have already completed the rest. We are in talks with the company for bitumen. However, it has become difficult to work after the company informed us that it would not be able to supply it as per the demand. If we had received bitumen, we would have completed the work in Chaitra. It does not seem like it will be completed even in Jestha. The concerned bodies are making requests. Our efforts are ongoing. But what can we do when we do not get the necessary materials, he said.